Neuroscience and Psychology Course

Lesson 1 • History of Neuroscience and Psychology

Traces the evolution from phrenology to modern neuroimaging, grounding students in how the field developed. Provides context for interpreting current theories and methods.

Lesson 2 • Brain Anatomy and Organisation

Maps the central and peripheral nervous systems, emphasising lobes, subcortical structures, and major pathways. Enables accurate region-to-function attribution in later chapters.

Lesson 3 • Cells of the Nervous System

Covers neuron anatomy, glial cell types, and their roles in neural communication. Builds the cellular foundation required for understanding synaptic transmission.

Lesson 1 • Major Neurotransmitter Systems

Profiles dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, GABA, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine pathways. Links each system to specific psychological functions and clinical relevance.

Lesson 2 • Synaptic Transmission

Details vesicle release, receptor binding, and postsynaptic potentials at chemical synapses. Connects molecular events to observable behavioural and psychological outcomes.

Lesson 3 • Resting and Action Potentials

Explains ion gradients, membrane permeability, and the sequence of depolarisation and repolarisation. Provides the biophysical basis for all subsequent signalling concepts.

Lesson 1 • Multisensory Integration

Examines how the brain combines signals from multiple senses to form coherent percepts. Introduces the superior colliculus and parietal cortex as integration hubs.

Lesson 2 • Attention and Perceptual Selection

Distinguishes top-down and bottom-up attention, covering neural correlates in frontal and parietal cortex. Connects attentional mechanisms to perception, awareness, and neglect syndromes.

Lesson 3 • Sensory Transduction Principles

Covers receptor types, signal transduction cascades, and sensory coding strategies across modalities. Establishes the shared logic underlying all sensory systems.

Lesson 1 • Conditioning and Associative Learning

Covers classical and operant conditioning, their neural circuits, and predictive coding frameworks. Bridges behavioural learning theory with its neurobiological implementation.

Lesson 2 • Synaptic Plasticity Mechanisms

Details long-term potentiation, long-term depression, and spike-timing-dependent plasticity at the molecular level. Establishes the cellular basis for all learning phenomena discussed later.

Lesson 3 • Neuroplasticity Across the Lifespan

Surveys critical periods, adult neurogenesis, and experience-dependent cortical reorganisation. Connects plasticity principles to rehabilitation and educational applications.

Lesson 4 • Memory Consolidation and Retrieval

Examines systems consolidation, sleep-dependent memory processing, and retrieval-induced forgetting. Prepares students to evaluate clinical interventions targeting memory disorders.

Lesson 1 • Stress Neurobiology

Details acute and chronic stress responses, glucocorticoid effects on the brain, and allostatic load. Prepares students to understand stress-related cognitive and emotional impairments.

Lesson 2 • Reward, Motivation, and Drive

Analyses dopaminergic reward circuits, incentive salience, and homeostatic drives for hunger and thirst. Links motivational neuroscience to goal-directed behaviour and addiction vulnerability.

Lesson 3 • Neural Basis of Emotion

Examines the limbic system, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex in emotion generation and regulation. Evaluates competing theories of emotion from James-Lange to constructionist accounts.

Lesson 1 • Altered States and Disorders of Consciousness

Examines coma, vegetative states, anaesthesia, and psychedelic-induced alterations using neural frameworks. Develops critical evaluation of consciousness assessment tools in clinical settings.

Lesson 2 • Sleep Architecture and Stages

Describes NREM and REM sleep stages, their EEG signatures, and cycling patterns across the night. Connects sleep architecture to memory consolidation covered in Chapter 4.

Lesson 3 • Arousal Systems and Wakefulness

Maps ascending arousal systems including noradrenergic, histaminergic, and orexinergic pathways. Explains how these systems maintain wakefulness and are disrupted in sleep disorders.

Lesson 1 • Language and the Brain

Covers Broca's and Wernicke's areas, the dual-stream model, and neural bases of reading and speech. Examines aphasia types as evidence for language network organisation.

Lesson 2 • Social Cognition and the Social Brain

Examines theory of mind, empathy, and moral reasoning using the default mode and mirror neuron networks. Connects social neuroscience to autism spectrum and antisocial conditions.

Lesson 3 • Creativity and Cognitive Flexibility

Investigates default mode, executive, and salience network interactions underlying creative thought. Applies findings to innovation, problem-solving, and educational design.

Lesson 4 • Decision-Making and Neuroeconomics

Applies prospect theory and dual-process models to neural circuits in orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex. Explains how emotion and cognition jointly shape choices.

Lesson 1 • Addiction and Substance Use Disorders

Traces addiction from initial reward to compulsive use using mesolimbic and prefrontal circuit changes. Evaluates behavioural and pharmacological relapse prevention strategies.

Lesson 2 • Psychotic and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Covers dopamine dysregulation in schizophrenia, glutamate hypotheses, and neural bases of ADHD and autism. Connects developmental neuroscience to symptom onset and trajectory.

Lesson 3 • Neurodegenerative and Traumatic Conditions

Examines Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and traumatic brain injury through protein aggregation and circuit disruption lenses. Prepares students to evaluate neuroprotective and rehabilitative interventions.

Lesson 4 • Therapeutic Approaches and Brain Stimulation

Reviews psychotherapy mechanisms, pharmacotherapy targets, and brain stimulation techniques including TMS and deep brain stimulation. Integrates treatment science with circuit-level understanding.