Prospectus | 08/09 - Psychology and Neuroscience - Maastricht ...

Prospectus Research Master Psychology 2008 • 2009
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brain. It is essential to have a basic knowledge of the brain anatomy when working in
the field of neuropsychology or neurobiology. Many specific brain areas can be linked
to particular functions. Thus, knowledge of the brain anatomy and its main functions
allows one to directly link specific neurological or psychiatric disorders to particular
brain areas. After a short theoretical introduction the students will study whole
brains and brain material of mammals at both macroscopical (visual inspection) and
microscopical level. The emphasis will be on major brain systems including the basal
ganglia and limbic system.
Instructional Approach
Almost exclusively practical: dissection of sheep brain, studying of microscopical
slices of rat brain, working with plastic human brain models, CD-ROM programs and
textbook.
Form of Assessment
Pass/fail score based on written exam with open questions.
| 424CN Programming in Matlab Basic Course– 2 credits
Coordinator: Giancarlo Valente, Cognitive Neuroscience (FPN) , Phone 38 82469,
40 Universiteitssingel East, Room 4.747, E-mail: giancarlo.valente@psychology.unimaas.nl
Description of the Course
Matlab is a powerful environment for numerical computation, data analysis and
visualization. It is, in essence, a programming language that has built in primitives
for common scientific tasks that require many operations in other languages, such as
C or Pascal. Examples are tasks such as matrix algebra (used in statistical analysis of
data), Fourier transforms (used in signal processing), or 2D or 3D plots for visualization
of data or analysis-results. Many complete packages for the analysis of cognitive
neuroimaging data (e.g., fMRI data or EEG/MEG data) are implemented in Matlab.
Thus, usage of these packages requires at least a basic understanding of Matlab.
Furthermore, if more advanced analysis or visualization is needed that is not offered
by existing packages, developing such new functionality in Matlab is often the most
convenient option. The first part of the course will deal with algebra and matrix
decompositions as an introduction to how Matlab primarily represent and processes
data: as matrices. Subsequently, we study in detail the usage of the environment: the
prompt, the workspace, getting help, loading, saving and visualizing data. We introduce
the principles behind programming, with particular emphasis on neuroimaging
applications.
Instructional Approach
Lectures, computer sessions combined in an interactive format.
Form of Assessment
Programming exercises throughout the training and assignments.