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Program Requirements
This Minor is intended to provide students with a basic understanding of how the nervous system functions. The Minor is composed of 24-25 credits: 9 required and 15-16 complementary. For the 15-16 complementary credits, at least 12-13 must be from outside the student's home department and at least 6 of the 12-13 must be at the 400 or 500 level. All course selections for the Minor must be approved by the program’s adviser, Ryan Bouma(Email: ryan.bouma [at] mcgill.ca; Office: Dawson Hall, Rm 405). Note 1: A maximum of 6-7 credits can be counted for both the student's primary program and for the Minor in Neuroscience.
Required Courses (9 credits)
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BIOL 200 Molecular Biology (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : The physical and chemical properties of the cell and its components in relation to their structure and function. Topics include: protein structure, enzymes and enzyme kinetics; nucleic acid replication, transcription and translation; the genetic code, mutation, recombination, and regulation of gene expression.
Terms: Fall 2016
Instructors: Zetka, Monique; Hastings, Kenneth E M; Roy, Richard D W; Lasko, Paul; Reyes Lamothe, Rodrigo (Fall)
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NSCI 200 Introduction to Neuroscience 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Neuroscience : An introduction to how nerve cells generate action potentials, communicate with one another at synapses, develop synaptic connections, early brain development, and the construction of specific neural circuits.
Terms: Fall 2016
Instructors: Ruthazer, Edward; Ernst, Carl; Murai, Keith (Fall)
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NSCI 201 Introduction to Neuroscience 2 (3 credits)
Overview
Neuroscience : An introduction to how the nervous system acquires and integrates information and uses it to produce behaviour.
Terms: Winter 2017
Instructors: Kostopoulos, Penelope (Winter)
Complementary Courses (16 credits)
15-16 credits selected as follows:
- At least 12-13 credits must be from outside the student's home department.
- At least 6 of the 12-13 credits have to be at the 400 or 500 level.
0-10 credits from the following list of 200- and 300-level courses:
* Students may select ANAT 212 or BIOC 212 or BIOL 201.
** Students may select either BIOL 306 or PHGY 314.
Note 2: Since CHEM 212 is a prerequisite/corequisite for NSCI 200 and BIOL 200, students must take CHEM 212 if they have not yet done so.
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ANAT 212 Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function (3 credits) *
Overview
Anatomy & Cell Biology : An introductory course describing the biochemistry and molecular biology of selected key functions of animal cells, including: gene expression; mitochondrial production of metabolic energy; cellular communication with the extra-cellular environment; and regulation of cell division.
Terms: Winter 2017
Instructors: Pause, Arnim; Bouchard, Maxime; Young, Jason (Winter)
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BIOC 212 Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function (3 credits) *
Overview
Biochemistry : An introductory course describing the biochemistry and molecular biology of selected key functions of animal cells, including: gene expression; mitochondrial production of metabolic energy; cellular communication with the extra-cellular environment; and regulation of cell division.
Terms: Winter 2017
Instructors: Pause, Arnim; Bouchard, Maxime; Young, Jason (Winter)
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BIOL 201 Cell Biology and Metabolism (3 credits) *
Overview
Biology (Sci) : This course introduces the student to our modern understanding of cells and how they work. Major topics to be covered include: photosynthesis, energy metabolism and metabolic integration; plasma membrane including secretion, endocytosis and contact mediated interactions between cells; cytoskeleton including cell and organelle movement; the nervous system; hormone signaling; the cell cycle.
Terms: Winter 2017
Instructors: Brouhard, Gary (Winter)
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BIOL 202 Basic Genetics (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Introduction to basic principles, and to modern advances, problems and applications in the genetics of higher and lower organisms with examples representative of the biological sciences.
Terms: Winter 2017, Summer 2017
Instructors: Moon, Nam Sung; Nilson, Laura; Schoen, Daniel J (Winter) Dankort, David; Hipfner, David (Summer)
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BIOL 300 Molecular Biology of the Gene (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : A survey of current knowledge and approaches in the area of regulation of gene expression, post-transcriptional control of gene expression, and signal transduction.
Terms: Fall 2016
Instructors: Schöck, Frieder; Moon, Nam Sung (Fall)
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BIOL 306 Neural Basis of Behaviour (3 credits) **
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Neural mechanisms of animal behaviour; neuroethology; cellular neurophysiology, integrative networks within nervous systems; neural control of movement; processing of sensory information.
Terms: Fall 2016
Instructors: Watt, Alanna; Sakata, Jon (Fall)
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BIOL 320 Evolution of Brain and Behaviour (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Functional and comparative approach to neuroanatomy, examining how species changes in brain organization contribute to evolutionary changes in behaviour.
