The goal of Brain and Behavior II is to provide experiences, which enable the second year medical student to reinforce basic neuroscience concepts, and to understand pathologic characteristics, signs, symptoms, and treatment modalities for common neurologic and psychiatric disorders.

This course is an integrated neuroscience course emphasizing diseases and treatment of diseases of the nervous system and utilizing general concepts and principles of the basic and clinical neurosciences. The concepts and principles presented in the disciplines of neuropharmacology, neuropathology, psychiatry, and neurology are emphasized in this course.

Length of course: 6 weeks
This course begins in mid-November of the fall quarter
Credit hours: 14
Graduate students may enroll in this course with permission of the course director.

COURSE DIRECTOR
Bruce F. Giffin, Ph.D.
Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy
Office: G-158
558-5617
bruce.giffin@uc.edu

ORGANIZATION OF LECTURE TOPICS

The content organization of Brain and Behavior II has a heavy clinical emphasis and is organized in “content modules” which include didactic presentations as well as patient presentations and clinical case studies.

 REVIEW LECTURES (presented at the beginning of appropriate modules)

• brain reward systems
• basal ganglia
• pain and the analgesia system
• blood supply
• neuroanatomy of emotion and cognition
• neuroanatomy of coma

 SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• brain reward circuits
• psychoactive substance use disorders
• nicotine addiction
• neurobiology of abused drugs
• alcohol abuse and dependence
• pharmacology of alcohol
• overview of street drugs

 STOKE

• patient presentations
• cerebral vasculature and flow dynamics
• neuropathology of stroke
• ischemic stroke
• hemorrhagic stroke

 MULTILOCATION PATHOLOGIES

• cerebrospinal fluid system pathology
• infectious disease of the CNS
• stroke
• CNS neoplasms
• head trauma
• imaging of supratentorial mass lesions

 PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS

• schizophrenia
• psychotic disorders
• pharmacology of anti-psychotic drugs
• clinical use of drugs for the treatment of psychotic disorders

 PAIN

• pain and the analgesia system
• opioid analgesics
• NSAID analgesics
• principles of pain management
• headache and the treatment of headache

 MOOD DISORDERS

• neuroanatomy of cognition and emotion
• major depressive disorders
• mania
• suicide
• drugs for treating mood disorders

 ANXIETY DISORDERS

• panic disorder
• obsessive-compulsive disorder
• phobias
• pharmacology of anxiolytic drugs
• sleep disorders

 DISORDERS OF “GLOBAL CORTICAL ACTIVITY”

• neuroanatomy of coma
• coma and related disorders
• epilepsy
• pharmacology of antiepileptic drugs

 PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM / MOTOR / NEUROTRANSMITTER DISEASES

• diseases of the NMJ
• disorders of the motor system
• basal ganglia
• Parkinson’s disease
• dopamine systems
• pharmacology of Parkinson’s disease

 PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

• eating disorders
• impulse control disorders
• personality disorders
• psychiatric syndromes of childhood and adolescence
• somatoform, factitious and malingering disorders

 NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS, DELIRIUM, DEMENTIA

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Diseases affecting the myelin
• Delirium
• Dementia

 THE CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF BEHAVIOR  / PSYCHOTHERAPY

 CASE DISCUSSION GROUPS

Small group exercises analyze case histories of patients with stroke, tumors, neurodegenerative disorders, and infectious diseases of the CNS.

 WEEKLY CONTENT INTEGRATION CASES

These sessions are scheduled each week of the course on Friday afternoons. Attendance is optional. The purpose of these sessions is for the students to actively participate in working through clinical cases, which emphasize the major neuroscience concepts and principles discussed in the lectures during that week. These neurologic cases are designed to stimulate their interest in the neurosciences by demonstrating the relevance of the basic science information to the diagnosis of nervous system diseases and pathologies. Participation in these exercises also helps the students assess what material they have learned and retained.

NEUROIMAGING SELF-STUDY MODULE

Brain and Behavior II has a neuroimaging module similar to that described for Brain and Behavior I. This is a continuation of an exercise designed to (1) continue providing an introduction to the current methods, fundamentals, principles, and the application of neuroimaging techniques; (2) developing skills in interpreting normal and pathologic radiographic neuroanatomy; (3) introduce the imaging characteristics of some common disorders of the nervous system.