The Sleeping Brain (PSY 43526 / 63526)
Spring 2014
Tue/Th 3:30-4:45, Debartalo Hall 304
Professor and Contact Information:
Jessica D. Payne, Ph.D.
Office: Haggar Hall, Room 122-b
Office hours: Tu/Th :after class, or by appointment (note that I am around most evenings as I
run a sleep lab!)
Phone (office): 574-631-1636
Email: jpayne7@nd.edu
Text:
1. The Promise of Sleep by William Dement
Other readings/articles:
You can download all other readings from the Sakai website. Readings are organized
by due date.
Prerequisites:
Some biology coursework, Introduction to Biopsychology, or Introduction to
Cognitive Neuroscience is strongly recommended
Introduction to The Sleeping Brain
This seminar will focus on the neuroscience of sleep. We will begin broadly, by learning the
basics of the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of sleep. We will then cover a diverse range
of topics, including the discovery of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and the birth of sleep
neuroscience, disorders of human sleep, animal research, neuroimaging of the sleeping brain,
and electrophysiological studies of sleep. We will also devote a large portion of our time to
the cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience of sleep, where we will examine
whether memories and information learned during the day are processed during sleep, and
what this might tell us about the nature of dreaming.
Course Structure:
Each week, we will read chapters from Dement's 'The Promise of Sleep', as well as original
research papers on individual topics. Each student will be responsible for leading or coleading at least one (and more likely two) class discussions depending on the number of
students enrolled in the class. Typically, one of these will be done with a partner and the
other will be done independently. This will include presenting the empirical study and
engaging the class in a dialogue about its strengths, weaknesses, and implications. All other
students (aside from the presenter(s) will write a brief (1-1.5 page, single spaced) thought
paper about each topic, and email it to Dr. Payne, the student presenter(s), and the rest of the
class no later than 7pm the day prior to the relevant class. This will give me time to read and
comment on your papers and the student presenter time to incorporate your thoughts and
questions into his/her presentation.
Course Requirements:
This course relies heavily on class participation, and all students are expected to contribute in
an intellectually substantial way to class discussions. My role will largely be that of facilitator
of student-based, class discussions. I will be responsible for addressing critical topics,
insuring that key teaching points in each class are covered, answering questions, and keeping
class discussions on track through a Socratic-style teaching method that is meant to
encourage scientific thinking and exchange of ideas.
Each week, one student, or student-team, will be responsible for presenting a topic and will
be expected to lead class discussion on that day. Depending on the number of students
enrolled, each student will have the opportunity to present at least twice during the semester.
(A tentative schedule will be made at the second or third class meeting.)
All students will read the articles and chapters assigned for a given topic. The presenter(s)
will make an informal presentation on the primary article(s) in class, summarizing key
aspects of the readings and encouraging the participation of their student-colleagues. The
presenter should be focused on stimulating class discussion more than on completing his or
her presentation, per se.
The other students will be expected to thoroughly read the articles and chapters assigned
each week and come prepared for in-class discussions. A large percentage of the student’s
grade will be participation, defined as student commitment to asking questions and offering
comments in class. To ensure that everyone has valuable comments and questions to offer, all
students will be required to write a thought paper prior to each class (see “Instructions for
Completing Assignments” below), and they will be expected to express their views on the
topic and ask/make at least one substantive question or comment during the class
discussion.
Specifically, all students will be expected to critically read the assigned materials, and to look
for important concepts such as potential confounds in the research, come up with ways to fix
or improve upon flaws, offer alternative explanations of findings, offer “future directions”
the studies might take (ideas for new experiments or new approaches, etc), or discuss
broader implications of research findings. These skills – critical analysis of research, detection
of confounds, eliminating or at least improving upon flaws, seeing connections and
implications, and coming up with new ideas for future research are critical skills for
scientists, physicians, and teachers. The overarching goal of the seminar is to not only teach
students about the neuroscience of sleep, but also to help them develop key critical thinking,
scientific, and presentation skills in a friendly and supportive environment.
Note: To accommodate travel schedules and unanticipated emergencies, you may fail to turn in ONE
thought paper without your grade being affected.
Grading:
The grading breakdown is as follows: 50% class participation, 25% presentations, 25% papers
(weekly thought papers and final paper). Grades for the course will be calculated on the
following scale:
Grade Percent
A
94-100%
A90-93%
B+
88-89%
B
82-87%
B80-81%
C+
78-79%
Grade Percent
C
72-77%
C70-71%
D+
68-69%
D
62-67%
D60-61%
F
0-59%
Graduate vs. Undergraduate Student Grading:
The difference in evaluation of undergraduate vs. graduate students is as follows:
I. Thought paper content is expected to be more in depth, thorough and reflective of a
graduate student education, especially in the detection of confounds,
understanding of complex methodology and statistical analysis, and solutions for
defective research designs.