Terms: Winter 2017
Instructors: Woolley, Sarah; Sakata, Jon (Winter)
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BIOL 389 Laboratory in Neurobiology (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Methods of neurobiological research, including extracellular and intracellular recordings, electrical stimulation, and the study of neuro-behavioural problems.
Terms: Winter 2017
Instructors: Watt, Alanna; Hendricks, Shelton; Oyama, Tomoko (Winter)
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CHEM 212 Introductory Organic Chemistry 1 (4 credits)
Overview
Chemistry : A survey of reactions of aliphatic and aromatic compounds including modern concepts of bonding, mechanisms, conformational analysis, and stereochemistry.
Terms: Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Summer 2017
Instructors: Daoust, Michel; Gauthier, Jean-Marc; Huot, Mitchell; Sleiman, Hanadi; Pavelka, Laura (Fall) Lumb, Jean-Philip; Pavelka, Laura; Daoust, Michel; Gauthier, Jean-Marc (Winter) Pavelka, Laura; Daoust, Michel (Summer)
Fall, Winter, Summer
Prerequisite: CHEM 110 or equivalent.
Corequisite: CHEM 120 or equivalent.
Restriction: Not open to students who are taking or have taken CHEM 211 or equivalent
Each lab section is limited enrolment
Note: Some CEGEP programs provide equivalency for this course. For more information, please see the Department of Chemistry's Web page ().
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LING 390 Neuroscience of Language (3 credits)
Overview
Linguistics : The neurobiological study of the human language faculty. Theoretical and experimental approaches to neurolinguistics, focusing on linguistic capacity in the healthy and damaged brain.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2016-2017 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2016-2017 academic year.
Fall
Prerequisite: An introductory course in Linguistics, Psychology or Neuroscience at the 200 level or above.
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NEUR 310 Cellular Neurobiology (3 credits)
Overview
Neurology and Neurosurgery : A survey of the functional organization of nerve cells, signalling in the nervous system, and principles of neural development. Topics include cell polarity, neurotransmitters, neurotrophins, receptors and second messengers, cell lineage, guidance of axon outgrowth, and nerve regeneration. Emphasis will be placed on analysis of neurons at the molecular level.
Terms: Winter 2017
Instructors: Cloutier, Jean-Francois; Ragsdale, David S; Kennedy, Timothy E (Winter)
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PHGY 311 Channels, Synapses & Hormones (3 credits)
Overview
Physiology : In-depth presentation of experimental results and hypotheses on cellular communication in the nervous system and the endocrine system.
Terms: Fall 2016
Instructors: Cooper, Ellis; Sjostrom, Per Jesper; Sharif Naeini, Reza (Fall)
Fall
3 hours of lectures per week; 1-3 hours optional lab/demonstration/tutorial arranged for a maximum of 3 afternoons per term
Prerequisite: PHGY 209 or permission of the instructor.
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PHGY 314 Integrative Neuroscience (3 credits) **
Overview
Physiology : In depth presentation of experimental results and hypotheses underlying our current understanding of how single neurons and ensembles of neurons encode sensory information, generate movement, and control cognitive functions such as emotion, learning, and memory, during voluntary behaviours.
Terms: Fall 2016
Instructors: Chacron, Maurice; Sharif Naeini, Reza; Cook, Erik (Fall)
Fall
3 hours of lectures per week
Prerequisites: PHGY 209
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PSYC 302 The Psychology of Pain (3 credits)
Overview
Psychology : An introduction to pain research and theory, with emphasis on the interactions of psychological, cultural and physiological factors in pain perception. The role of these factors in clinical pain and its management by pharmacological and non-pharmacological means will be discussed.
Terms: Fall 2016
Instructors: Mogil, Jeffrey (Fall)
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PSYC 311 Human Cognition and the Brain (3 credits)
Overview
Psychology : The course is an introduction to the field studying how human cognitive processes, such as perception, attention, language, learning and memory, planning and organization, are related to brain processes. The material covered is primarily based on studies of the effects of different brain lesions on cognition and studies of brain activity in relation to cognitive processes with modern functional neuroimaging methods.
Terms: Fall 2016, Summer 2017
Instructors: Petrides, Michalakis (Fall) Petrides, Michalakis (Summer)
Fall
2 lectures; 1 conference
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PSYC 315 Computational Psychology (3 credits)
Overview
Psychology : Application of computational methods to the simulation of psychological phenomena. Comparison of natural and artificial intelligence. Symbolic and neural network techniques. Methods for evaluating simulations.
Terms: Fall 2016
Instructors: Shultz, Thomas R (Fall)
Fall
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Restriction: Not open to U0 or U1 students.
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PSYC 317 Genes and Behaviour (3 credits)
Overview
Psychology : Focuses on current techniques employed to study which genes influence behaviour, and how they do so.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2016-2017 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this