2013-09-04

Welcome to

NEUR1201

lecture 1 ; sept 5, 2013

n e u r1
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Introduction

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What are we going to do today?

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

What is NEUR1201?
The object of this class is to foster an understanding of how
the brain functions normally, and how mental illness can
result from disruptions in that function.
So as to provide a basis for understanding mental disorders,
we will begin the course by surveying the anatomy and
physiology of the brain. Later, we will apply that knowledge
to disorders such as addiction, schizophrenia, mood
disorders, and so forth.
This class is required for students in the Neuroscience and
Mental Health program, but it may also be of interest to
students in many other disciplines.
No pre-existing knowledge in neuroscience, biology, or psychology
is needed to pass this course (but it certainly helps).
NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

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About me
My name is Harry MacKay, and I am a
contract instructor here at Carleton University.
Please just call me Harry. Since I havent yet
earned my PhD, theres no sense in calling me
Dr. MacKay or anything like that.

I am presently working toward a PhD in

Neuroscience in Carletons Department of
Neuroscience in the lab of Dr. Alfonso Abizaid.
My area of research is the neurobiology of food
intake and obesity.
In particular I am interested in how early-life
influences (such as exposure to fatty diets or
environmental toxins) can affect how the brain
controls food intake in adulthood.

St. FX University Antigonish, NS

I did my undergraduate degree in Psychology

at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia.
What to expect from me?
NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

Communication
The university never gave me a
phone, so aside from meeting with
me after class or during my oce
hours, the best way to contact me is
by email:
harrymackay@cmail.carleton.ca
Please include the course code
(NEUR1201) in the subject line of
your message.
This just helps me keep track of
messages related to this course.

Feel free to ask me anything*, but try

to avoid questions that you could
easily answer by consulting the
course syllabus.
*About neuroscience
NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

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Communication
Oce: 305 Life Sciences Research Building (LSRB).
Oce hours: Wednesdays 3:30-4:30pm

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

Teaching Assistants
You TA is the first person you should contact if you have any questions
regarding the course or its content.
TAs will not have regularly scheduled oce hours during the year, but they will
hold special pre-exam oce hours, and they will also be available after the
midterm if youd like to see your exam.
Stephanie Hudson
StephanieHudson@cmail.carleton.ca
Last names: A-Dornan

Meagan Osborn
MeaganOsborn@cmail.carleton.ca
Last names: Doucette-Lum

Ashley Thompson
AshleyThompson3@cmail.carleton.ca
Last names: Lunn-Shwehdi

Jason Kinnin
JasonKinnin@cmail.carleton.ca
Last names: Simao-Zuccala

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

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Volunteer note taking

I am looking for volunteer note takers for this class. Your
notes will be shared with Paul Menton Centre (PMC) here at
Carleton.
If you take good notes and attend every class, please
consider volunteering.
Volunteers should apply to the PMC:
http://www1.carleton.ca/pmc/working-with-pmc/notetakers/

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

Course content
This course will consist of material
from my lectures, as well as
selected articles from Scientific
American. These will be posted
on cuLearn.
Lectures will be posted the night
before class.
All of the terms articles will be
available as of now.

You will only be tested on material

from lectures and articles.
Keywords in bold in my
presentations may be tested.
NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

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Course content
This course has an optional textbook.
You will never be tested on anything
from it, but it is a useful complement to
my lectures.
This book is also the assigned textbook
for NEUR2200, so if you plan to take
that course in the future, theres no
harm in buying the book now and
getting familiar with it.
An Introduction to Brain and
Behaviour, 3rd or 4th edition
Kolb & Wishaw
Publisher: Sinauer
Available used, or at the bookstore,
Amazon, and other places

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

Course content bonus features

I like to give the etymology of scientific
terms in my lectures wherever possible.
Knowing where words came from is
helpful when trying to memorize scientific
terms.
That said, you will never be directly tested
on etymology (though I cant rule out
bonus questions on exams).

I also like to oer book

recommendations if I know of a good
one related to a topic were covering.
Of course youll never be tested on these
either, but if you find the topic interesting,
consider reading the book someday.

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

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Evaluation: Online Reading Assessment

You are expected to come into class having read the selected Scientific
American article of the day (if there happens to be one.) These articles will be
discussed in class.
Prior to each class, you are to use cuLearn to answer ONE of the following three
questions. You have until midnight the night before the lecture to do this.
Late assignments will not be accepted.
1) In your opinion, what was the most intriguing part of this article?
2) What did you find most challenging about this article?
3) Imagine you are telling a friend/family member/roommate about this article. What
would you tell them?