II. In class commentary is also expected to be more thorough and reflective of a graduate
student education, especially in the detection of confounds, understanding of
complex methodology and statistical analysis, and solutions for defective research
designs. While there are plusses and minuses to having a mixed
undergraduate/graduate seminar, one of the plusses is that undergrads learn from
the graduate students in addition to me.
III. Where possible, graduate students give two solo presentations, and fill in as partners to
the undergrads where necessary.
IV. The graduate research paper is longer (12-15 page instead of 6-8), more in depth, and
better referenced (6-8 primary references instead of 3).
Instructions for Completing Assignments:
Participation:
Class participation is defined as student commitment to asking questions and offering
comments in class. Each student is expected to express his or her views on the topic in
class and ask or make at least one substantive question or comment during the class
discussion. Participation doesn’t come easily to everyone, and while it can be scary at
first, it is an essential skill to learn. You will start to learn it here in a warm and
supportive environment. No question will be considered stupid or silly!
Presentations and Thought Papers:
In addition to class participation and learning about the science of sleep, this seminar
puts heavy emphasis on honing your critical thinking skills. This requires the
development of several generalizable abilities, including critical reading, the ability to
pick out confounds in the research but also identify strengths, suggest ideas for
improvements on study design or problem conceptualization, and see broader
implications of the research for science and society. To help you develop these skills,
each presentation you give and each thought paper you write must answer the following
questions: 1) What did the researchers do? (Hypothesis), 2) How did they do it?
(Methodology), 3) What did they find? (Results – note that you do not have to fully
describe or understand statistical analysis techniques), and 4) What does it mean?
(what the authors think it means, and, if you think differently, what you think it
means). Most of the time, I will assign at least two articles, and when this is the case I
would also like you to synthesize the two papers. Are the results in agreement or not?
If not, which paper do you think is better and why? In addition, I would also like to
see you go beyond these simple steps and broaden your thinking by speculating about
interesting connections that may have come to mind while reading the papers, how
they relate to other articles we have read in class or to other studies or phenomena you
have heard about, or society in general. The sky is the limit in this second part – just
think creatively and have fun!
Remember that thought papers should be emailed to me no later than 7pm the day
before the relevant class. No late summaries will be accepted.
Final papers:
This assignment will differ for undergrads and grad students taking the course.
Undergraduate Students: Find several (minimum of 6) primary (empirical) scientific
articles on a topic that interests you related to sleep. Write a 8-10 page paper on this
topic. Sources such as textbooks, websites, review papers, and articles from non-peerreviewed publications (e.g., Scientific American, New York Times) may be used to
supplement your sources from scientific journals, but they will not count toward the 6
article minimum. Your report must include a reference section/bibliography and you
must email me copies of the primary articles you reviewed for the paper.
A couple of good databases to use to search for articles:
1) PubMed – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/ or www.pubmed.com
*Full text of articles may only be available when searching through ND library
website.
2) PsycINFO – access via ND library website. (http://www.library.nd.edu/ , click on
“databases” tab and search for PsycINFO.)
3) Google Scholar (searches all databases at once, which is particularly useful for
finding articles at the cross section of psychology and neuroscience.
Graduate students: Choose a topic that interests you related to sleep. Write a 12-15
page research paper on this topic, drawing on review articles and the primary
literature. You will be expected to explore your topic in depth appropriate for a
graduate level review paper. Your readings (and therefore your bibliography) should
include a minimum of 10 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals.
Final papers (for everybody) are due on the day and time of the final exam. Late
papers will not be accepted.
Absence Policy
There is no formal absence policy. My hope is that you will want to attend in order to learn.
Note, however, that because 50% of your grade is participation, it wouldn’t be wise to miss
more than one or two classes if you don’t want your grade to be affected.
Holidays and Special Needs:
Please let me know at the beginning of the semester if you will have to miss a class or
reschedule an assignment due to a religious holiday. The more notice I am given, the more
likely it is that I can accommodate your needs. Please also feel free to let me know at the
beginning of the semester if you have a disability or special needs in the classroom. I will
work with the University to find solutions for you.
Tentative Course Schedule:
See Sakai for the Course Schedule. Note that the schedule is subject to change. Please ask me if you
plan to read far in advance.