NEUR 533 Cognitive Neuroscience (also listed PSYC 540)
Instructors: Irving Biederman
Syllabus: currently unavailable
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Survey results:
- - Not having any inclination towards cognitive neuroscience, I think this was a pretty easy course to take. There are a lot of class discussions and the exams are not too hard either. You get to study some cool cases and its fun! I would recommend it!
- - I took this class in Spring 2007. This course is listed as a cognitive track course. In my opinion it did not provide breadth in the cognitive neuroscience field as the course mostly focused on visual cognition. Dr. Biederman did a good job with teaching the course however because he stimulated discussion though he had a really difficult time staying focused on the material presented on the syllabus. I would not recommend this class.
- - I took this class in Spring 2008. Dr. Biederman's Cognitive class was pretty good. The lectures were painfully too long for a Friday afternoon and they were not entirely inspiring, but overall, the course served as a decent introduction to cognitive Neuroscience. Overall, Biederman is doing a good job in this class. I recommend it.
- - I took this class in Spring 2008. This class was the "best" out of the required courses that I have taken in terms of what was expected of the students. The exam format was excellent, with a student knowing exactly what they were expected to know. The first half of the course was well organized, but almost fully revolved around visual topics. In my mind that does not fit the "breadth" requirement that the curriculum committee is trying to emphasize. The second half of the course was all over the place with the final exam mainly requiring wikipedia searches because a lot of the material wasn't actually covered. I think if this class was a little less focused on vision for the first half and stayed a little bit more on topic as time progressed I think this would be a very strong cognitive course. I recommend it.
PSYC 547 Functional neuroanatomy
Instructors: Antoine Bechara
Syllabus: currently unavailable
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Syllabus: currently unavailable
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- - I took this class in Spring 2008. It was good. Dr. s class was a pretty good way to get in touch with the literature on decision-making and fMRI. It is definitely a courseBechara seminari.e. the content is entirely student presentations, which may not sit well with some, but I found it to be incredibly useful. Definitely a good way to sit one on one with Antoine and ask any sort of brain anatomy or neuroeconomics questions. I would recommend it.
PSYC 555 Introduction to fMRI
Instructors: Bosco Tjan
Syllabus: currently unavailable
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Syllabus: currently unavailable
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- - I took this class in spring 2007. This is a fantastic introduction to fMRI. Bosco does a great job breaking this course up into the physics of fmri, experimental design and data analyses methodologies. This is a great course for anyone wanting to get not just the theoretical background of fMRI but actually conducting a small study through the project and hw's assigned in class. This can also serve as an opportunity to get some magnet time to conduct pilot studies which could potentially lead to bigger projects. Highly recommended
PSYC 599 Introduction to fMRI
Instructors: Zhong-Lin Lu
Syllabus: currently unavailable
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Syllabus: currently unavailable
Survey results:
- - I took this class in Fall 2005. The strongest point of the class was its explanation of MRI physics, which unfortunately was also the least directly useful part. The coverage of fMRI data analysis - the effect and importance of preprocessing steps, the fundamental basis of the general linear model, and the use of programs to implement analyses - was almost nonexistent, and handled entirely by a post-doc (Xiangrui, who is a gem, and was very generous with out-of-class time answering questions, though not excellent at lecturing). To be fair, I understand the course content on data analysis has improved somewhat in more recent years. Dr. Lu, as a professor, was outstandingly unavailable to answer questions, off-campus (in Irvine) more than he was on. Also, all of his lecture slides were lifted directly from the book, which made the lectures of questionable value (why not just read the book?). Unfortunately, there is no alternative to this class. The good news is that its shortcomings mostly affect those who actually want to do work in MRI - as an overview of the technique, it rates as at least a "not bad" (and again, I hear it has improved since I took it). So take it, and make noise to continually improve it. Please.
- - I took this class in Spring 2005. First time this course was taught, but Lu included a class project where we ran an actual experiment and learned difficult analysis methods. Lu could have used visual aids to help teach the physics of MRI, though. I would recommend it.
- - I took this class in Spring 2005. It was great - we learned the theory and application of fMRI and got to actually perform a pilot study. The class was held in the conference room of the imaging center, which was too small for the class size. I recommend it.
- - I took it in Fall 2006. I walked away with a basic understanding of the physics, but very little on experimental set up and analysis. I recommend it.
PSYC 544 Psychophysiology
Instructors: Micheal Dawson
Syllabus: currently unavailable
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Syllabus: currently unavailable
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- - I took this class in Spring 2006. Many topics were covered, but since Dawson is an expert in basics like SCR and heart rate, those were covered the most. Newer technologies could have been focused on more. I would recommend it.
PSYC 514 Psychopathology
Instructors: David Schwartz
Syllabus: currently unavailable
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Syllabus: currently unavailable
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- - I took this class in Fall 2005. Learned about a broad range of disorders and common theories behind them. Videos of patients and Schwartz' personal anecdotes helped to illustrate. Recommended.
PSYC 546 Current topics in Cognitive Neuroscience
PSYC 510 Visual Cognition
OT441 Neurology
OT 325 Seminar on Social Cognitive Neuroscience
PSYC 607 Psychobiology of learning, memory and cognition
Instructors: Richard Thompson, Stephen Madigan
Syllabus: currently unavailable
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Syllabus: currently unavailable
Survey results:
- - It is taught by our own Dr. Richard F. Thompson and Dr. Stephen Madigan of the Psychology Dept. Thus, it may be listed in the course catalog as Madigan/Thompson or Thompson/Madigan. Steve Madigan is an expert on the study of memory in humans. I took this class years ago from Dr. Thompson, and it was great. If you went to his talk today you can appreciate the fantastic historic and experimental perspective he brings to the subject of Learning and Memory. I think the dual teaching with Dr. Madigan probably adds a lot, too. In fact they've recently written a book together on Memory. I think this dual teaching may be especially valuable because our Neuro grad students get comparatively little exposure to the human and/or clinical aspects of basic neuroscience. In these times of ever-dwindling funding for research, the more one can appreciate the big picture and relate research to human clinical conditions and medical treatment, the better! I would recommend this class.
- - It has the advantage of mixing information on human and animal-research studies. Something I think is quite valuable in these days of tight funding and medical emphasis on all NIH grants!
- - I took this class in Spring 2006. It was fantastic! I really liked it. It was a seminar style class, no exam, only two presentations, a good book to read and lots of discussions. I recommend it.
