Biopsychology II Level 3 Certificate Course

There are 7 lessons:

1. Evolution, Genetics and Experience
   • What is biopsychology
   • The organism's genetic endowment, experience and perception.
   • Adaptation
   • Behavioural genetics
   • The nature nurture debate
   • The human genome
   • Benefits of genetic research
   • Critical policy and ethical issues
2. Research Methods in Biopsychology
   • Behavioural genetics
   • Methods of investigating the brain: insvasive and non invasive
   • Localisation of function
   • Neuroanatomical techniques
   • Psychophysiological measures
   • Other methods
   • Lesions
3. Brain Damage
   • Causes of brain damage
   • Frontal lobe damage
   • Damage to other areas and effects
   • Types of brain damage
   • Case study : Phineas Gage
   • Case study: diagnosing epilepsy
   • Case study: Alzeimer's disease
4. Recovery from Brain Damage
   • Neuro plasticity
   • Stages of recovery: unresponsiveness, early responses, agitated and confused, higher level responses,
   • Case study: Parkinson's disease
   • Parkinsons disease symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, stages, etc
   • Drug treatments for parlinson's disease
   • Complimentary and supportive therapies for Parkinson's disease
   • Coping with Parkinson's disease
   • Terminology
5. Drug Dependence and the Brain
   • Drugs
   • Definitions
   • Effects of illegal drugs
   • Other drugs: steroids, barbituates, etc
   • Physiological and psychological effects of drugs: illicits, stimulants
   • Addiction: how drugs work in the brain
   • Central nervous system
6. Memory
   • Models of memory: multistore model, eorking memory model, levels of processing model
   • Levels of processing model
   • Amnesia and types of amnesia
   • Case study: traumatic amnesia
   • Case study: Korsakoff's syndrome (Alcohol amnesic syndrome)
7. Language
   • The brain and language
   • Paul Broca
   • Carl Wernicke
   • Aphasia and Diphasia
   • Apraxia

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.