Behavioral Neurobiology

Aim

The student will increase her/his understanding of brain function in general and the role of hemispheric specialization in particular. The student will develop a proficiency in finding, evaluating and compiling primary and secondary research literature on a specific topic. The student will learn to design and conduct experiments on hemispheric specialization and to perform proper analysis of the data obtained. The student will improve her/his skills in summarizing and communicating the results of her/his own experimental results as well as of literature searches in both written and oral form.

Content

The course is centered around different aspects of hemispheric specialization as an approach to better understand brain function. Topics include:

• Anatomical, neurochemical and behavioral asymmetries in the brain
• Phylogeny of lateralized brain function
• Ontogeny of lateralized brain function
• Significance and adaptive value of lateralized behavior
• Experimental approaches to assess hemispheric specialization
• Searching and reading primary scientific literature within areas relevant for the course.
• Critical assessments, written summaries and oral presentations of scientific literature