Course details
Course description
What are the correlates of consciousness in the brain? The course provides a framework for addressing these questions from a scientific point of view. The course will focus on the neuronal correlates of sensory consciousness. 

   Classes treat the neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and psychology of the primate's visual system, although experiments from other modalities will be discussed as well. Topics to be covered include the anatomy and physiology of the primate's visual system (retina, thalamus, the cerebral cortex), unconscious (zombie) processing in normal subjects as well as in sleep-walkers, temporal lobe epilepsy patients and other clinical conditions, the relationship between attention and consciousness, various pathologies of consciousness (neglect, blindsight, split-brain, prosopagnosia, frontal patients), time and consciousness, memory and consciousness, thinking and consciousness, the function of consciousness and the question of free will.

   The supreme aim of the class is to emphasize the empirical nature of the mind-body problem.

Course requirements
Students who are taking CNS/Bi 120 for nine units of credit are required to 
  • Attend all lectures, 
  • Participate in three, 5-min, in-class quizzes, 
  • Hand in six homeworks on time, 
  • Write an abstract and a five page proposal for some empirical investigation relating to any aspect of consciousness. 
   The final letter grade will be based on the homeworks (41%), the abstract for the proposal (4%), the proposal itself (40%), and the three quizzes (15%).  Class attendance and participation will be used in borderline grade cases. Grades are not normalized (that is, we do NOT grade on a curve). Anything above 90% is an A, between 80 and 90% is a B, between 65 and 80% is a C and between 50 and 65% is a D (with appropriate +/- gradations). Eligible students can take the class on a pass/fail basis (you need 50% of the points to pass). All students, whether taking the course on grades or pass/fail, must participate in at least two of the quizzes in order to receive a passing grade. If you can't attend a lecture, please let Prof. Koch know ahead of time in case there will be a quiz in class that day.