| Unit name | The Rhythms of Life |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PHPH30027 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Piggins |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience |
| Faculty | Faculty of Life Sciences |
Principally, to (a) introduce students to the study of biological timekeeping, (b) examine how neural mechanisms of circadian rhythms, arousal, and sleep interact to coordinate behaviour and physiology.
Through this unit, students should be able to:
1. Understand the neural and molecular bases for circadian rhythmicity in both simple and complex neural systems
2. Explain how physiology and behaviour changes from day to night, from summer to winter.
3. Describe how brain state changes across the sleep-wake cycle and the importance of these different states in cognitive performance and brain health.
4. Describe the neural and genetic bases for sleep and arousal disorders.
5. Describe how environmental light information is captured by the eye and relayed to circadian centres in the brain and the influence of this light information on sleep and physiology.
6. Describe how circadian clocks develop in the brain and how they decline with age.
7. Develop an understanding of how biological timekeeping mechanisms evolved and how they influence many facets of physiology and behaviour.
By the end of the unit students should be able to:
Seminars (23)
Data interpretation workshop (2hrs)
Q&A revision session (3hrs)
Timed assessment 90%
The unit will be assessed through a timed assessment in May/June, which contributes 90% of the unit mark and consists of two sections. In Section A (50%), students will be expected to answer one essay question from a choice of 3, which will assess their knowledge and critical understanding of the field, and their ability to gather information from the primary scientific literature. In Section B (50%), students will be expected to answer one multi-part compulsory question assessing data handling/data interpretation and experimental design skills.
Coursework 10%
The coursework will be either an essay, data interpretation or experimental design question of a similar format to that used in the timed assessment.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. PHPH30027).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
