Course Catalogue

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This course will survey the paradoxical (sometimes productive) neuro-psychological phenomena that can be observed after lesions of the central or peripheral nervous system, or by non-invasive (transcranial) brain stimulation. These phenomena contrast with the more common functional deficits of brain lesions or brain stimulation, and will be used as windows to detail current concepts in cognitive neuroscience, brain plasticity and rehabilitation.

10 hours over a 5 week block

Successful completion of level 3H psychology single honours

None

Examination 100% you will answer 1 question from a choice of 3

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Each lecture begins with case descriptions of patients with paradoxical (sometimes productive) effects of stimulation/lesions on behaviour. Examples include: hyper-attention; an anarchic hand; the experience of leaving one's own body; or the integration of phantom limbs into one's own body scheme. The lectures explore how these phenomena fit or informed models of cognitive processes and plasticity in different domains (e.g. attention, motor control, interhemispheric interactions, multisensory integration) and points to implications for neurorehabilitation. 

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Evaluate non-invasive brain stimulation techniques (including TMS, tDCS, tACS) that are widely used in the cognitive sciences as neurocognitive probes, as well as to their relation with other neuroimaging approaches.

■ Evaluate functions that can be uncovered by brain-stimulation/disruption or peripheral lesions (peripheral visual pathways), due to the potential of the brain to cope with interference or deafferentiation (plasticity).

■ Evaluate the implications of these observations on current models of brain organization across different cognitive domains (attention, motor control, interhemispheric interactions, multisensory integration)

■ Outline current experimental approaches in clinical neurorehabilitation that use current concepts in brain plasticity for neuromodulation to bias brain reorganization in desired directions.

■ Appreciate the complexity of brain organization at the macroscopic level (network of brain areas).

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.