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Introduction, History and Issues

• Lecture 1
• May 15th, 2006

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Instructor

• Vedran Lovic, M.A.
• Tel. [phone]
• vedran_at_psych.utoronto.ca
• Office 1015
• Office Hours M1-2
• Preferred mode of communication is e-mail
• I will make an effort to answer your e-mails
  within 24h
• If you do not hear from me after 24h, please
  e-mail me again
• Please insert PSY393 in the subject line
• Please use formal language in your e-mails
• For example, do not write anything like the
  following r u goin to cover ch 3 in class
  tomorrow or r we responsible for it. also,..

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Teaching Assistant

• Noam Miller
• noam.miller_at_utoronto.ca
• Office 1015K
• Office hours after the term test and by
  appointment
• Do not contact Noam regarding the lectures

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Course Synopsis

• In this course we will examine the relationships
  between brain and behaviour
• Initial lectures will be a general introduction
  to neuroanatomy and methods used by
  neuropsychologists 
• This will be followed by lectures focusing on
  specific brain functions, such as motor
  functions, object recognition, memory and so on  
  
• Throughout the course we will learn about the
  relationships between brain and behaviour from
  brain injury cases (e.g., head injuries, strokes,
  tumors etc.) as well as from research done on
  intact individuals

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Objectives

• At the end of the course you will
• have an understanding of how the brain is
  organized
• have and understanding of certain behaviours and
  cognitive functions
• how scientific research is conducted and
  presented
• students interested in pursuing neuropsychology
  or neurology studies will find the course
  particularly useful

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Objectives

• I would like you to learn about neuropsychology
  (content info)
• I would also like you to learn how to do certain
  things
• How to write better
• How to evaluate evidence (regardless of what the
  subject area is)

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Course Format

• Classes will consist of
• lectures
• videos demonstrating impairments in cognitive
  abilities outlined in lectures
• Lectures will be based on
• textbook and extra material
• Students are strongly encouraged to attend
  lectures
• Lectures will be done using PowerPoint
  presentations which will be available on the
  course web site after each lecture

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Textbook and Readings

• Banich, M.T. (2004). Cognitive Neuroscience and
  Neuropsychology, 2nd edition. New York Houghton
  Mifflin Company. (Approximate price 114.00)
• Read the assigned readings before each lecture
• The Banich textbook is detailed and will require
  you to remember and integrate information
• You should pay close, but not exclusive,
  attention to the material that overlaps with
  lecture material

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Web Page

• www.erin.utoronto.ca/w3psy295/psy393.htm
• Login psy393
• Password 20061

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Grading

• Term Test 35
• Short Assignment 20
• Final Exam 45

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Test Final Exam

• Term test/exam will be based on
• the material from the textbook
• lectures
• videos
• The tests will consist of
• multiple-choice questions (30 mostly based on
  Banich)
• matching questions (based on Banich and lectures)
  
• shorter and longer questions
• diagram requiring you to label brain parts
• The shorter and longer questions will require
  students to recite information but also integrate
  knowledge analytically. Please see question
  examples on the web
• Final exam will not be cumulative

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Prerequisites

• PSY201, PSY270/PSY290/PSY295.
• Students from various backgrounds (cognitive
  psychology or physiological psychology) will have
  an equal opportunity to do well in the course.
• If you run into trouble and need information
  about studying, preparing for exams, note taking
  or time management, free workshops and advice are
  available from the Academic Skills Centre

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Make-ups

• For this particular course, there will be NO
  make-up tests.
• If you miss one of the term tests without a
  legitimate excuse, you will receive a mark of
  zero for that term test.
• If you do have a legitimate excuse (e.g.,
  doctors note please see Calendar, Section 6),
  your final exam will be worth 80.
• If you submit medical documentation make sure it
  contains the statement "This student was unable
  to write the test (or submit term work by the
  last day of classes, if applicable) on (date) for
  medical reasons".
• You are advised to see your physician within one
  day of the missed test. Many physicians will not
  provide documentation retroactively.

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Schedule
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Short Paper

• Purpose
• advance your knowledge of one of the topics
  covered in class (e.g., attention, memory,
  language etc.)
• improve your writing abilities
• You will achieve this by assessing a case study
  in conjunction with a general reading, related to
  the case study
• You will
• summarize the case studys findings
• synthesize what these finding tell us about a
  particular function (e.g., memory), and explain
  how the findings fit into the broader context of
  the general reading (and the Banich textbook -
  optional)
• we would like to hear your opinions on these
  findings (questions, comments, criticisms etc.)

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Short Paper

• Your paper will be graded on
• content (65)
• style (35 )
• A selection of general readings is provided on
  the course web page (and listed in your syllabus)
  
• You will find an appropriate case study on your
  own and have it approved by me
• The paper should be written in APA style and 1500
  to 2000 words in length (not including the cover
  page, abstract or the reference section)
• The paper is due June 21st, at the beginning of
  the class
• Papers submitted after 1015 will be considered
  late
• Late penalty is 5 per day
• The last day to hand in papers is June 23rd
• E-mail copies of your paper will not be accepted

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Short Paper

• Vision and Agnosias
• Farah, M.J. Aguirre, G.K. (1999). Imaging
  visual recognition PET and fMRI studies of the
  functional anatomy of human visual recognition.
  Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 3(5), 179-186
• Case study ???

