Cognitive Neuroscience (C8517)

15 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

The module aims to provide students with an understanding of how research in cognitive neuroscience has informed our understanding of cognitive processes in the brain. Sussex has an excellent reputation of research in cognitive neuroscience and the course is taught by an expert in the field. Evidence is drawn from a wide variety of methods. These include case studies of brain-damaged individuals (similar to those featured in 'The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat'), electrical recordings of 'brainwaves' (EEG), and neuroimaging using fMRI.

These methods provide unprecedented clues about the organization of cognition in the living human brain. Following a discussion of the main methods, the remaining lectures will be organised around a series of different cognitive processes such as: recognising objects and faces, space and action, memory and amnesia, brain development, the musical brain, executive control of behaviour, and understanding numbers.

Teaching

100%: Lecture

Assessment

20%: Coursework (Test)
80%: Written assessment (Essay)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses: