PS3141 Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience

PS3141 Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience

 

PS3141 Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience

Contributes50% to final course grade.

Word Count: 2,500

 Assignment Information:

Evaluate the evidence that activity in the prefrontal cortex supports working memory and rule-guided behaviour.

Guidance:

1. Please do your best to pace yourself and work at a steady and sustainable rate. This coursework is based on the first lecture, and the intention is to give you plenty of time to work on this before the deadline.
2. Ensure that in your essay you explain your understanding of working memory and rule-guided behaviour as explained in the neuroscience research literature. What are the commonly used behaviours in experiments? What is it about these behavioural models that probe rule processing and working memory?

• Show that you have read the relevant literature and understood experiments that test for prefrontal activity (e.g. fMRI and single unit activity in monkeys). Your essay will gain marks for showing an appreciation of the details of particular experiments (e.g. the reasoning behind the use of particular experimental designs, such as the use of delay periods in studies of working memory).

1. Make sure that you show an understanding of the ‘big picture’ theoretical ideas about how the prefrontal cortex is thought to work. Relate these theoretical ideas back to the experimental work.
2. The reading list will contain the core material that you should read and select from, but you are also encouraged to discover other, related literature that you feel addresses the question. This shows evidence of initiative in reading beyond the reading list, for which you will be given appropriate credit. Use the lecture content as a general guide, but if you are unsure about whether or not particular papers are relevant, think about whether they link in a strong or a weak way to the question (do they address issues about how prefrontal activity might support working memory and rule processing?).

For further information on the departmental policies below please refer to the informationfor current students on the Psychology Student Information Moodle Page;

• Coursework requirements, including word count
• Deadlines and penalties for late submission
• Extensions
• Assessment offences