Psychology 4223G-001
Brain, Behaviour, and the Immune System
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This course will introduce the basic concepts of immune system function. The functional consequences of the relationship between the nervous system and the immune system will be examined with a special focus on immune influences on brain functions, and the influence of stress and psychological processes on the immune system.Prerequisites: Psychology 2220A/B, 2221A/B or Neuroscience 2000, and registration in third or fourth year Honours Specialization in Psychology, Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Honours Specialization in Neuroscience, Honours Specialization in Physiology/Psychology, or Honours Specialization in Animal Behaviour.
Other Psychology students and Psychology Special Students who receive 70% in the prerequisite courses may enrol in this course.
3 seminar hours, 0.5 course
Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor:
Prof. K.-P. Ossenkopp
Office and Phone Number: 9248 SSC; 519-661-2111 ext. 84656
Office Hours: Mondays 1 – 3 PM
Email: ossenkop@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Madeleine Brodbeck
Office: TBA
Office Hours: TBA
Email: mbrodbec@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Lectures: Thursday 2:30 – 5:30 in TH 3102
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Empirical journal articles, review articles, and book chapters will be made available as the required reading materials for the course.4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
The primary purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the basic scientific literature dealing with biological and behavioral mechanisms which help mammals defend against infection by micro- (bacteria and viruses) and macro- (multicellular) parasites. The immune system protects against potentially pathogenic microorganisms that are foreign to the body. Much evidence indicates that there is an intricate relationship between the immune system and the nervous system. This course will introduce the basic concepts of immune system function, examine the functional consequences of the relationship between the nervous system and the immune system with a special focus on immune influences on brain functions as well as the influence of stress and psychological processes on the immune system.5.0 EVALUATION
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2190-2990 level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf ):
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
Final grades will be based on class participation and class discussion of assigned readings (10%), the research proposal (20%), oral presentation of the special topic material (20%), the midterm exam (20%) and the final exam (30%). Both the midterm and the final exam will be a written exam consisting of definitions of terms, short essay questions, and a longer integrative essay. The research proposal will consist of a written proposal of a research project (at least 2500 words plus references) and the oral presentation will be based on the research proposal and consist of a 10 - 12 min presentation to the class.
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Final Exam – Exam Period
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
This course will include a mix of lecture material, critical evaluation of the journal and book literature by the students, and presentation of some DVD film material related to the course content. Students will be required to read the assigned material in order to participate in class discussion. Students will also be required to give an oral presentation on a specialized topic from the course and to prepare a research proposal based on this topic material. There also will be a midterm and a final exam (essay style) in the course, each of 2 hour duration.
(Tentative Schedule)
Jan 7 Course overview
Using data bases to obtain journal articles and book chapters
Information on doing the research proposal
Lecture #1 - Defending the body: biological defences
Introduction to the Immune system
Jan 14 Lecture #2 - Basic features of the immune system
Video: Basic Immunology
Readings: Aubert (1999) - Sickness and behavior in animals
Hart (1998) - Behavior of sick animals
Dantzer & Kelley (2007) – Cytokines and sickness behavior
Jan 21 Lecture #3 - Sickness behaviors as a defence system
Readings: Quan & Banks (2007) - Brain-Immune Communication pathways
Renault & Aubert (2006) - Immunity and Emotions
Natea et al., (2011) - Trained immunity
Jan 28 Lecture #4 - Endocrine- and Neuro-Immune Modulation
Video: Stress: Portrait of a Killer
Readings: Neural pathways mediating behavioral changes
Dunn (2009) - Neurochemical and endocrine responses to immune activation
Feb 4 Lecture #5 - Stress and Disease: Environmental Effects and Conditioned Effects
Video: Stress and Disease
Readings: Koolhaas et al., (1997) - Temporal aspects of social stress
Korte et al., (2005) - Darwinian concept of stress
Feb 11 MIDTERM EXAM (2 hr) in class
Feb 18 No Class (Reading week)
Feb 25 Lecture #6 - Pre- and neo-natal infections - behavioral effects
Readings: Meyer et al., (2009) – prenatal immune activation and brain disorders
Bilbo & Schwartz (2009) – early life programming – brain and behaviour
Avitsur et al., (2006) – early life stress and adult viral infection
Mar 3 Lecture #7 - Animal models: criteria and examples
Video: The mind: pain and healing
Readings: Prather et al., (2009) – Sex, stress and cytokine production
McAfoose & Baune (2009) – cytokines and Cognition
Grigoleit et al., (2011) – Neurobehavioral effects of LPS effects in humans
Mar 10 Lecture #8 - Animal models: Stress, infection and behavior
Video: Emotion and illness
Readings: Harris & Seckl (2011) – glucocorticoids, prenatal stress and disease
Hopwood et al., (2009) – bacterial and viral mimetics and sickness behaviours
Kohman et al., (2009) – bacterial toxins – mood, anxiety and cognition
Mar 17 Lecture #9 - Depression, anxiety and psychoneuroimmunology
Video: Deeply depressed
Readings: Chang et al., (2009) – cytokines and depression
Leonard and Myint (2009) – immune system and Depression
Lacosta et al., (1999) – LPS and anxiety in mice
Mar 24 Oral Presentations
Mar 31 Oral Presentations
Exam Period FINAL EXAM (2 hr)
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/pg117.html
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2015 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
