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 Undergraduate Course: Somatosensory Mechanisms (NEBM10012)
Course Outline
| School | School of Biomedical Sciences | College | College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine |  
| Course type | Standard | Availability | Not available to visiting students |  
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) | Credits | 10 |  
| Home subject area | Neuroscience (Biomedical Sciences) | Other subject area | None |  
| Course website | None | Taught in Gaelic? | No |  
| Course description | Pain normally serves as a warning signal of impending danger which elicits behavioural responses that function to protect the body from injury. These $ùpain behaviours&© are therefore essential for survival. If, however injury does take place, there is significant plasticity within the somatosensory system in order to adapt behavioural responses to promote repair and recovery. This injury induced plasticity is adaptive but if these changes persist following healing or occur in response to disease or nervous system injury these changes can be maladaptive and result in chronic pain which is difficult to treat.  This course will introduce the transduction apparatus and neural pathways that mediate somatosensation; explore the plasticity that can occur within somatosensory pathways that leads to debilitating chronic pain conditions and how these manifest in the clinic; discuss the challenges in translating basic pain research into effective treatments in the clinic and outline how this system develops and the consequences for somatosensation in the newborn |  
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites | It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed    
Pharmacology 3 (BIME09003) OR   
Physiology 3 (BIME09004) 
 | Co-requisites |  |  
| Prohibited Combinations |  | Other requirements | None |  
| Additional Costs | None |  
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |  
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes 
| Increased understanding of biological processes. Detailed learning outcomes will be provided later.
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Assessment Information 
| 100% In-Course Assessment. |  
Special Arrangements 
| Directors of Studies must contact the Programme Administrator or Programme Organiser for Honours Neuroscience before registering a student for this course.  Priority is given to Honours Neuroscience students. |  
Additional Information 
| Academic description | Not entered |  
| Syllabus | Not entered |  
| Transferable skills | Not entered |  
| Reading list | Not entered |  
| Study Abroad | Not entered |  
| Study Pattern | Not entered |  
| Keywords | NEUROSomatMechs |  
Contacts 
| Course organiser | Prof Richard Ribchester Tel: (0131 6)50 3256
 Email: rrr@ed.ac.uk
 | Course secretary | Ms Tina Harvey Tel: (0131 6)50 5059
 Email: Tina.Harvey@ed.ac.uk
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