Undergraduate Course: Genetic and Environmental Influences on Behaviour and Mental Health (BIME10022)
Course Outline
School | School of Biomedical Sciences |
College | College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine |
Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
Summary | The course aims to give students an understanding of how genetic and environmental factors may influence behaviour and cognition with an emphasis on the impact of stress and aging on mental health. There will be a special focus on how reprogramming of the stress response as a result of prenatal factors during pregnancy, life experiences and ageing impacts susceptibility to psychiatric disorders. Psychiatric disorders attributable to chronic stress that will be discussed include generalised anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, impairment of cognitive ability, addiction and schizophrenia. |
Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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Academic year 2014/15, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
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Lecture Hours 23,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 15,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 4,
Revision Session Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
150 )
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Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
70 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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Additional Information (Assessment) |
In-course assessment: Students will give oral presentations in small groups; e.g. critiques of scientific papers and strategies for addressing research questions. They will be required to submit individual overviews of these presentations for assessment (30%).
Degree examination (70%).
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Feedback |
Not entered |
Exam Information |
Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Genetic and Environmental Influences on Behaviour and Mental Health | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course students should:
- understand how genetic analysis is applied to identify risk factors for complex genetic disorders
- understand how genetic variance and inheritance can influence individual risk for psychiatric illness.
- be able to describe the components of the stress response and understand how they interact to produce a co-ordinated response to a wide variety of stressors.
- understand how stress exposure at different life stages can impact upon mental health and risk for developing psychiatric illness
- be able to describe the genetic and environmental factors that impact upon cognitive decline with aging
- be able to critically read and analyse data presented within original research manuscripts and discuss the significance of the findings
- demonstrate an ability to present scientific issues to an audience and openly debate them
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Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
Keywords | Genetics, environment, stress, behaviour, mental health |
Contacts
Course organiser | Dr Pauline Jamieson
Tel:
Email: Pauline.Jamieson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Caroline Morris
Tel: (0131 6)51 3255
Email: c.d.morris@ed.ac.uk |
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© Copyright 2014 The University of Edinburgh - 12 January 2015 3:31 am
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