Each reply will be graded either 0 (did not hand in), 1 (handed in, but
unsatisfactory), or 2 (satisfactory).
Out of the 17 articles, we will assess your best 15.
This part of the course is worth 10% of the total. If four or more reports (of the
15 I count) are late, you will get a 0 for your reading assignment grade.
NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

Evaluation: Mid-term exam

The mid-term exam will take place on October 17th in-class.
It will cover lectures 1-12, and articles 1-6.

The exam will consist of multiple choice questions, definitions, and short
answers.
If you miss this exam due to serious illness or a death in the family, you
must notify me no later than 48 hours after the scheduled exam time. You
must have ocial documentation in hand for consideration.
The make-up exam will take place one week after the scheduled exam time.
This is the only date a make-up exam will be offered.

Any other reason for missing the exam (or lack of proper documentation)
will warrant a mark of 0 on this exam.
The mid-term is worth 30% of the course total.

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

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Evaluation: Final exam

The format of the final will be the same as the mid-term, but
longer (3h).
The final is not cumulative, but some overarching themes will
be addressed.
Covers lectures 13-23, and articles 7-17.

If you miss the final, you must contact the registrars oce
within 5 working days.
The final exam is worth 40% of the course total.

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

Evaluation: Term assignment

Mental illness is a serious issue that aects everybody.
Hopefully you will find this course helps you understand the
science of mental health.
And understanding the science of mental health goes a long
way in helping oneself cope with problems, or identify
problems before they spiral out of control.
But there are only about 180 of us learning about this each
semester. The goal of this assignment, therefore, is to
provide you an opportunity to share your newfound
knowledge with the Carleton community.

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

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Term assignment
Your assignment is to create a mental health
awareness campaign geared toward 1st year
residence students.
The campaign is called Just One Thing as in
What is one thing you can do today in support of
your mental health?
This assignment is part of a collaboration with
Residence Services here at Carleton. The top
assignments will actually be used by Residence
Services in the Winter term.
Better yet, Residence Services will create a
Facebook page showing o the top assignments,
and the entry that gets the most Likes will win a
prize!
So there are plenty of reasons to do this assignment
(its also mandatory and worth 20% of your grade.)
NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

Term Assignment
Your campaign should be rich in educational content. You can choose to be specific
(focusing just on eating disorders for example) or broad, focusing on all of the
topics weve covered.
Some ideas suggested by residence services:

Alcohol use
Substance use
Anxiety/social anxiety/panic attacks
Depression
Sleep disorders
Learning disabilities
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
Attention disorders (ADHD)
Eating disorders

Some platforms:

Facebook
Twitter
Blog
Posters
Pamphlets/brochures

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

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Term Assignment
What should the assignment look like? This will be dierent for every
assignment and media choice.
A general rule is to ensure that your assignment:
1. Makes the best use of the medium youve chosen.
2. Includes enough content to demonstrate your knowledge of the topic, and
to give us enough to grade.

Whatever you end up doing, make sure it contains enough content to fill
a month.
For Twitter, this probably means one Tweet per day. Less for Facebook,
since each post can be longer.
For print media such as posters, 1-2 per week would be ideal.

Can you work in partners/teams? YES, you can work as partners or in

groups of up to 5. But your project has to been correspondingly bigger
(i.e. you need to justify having extra people and explain it on your
proposal.)
NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

Examples

Lets Get Physical a UK based multimedia

campaign raising awareness of the role of exercise
in mental health.

Bells Lets Talk campaign.

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Examples

This has nothing to do with mental health. But it is

evidence that good information can be put in unexpected
places.

#OK2TALK a US Twitter based mental

health campaign.
NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

Term Assignment what to submit

1. A proposal is due October 3rd, 2013

This will consist of a detailed description of what you are going to do for
your assignment. It does not need to contain the actual content your
assignment will consist of.
Use the template provided on CULearn. Submitted via CULearn.
The proposal is worth 5% of the total 20% and is graded on a pass/fail
basis.

2. The assignment itself is due on the last day of class, December 5th,
2013

If youve created posters or something physical, submit those online via

CULearn (in PDF format please.)
If youve created a social media campaign, combine your posts into a
Word document, along with any pictures youd like, and submit online via
CULearn. You dont actually have to post anything on social media.
The assignment itself is worth 15% of your final grade (combined with the
proposal to make a total of 20%.)

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Term Assignment
Please visit cuLearn and
read the Assignment
Guidelines, Proposal
Template, and Assignment
Marking Rubric.

NEUR 1201 Fall 2013 Harry MacKay

Term Assignment
Its a good idea to start thinking about your assignment right away.
Look around for other mental health campaigns online and start
thinking about what you might do.
Check out the assigned articles for topics that interest you to see if
they are something youd like to cover.

If you have any questions about the assignment, please email your
TA.
I am opening a thread on the cuLearn discussion forums for
discussing the assignment.
Feel free to use this to share ideas and questions, or arrange groups
and collaborations.

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Questions?

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