General for course
- Student can explain (simple) animal behaviours with neurobiological mechanisms
- Student has a firm understanding of neuronal physiology and is familiar with
common electrophysiological, imaging and behavioural techniques.
- Student has a theoretical understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of
prominent forms of neuroplasticity
- Student has an overview of model organisms to study neuronal plasticity and
behaviour
- Student is able to read and comprehend classic and modern literature on neuronal
plasticity and animal behaviour
- Student is able to reflect on the ethical issues of working with animal model systems
Introduction lecture:
- What are Tinbergen’s 4 questions?
- What are 4 external stimuli?
- What are a few examples of internal stimuli?
- What are internal states?
- What factors induce individual variability?
- What are the 3 different levels of understanding in neurobiology?
o What do these levels study?
General animal behaviour lecture:
- What is behaviour?
- What are the 6 processes that underly behaviour physically?
- What is the main theory in a cost-benefit approach of behavioural biology?
- What are the 3 ways in which learning can be classified?
o For each way explain an experiment illustrating this type of learning.
- What is behaviourism?
- What is ethology?
- What are 3 ethology important ethology experiments?
- What are Tinbergen’s 4 questions?
o How can you divide them into categories?
- How does sign stimulus-response work?
- What can influence the outcome of a non-fixed sign-stimulus response?
- What is homeostasis?
- What are the most important (9) motivational behaviours systems?
- How are motivation and behaviour interlinked? What other influences are there?
o Give an example for sleep
- How are hierarchy, inhibition and feedback +/- relevant to motivation systems?
- What is the feedback loop in homeostasis?
, - What is emotion?
- How can positive and negative emotions influence behaviour?
- What is appetitive behaviour?
- What is consummatory behaviour?
- What are the 3 functions of emotions?
- How does the Rolls (2000) diagram for emotions work?
- What is an affective state?
- How does the Mendl (2020) diagram for affective states work?
- What are the main differences between Rolls and Mendl’s diagram?
- What is the difference between liking and wanting?
- What part of the brain is responsible for the liking part?
- What part of the brain is responsible for the wanting part?
- What are ethological needs?
- What is the Reticular Activating System?
- How does the mesolimbic reward system work?
o How can you experimentally prove that this influences reward seeking
behaviour?
Brain evolution lecture:
- What is natural selection?
- What does selection act on?
- How can evolution select for cognition?
- What is homology?
- What is analogy?
- What are phylogenetic comparative methods?
- What questions can each method help answer?
- What is phylogenetic signal?
- Why do we want to control for phylogenetic signal?
- What is cognition?
- What is the difference between physical and social cognition?
- What are the main differences between the general cognition and biocentric
approach?
- What are the main points in general cognition?
- What are the problems with the general cognition theory?
- What are the experiments discussed for general cognition?
- What is biocentric cognition?
- What are the experiments discussed for biocentric cognition?
- How does brain evolution work for brain areas?
- What is neuro-ecology?
- What are the experiments discussed for neuro-ecology?
o For natural selection
- Student can explain (simple) animal behaviours with neurobiological mechanisms
- Student has a firm understanding of neuronal physiology and is familiar with
common electrophysiological, imaging and behavioural techniques.
- Student has a theoretical understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of
prominent forms of neuroplasticity
- Student has an overview of model organisms to study neuronal plasticity and
behaviour
- Student is able to read and comprehend classic and modern literature on neuronal
plasticity and animal behaviour
- Student is able to reflect on the ethical issues of working with animal model systems
Introduction lecture:
- What are Tinbergen’s 4 questions?
- What are 4 external stimuli?
- What are a few examples of internal stimuli?
- What are internal states?
- What factors induce individual variability?
- What are the 3 different levels of understanding in neurobiology?
o What do these levels study?
General animal behaviour lecture:
- What is behaviour?
- What are the 6 processes that underly behaviour physically?
- What is the main theory in a cost-benefit approach of behavioural biology?
- What are the 3 ways in which learning can be classified?
o For each way explain an experiment illustrating this type of learning.
- What is behaviourism?
- What is ethology?
- What are 3 ethology important ethology experiments?
- What are Tinbergen’s 4 questions?
o How can you divide them into categories?
- How does sign stimulus-response work?
- What can influence the outcome of a non-fixed sign-stimulus response?
- What is homeostasis?
- What are the most important (9) motivational behaviours systems?
- How are motivation and behaviour interlinked? What other influences are there?
o Give an example for sleep
- How are hierarchy, inhibition and feedback +/- relevant to motivation systems?
- What is the feedback loop in homeostasis?
, - What is emotion?
- How can positive and negative emotions influence behaviour?
- What is appetitive behaviour?
- What is consummatory behaviour?
- What are the 3 functions of emotions?
- How does the Rolls (2000) diagram for emotions work?
- What is an affective state?
- How does the Mendl (2020) diagram for affective states work?
- What are the main differences between Rolls and Mendl’s diagram?
- What is the difference between liking and wanting?
- What part of the brain is responsible for the liking part?
- What part of the brain is responsible for the wanting part?
- What are ethological needs?
- What is the Reticular Activating System?
- How does the mesolimbic reward system work?
o How can you experimentally prove that this influences reward seeking
behaviour?
Brain evolution lecture:
- What is natural selection?
- What does selection act on?
- How can evolution select for cognition?
- What is homology?
- What is analogy?
- What are phylogenetic comparative methods?
- What questions can each method help answer?
- What is phylogenetic signal?
- Why do we want to control for phylogenetic signal?
- What is cognition?
- What is the difference between physical and social cognition?
- What are the main differences between the general cognition and biocentric
approach?
- What are the main points in general cognition?
- What are the problems with the general cognition theory?
- What are the experiments discussed for general cognition?
- What is biocentric cognition?
- What are the experiments discussed for biocentric cognition?
- How does brain evolution work for brain areas?
- What is neuro-ecology?
- What are the experiments discussed for neuro-ecology?
o For natural selection