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Short Paper General Organization

• Title page
• Abstract (120 words)
• Paper proper (1500-2000 words)
• References

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Title Page
The Effects of Ovariectomy 1
Running Head THE ROLE OF ESTROGEN IN ANXIETY
The Effects of Ovariectomy and Estrogen
Replacement on Anxiety in Female Rats Robert
Modavi University of Toronto
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Abstract

• Separate page (page 2)
• Abstract is not an introduction to your paper
  (many students treated as if it is)
• Brief and comprehensive summary of the entire
  study (introduction, arguments, issues,
  conclusions)
• 120 words

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Paper Proper

• Introduction (250 words)
• Summaries/arguments (1000 words)
• Conclusions/Discussions (250 words)

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Introduction

• Dual purpose to indicated your topic and the way
  you are going to approach it
• Start general provide a general context (e.g.,
  visual recognition)
• Narrow the focus of your discussion ? your
  specific topic ? prosopagnosia case study
  contrasted against what is known about visual
  recognition
• End with specific and explicit explanation of
  what your paper is about
• Make sure you define things in your introduction
  (e.g., prosopagnosia etc)

General
Specific
Funnel Approach Introduction
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Paper Body

• Organize material into paragraphs
• Case study summary
• summarize only the relevant information
• Omit non-relevant information
• Summary of the relevant aspects of the review
• Summarize the relevant information
• Compare the two

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Conclusions

• Restate the purpose (specific)
• Then discuss the implications (general)
• What are your opinions on this issue and
  information presented?

Specific
General
Reverse Funnel Approach Conclusion
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General
Specific
Specific
General
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References

• Separate page
• All citations in the text, should appear in the
  reference section
• Double space throughout, with no extra spaces
  between references
• Only the first line is not indented
• Alphabetize by the first author
• If more then 6 authors, then put et al. after
  the 6th authors name
• In text, if there is 1 or 2 authors, always list
  them
• In text, if there are 3, 4 or 5 authors, list all
  of them the first time, then use first authors
  name followed by et al.
• In text, if there are 6 or more authors, use the
  first authors name followed by et al.

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Writing Style

• The purpose of scientific writing is to
  communicate ideas
• This communication should be clear, unambiguous
  and easy to read
• In literature and philosophy language is not
  always clear and things can be interpreted in
  several ways
• Therefore, for this course, and in psychology in
  general, the writing style should be laconic
  concise, clear and forceful

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Writing StyleUse of Slang and Contractions

• Do not use slang or colloquial language
• The patient suffered from amnesia. This
  conditions is really hard on the person and his
  family.
• Do not use contractions (e.g., dont, cant
  etc.)

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Writing StyleChoose Clear and Plain Words

• Use words based on their primary meaning
• Avoid using a thesaurus (especially if you are
  going to use it incorrectly)

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Avoid Unnecessary Qualifiers

• They devised an extremely elegant hypothesis to
  explain their data.
• They devised an elegant hypothesis to explain
  their data.
• Males and females performed very differently.
• Males and females performed differently.

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Paragraphs

• Create clear paragraphs organized around specific
  ideas/arguments

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Be Concise

• During the period of time that she was
  periodically monitored her condition improved.
• While she was monitored, her condition improved.
• These children do not develop cognitive abilities
  in the childhood years, which greatly affects
  them in later life.
• These children do not develop cognitive
  abilities. This affects them in adulthood.
• The type of memory that was measured in this
  study was declarative memory.
• The researchers measured declarative memory.

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Choose Active Over Passive Verbs

• The data were collected and analyzed by the
  researchers.
• The researchers collected and analyzed the data.
• The patient was examined by the doctor.
• The doctor examined the patient.

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Grammar/Punctuation

• A panda walks into a café. He orders sandwich,
  eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in
  the air.
• Why? ask the confused waiter, as the
  panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces
  a badly punctuated wild life manual and tosses it
  over his shoulder.
• I am a panda, he says, at the door. Look it
  up.
• The waiter turns to the relevant entry and,
  sure enough, finds an explanation.
• Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal,
  native to china. Eats, shoots and leaves.

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What is Neuropsychology?

• Neuropsychology is a study of relation between
  (human) brain function and behavior
• Neurology is a branch of medical science that
  deals with the nervous system, both normal and
  diseased
• Neuroscience is the study of molecular basis of
  nervous system function by scientists who mainly
  use non-human animals
• Psychology is the study of behavior more generally

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The Brain and Neuron Hypotheses

• The brain hypothesis the idea that brain is the
  source of behavior
• The neuron hypothesis the idea that the unit of
  brain structure and function is the neuron

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Early History

• Egyptians packed mummies with organs thought to
  be important in the afterlife (as they were
  important in life)
• Heart, liver, lungs etc.
• But - NO BRAIN

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Ancient Greece

• Alcmeon of Croton (500 B.C.) - brain hypothesis
• Empedocles (490-430 B.C.) cardiac hypothesis
• Plato (427?-347 B.C.) rational part of the soul
  in the brain
• Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) heart/cardiac
  hypothesis
• Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) and Galen (129-210
  A.D.) clinicians behavioral deficits
  associated with brain damage senses lead to the
  brain

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Darwin and Materialism

• Russell Wallace and Charles Darwin
• Materialism the idea that rational behavior can
  be fully explained by the working of the nervous
  system without any need to refer to a nonmaterial
  mind
• Common decent
• Through the evolution, different species
  developed unique characteristics, yet they
  retained many common traits (e.g., the brain)
• Since the brain controls the behavior of
  non-human animals, the brain also controls human
  behavior
• How does the brain control the behavior?

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Phrenology

• Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) and Johann Casper
  Spurzheim anatomists
• Pyramidal tract connections from cortex to the
  spinal cord suggesting that cortex sends
  instructions to the spinal cord to command the
  movement of muscles (also known as the
  corticospinal pathway)
• Corpus callosum large pathway connecting two
  hemispheres
• phrenology relationship between the skulls
  surface and underlying cortex and individuals
  faculties
• LOCALIZATION OF FUNCTION hypothetically, the
  control of each kind of behavior by a different
  specific brain area

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Phrenology

• Evidence anecdotes, paintings etc.
• Cases of patricide
• 25 murderers
• No interest in brain injury cases

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Problems with Phrenology

• Incorrect assumption that the size of the skull
  accurately reflects the size of the underlying
  brain. Skull thickness is variable.
• No scientific analysis of the psychological
  factors. No reason to think that there is a
  faculty of secretiveness, amativeness, etc.
• Today we still dont know what the basic
  personality traits are
• Methods were not scientific - anecdotal,
  personal, no independent analysis of faculties
  and skull protuberances, etc. Techniques were
  entirely correlational.

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Anti-Localization

• Pierre Flourens
• Lesioning different parts of the cortex and
  observing the changes in behavior
• Most animals eventually recovered no
  localization cortex works as a whole
• He did find that brain stem had specialized
  functions e.g., breathing and that the
  cerebellum is important for coordination
• Problems choice of animals and behaviors
  selected for observations

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Broca Localization of Language

• Paul Broca (1824-1880)
• 1861, Non-fluent patient
• Laborgne, a.k.a. Tan
• Did he have good-comprehension?
• Did he have any other deficits?
• Right hemiplegia paralysis of the right side of
  the body

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Broca Localization of Language

• Autopsy Tan had damage of the third
  convolution in the left frontal cortex
• Broca found additional 8 cases exemplifying
  similar effects
• Lateralization of function functions can be
  localized to one side of the brain
• Brocas aphasia expressive, or non-fluent,
  aphasia that is chiefly defect of speech
• Presenting argument behavior, such as language,
  is controlled by a specific brain area and (2)
  destroying the area selectively destroys he
  behavior strict localizationist

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Wernicke Multiple Language Areas

• Carl Wernicke (1833-1892)
• Aphasic patients - Fluent with poor comprehension
• Poor repetition
• Did they have any other deficits?
• No contralateral hemiplegia
• brain damage in posterior temporal lobes
• Wernickes aphasia/fluent aphasia/sensory aphasia

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Electrophysiological Confirmation of Localization

• Gustav Theodor Fritsch (1838-1929) and Eduard
  Hitzig (1838-1907)
• Mechanical irritation of the soldiers brains
  caused twitching in contralateral limbs
• Electrical stimulation of cortex of dogs
• Localization of motor control topographical
  representation of body parts.
• Conclusion these parts of the brain control the
  movement of particular parts of the body
  function is localized here

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Antilocalizationists

• Friedrich L. Goltz (1834-1902) dog lesions
  same same areas the Fritsch and Hitzig stimulated
  dogs could move!!!!
• Problems with Fritsch Hitzig claims???
• cortex NECESSARY and SUFFICIENT for movement
  not true

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Hughlings-JacksonHierarchical Organization

• Hierarchical organization principle of cerebral
  organization in which information is processed
  serially, with each level of processing assumed
  to represent the elaboration of some hypothetical
  process
• Nervous system is arranged in functional
  hierarchy (the spinal cord, the brain stem and
  the forebrain)
• Herbert Spencers ideas of evolution ? injury
  leads to dissolution
• Higher level controls more complex behavior
  through lower levels
• Distributed systems mediation of behavior by
  neurons and connections between neurons that are
  located in different areas of the brain
• How does this model fit with Fritsch Hitzig and
  Goltz findings?

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The Neuron Doctrine
Camillo Golgi (1843-1926)
Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934)

• The neuron doctrine the idea that the
  nervous system is composed of discrete,
  autonomous units, or neurons, that can interact
  but are not physically connected

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Modern Developments

• Neurosurgery (Wilder Penfield and Herber Jasper)
• Psychometrics and statistical evaluation (e.g.,
  Individual differences the bell-shaped curve
  Neuropsychological tests IQ Memory)
• Rise in technology (ability to visualize living
  brains)
• MRI, fMRI, PET, ERP etc.