Electrophysiology for Psychology and Neuroscience
Proposed Third Year Psychology Course
1. Course Information
Instructor: Bruno Mesquita
Phone: TBA
Office Hours: See Brightspace for details
Email: bmesquit@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: TBA
Office: TBA
Office Hours: TBA
Email: TBA
Time and Location: TBA
Course Requisites:
Antirequisite: Psychology 3222G
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. If you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
Prerequisites: Any one of PSYHCOL 2220A/B, PSYCHOL2221A/B. or Neuroscience 2000
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. Course Description
Electrophysiology is the study of nervous system by careful measurement of bioelectrical activity in the central and peripheral nervous systems. This course aims to provide you with a gentle introduction to the fundamental principles of physics and physiology necessary for understanding techniques ranging from intracellular recordings to electroencephalography in non-invasive human research, as well as approaches for analyzing these data.
We begin by covering key physics concepts in electricity, and circuits, before moving on to fundamental principles of digital signal processing, including filtering, frequency, and time-domain analysis, essential tools for analyzing electrophysiological data. Then, we will explore the physiology of nervous and muscle tissue, examining how all these elements come together to form the field of electrophysiology.
During this course, through a combination of lectures and hands-on lab assignments, we will explore major electrophysiological techniques used in neuroscience and psychology, such as patch-clamp and sharp electrode recording, electromyography (EMG), and electroencephalography (EEG). Practical lab activities will provide you with first-hand experience, conducting simple experiments and writing laboratory reports.
During the final part of the course, a portion of certain lectures will take the form of student-led discussions, where small groups will conduct “journal clubs” on selected papers that utilize the techniques covered throughout the course.
All things considered, this course will form an excellent introduction to a variety of important techniques in experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, allowing students who are interested in pursuing a career in research to feel more confident and prepared for future endeavours.
3. Course Materials
Reading/Content Materials
Supplemental reading material or videos related to the topics explored in the lectures will be available in OWL Brightspace. Recommended journal articles both for additional reading as well as for the journal club discussions will be listed in the OWL Brightspace but may require access through Western’s Library Services.
Hardware and Software
For successful completion of the coding assignments, and data analysis and visualization portions of the laboratory reports, students will require access to a computer. Coding assignments will be done in Python (completely free, instructions on how to install will be made available in OWL). Students are welcome to use any preferred coding language and/or software of their choice for any necessary data manipulation and visualization for the laboratory reports.
Laboratory equipment
Students are expected to bring a notebook or any note taking device they may prefer to lessons in the laboratory. Certain laboratory activities may require the use of a lab coat or additional personal protective equipment. If that is the case, they will be available to borrow from the laboratory prep room. Any materials needed for conducting laboratory activities will be supplied.
4. Learning Outcomes
| By the end of this course, students will be able to: | This learning outcome will be demonstrated through: |
| Explain the basic physics principles in electricity and circuits. | Biweekly AssignmentsLab Reports |
| Comprehend and describe the physiology of nervous and muscle tissue, with particular focus on specific key concepts such as the mechanisms of action potential at the cellular level. | Biweekly AssignmentsLab ReportsJournal Club Presentation |
| Apply scientific rigour to simple experiments and communicate findings in reports. | Lab Reports |
| Pre-process and analyze electrical bio signals, as well as plot figures to illustrate their findings. | Lab ReportsBiweekly Assignments |
| Critically engage with publications in scientific journals. Interpret figures and methodologies and communicate these to their peers in an accessible manner. | Journal Club Presentation |
5. Methods of Evaluation
Biweekly Assignments (36%)
The six biweekly assignments (worth 6% each) have the primary goal of assessing student’s understanding of the fundamental concepts explored during the class lessons. They will be posted in OWL Brightspace the day of the relevant class and students will have until the start of the next class to submit their work. These assignments can take the form of short essay questions or small coding assignments.
Lab Reports (48%)
Six lab reports (worth 8% each) will be the primary assessment in this course. The lab activities are done in groups of varying size depending on the lab, but reports are submitted individually. Laboratory activities occur biweekly, and laboratory reports are due before the start of the next activity.
Journal Club Presentation (16%)
During the later portion of the course, some of the lecture component of the course will take up a reduced portion of the time slot, with the remaining time dedicated to student-led journal clubs. Each week, different groups of students will be presenting a paper selected by the instructor or, if they wish, a paper selected by them which was previously approved by the instructor. The grading of this portion will be a combination of the instructor’s (12%) and peer (4%) evaluation.
6. Accommodation, Missed Work, and Attendance
University policy on academic considerations are described here. These include considerations for medical, religious, compassionate, and exam-related accommodation.
Policy on Missed Coursework
If you miss the submission deadline for a Biweekly Assignment or Lab Report and have a documented accommodation approved by the academic counselling office in your home faculty, you will receive a new deadline to submit the assignment (in the case of missed attendance for the lab, see next section). If for similar reasons you are unable to meaningfully contribute to your group’s Journal Club facilitation, you will receive an individual assignment of equivalent worth to your final grade.
Policy on Attendance
Although attendance for the class lessons for this course is optional, attendance on the laboratory component of this course is mandatory. Arriving over 30 minutes after the designated start time of the lab activities will result in an absence. If unforeseen circumstances prevent you from attending a session, you may seek academic consideration to be excused of your absence. In that case, you will also receive an alternative assignment to make-up for the missed Lab Report of equivalent worth to your final grade.
7. Class Schedule
Class Lessons Schedule.
| Week | Date | Topic |
| 1 | Course overview, and basic principles in electricity | |
| 2 | Circuits and relevance to electrophysiology. | |
| 3 | Introduction to Digital Signals | |
| 4 | Digital Signal Analysis | |
| 5 | The Neuron and the Nervous System. | |
| 6 | No Class- Thanksgiving Day. | |
| 7 | Membrane Potential. | |
| 8 | Synaptic Transmission. | |
| 9 | No Class – Reading Week | |
| 10 | Invasive Electrophysiology + Journal Club 1 | |
| 11 | Electroencephalography History and theory. | |
| 12 | Electroencephalography Practice + Journal Club 2 | |
| 13 | Electrophysiology of Muscle Tissue | |
| 14 | Electromyography + Journal Club 3 |
Laboratory Schedule.
| Week | Dates | Topic |
| 2 | Circuits | |
| 4 | Digital Signal Processing Tutorial | |
| 8 | Extracellular Recordings | |
| 10 | Intracellular Recordings | |
| 12 | Electroencephalography | |
| 14 | Electromyography |
8. Teaching Rationale
I believe that the best way to learn a new subject is through practice and active engagement in a supportive yet challenging environment. With this in mind, this course is designed to be primarily student-centered. Class lessons incorporate active learning strategies, while laboratory activities provide hands-on experience with the techniques covered in the course. Additionally, the journal club sessions foster reading, critical thinking, and scientific communication skills, allowing students to learn from one another in a collaborative setting.
Many of the marked activities throughout this course, such as the laboratory activities and journal club facilitation involve group work. I believe that science is most efficient through collaboration and thus value the opportunity to exercise these skills through this course. Groups will vary throughout the course and will be formed by mutual interest in the topic (in certain laboratory activities, and in the Journal Clubs), or through some degree of randomization. Some students may have had negative experiences with group work like this in the past, and I am sympathetic to these worries. I encourage everyone to give your best to work collaboratively with a wide variety of peers, as this in of itself is a skill to be developed, but if by any reason you do not feel comfortable or safe in a particular group, I am open to accommodate your preferences as discretely as possible.
9. Instructor Policies
Accessibility
If you feel like the course materials or the way in which they are presented are not accessible to you for any reason, or if you require any other arrangements to make the course more accessible to you, please do not hesitate to contact the course instructor directly.
Attendance, Lateness, and Participation
As described in section 6 of this syllabus, attendance in the laboratory sections is mandatory for this course. Attendance for class lessons, although not mandatory, is highly recommended, as it reflects the major portion of where content relevant to the laboratory activities and other methods of evaluation will be covered.
Although participation is not graded, this course is designed with active learning strategies in mind. Therefore, participation and engagement in activities is highly important to get the most out of this course. Since participation is not graded, there are no penalties for being “wrong” or asking questions during activities, and we similarly hope to foster an environment where students will be involved in creating a learning environment where their peers are comfortable in making mistakes or practice communicating about science and the concepts discussed in this course.
E-mail and Office Hours.
Any questions related to course policies or content may be e-mailed to the course instructor. We only ask that prior do doing so, students ensure that this information is not already covered in the course syllabus. If no response is received from the instructor within a week, kindly reply to the original e-mail with a reminder. If questions require more timely attention, within reason, please include a tag of [Urgent] in the subject line of the e-mail.
For office hours please consult the course information section of this document. Students are encouraged to attend office hours for any course-related questions. Students may also wish to make use of this time to ask questions that are general about academia, psychology, or neuroscience, although priority will be given to students with course-related questions.
Inclusivity, Diversity, and Respect
Students at Western University will have their perspectives shaped by a diverse range of personal experiences, which may vary in a range of representations which may include (but are not limited to) academic background, race, culture, gender, religion, and socioeconomic status. Those enrolled in this course are expected to be mindful and respectful of this fact and actively participate in creating and nurturing a welcoming environment for themselves and their peers.
Use of Electronic Devices and Generative AI
Students are allowed to freely use electronic devices in class (laptops, tablets, cell phones) if this is done without distracting and disrupting those around them (for example, with sound turned off). During any form of group activity, students will be expected to restrict use of such devices to course-related activities, so as to properly engage with their colleagues.
Generative AI is a tool that may be used ethically and responsibly. This means that students may make use of tools such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek within their own best judgement for study and elaboration of ideas. However, all work submitted by the student that is subject to evaluation must be a product of the student, capturing their own words and expressing their own ideas. Generative AI may still be used, within reason, to help reword statements or correct grammatical mistakes, but any final version submitted is still expected to be primarily written by the student.
10. University Policies
Academic Integrity
Scholastic offences are taken seriously, and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_disciplin e_undergrad.pdf
Plagiarism Detection Software
All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. 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 The University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).
11. Resources and Support Services
Office of the Registrar
Student Development Services
Western offers a variety of resources that may help improve your learning experience. These may include tools for improving your learning skills through Learning Development & Success or improve your writing through the Writing Support Centre. These and other resources may be found at sdc.uwo.ca
Psychology Undergraduate Program
Mental Health Support Services
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness@Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
Statement on gender-Based and Sexual Violence
Western is committed to reducing incidents of gender-based and sexual violence (GBSV) and providing compassionate support to anyone who is going through or has gone through these traumatic events. If you are experiencing or have experienced GBSV (either recently or in the past), you will find information about support services for survivors, including emergency contacts at the following website: https://www.uwo.ca/health/student_support/survivor_support/get-help.html To connect with a case manager or set up an appointment, please contact support@uwo.ca.