Unit name | Brains, Behaviour and Evolution |
---|---|
Unit code | BIOL20019 |
Credit points | 10 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2C (weeks 13 - 18) |
Unit director | Professor. Roberts |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None. |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Biological Sciences |
Faculty | Faculty of Life Sciences |
The field of neuroethology takes a comparative and evolutionary approach to the fundamental link between brains and animal behaviour. Our aims are:
Throughout the course we will emphasize how technological innovations and advances have driven the development of the field over recent years.
By the end of this unit, students should be able to:
Lectures, directed reading, research and/or problem-solving activities; practical exercises and independent study.
Coursework (40%) plus summative written assessment (60%) with one essay question to be selected from a choice of two.
Essential:
The lectures will mainly be developed and supported from the primary research literature. It will be useful for students to refer to the following core reference texts for information on general principles.
Simmons, P., & Young, D. 2010. Nerve cells and animal behaviour. Cambridge University Press.
Zupanc, G.K., 2010. Behavioral neurobiology: an integrative approach. Oxford University Press.
Recommended:
Logan, C. et al. 2018. Beyond brain size: uncovering the neural correlates of behavioral and cognitive specialization. Comp Cogn Behav Rev, 13.
Reader, S. et al. 2011. The evolution of primate general and cultural intelligence. Phil Trans R Soc B, 366(1567):1017-1027.
Katz, P. 2010. The nature of neuroethology. Brain Behav Evol, 76(3-4):163-164.
Healy, S., and Rowe, C. 2006. A critique of comparative studies of brain size. Proc Roy Soc B, 274(1609):453-464.
Barton, R. 2006. Primate brain evolution: integrating comparative, neurophysiological, and ethological data. Evol Anthropol 15(6):224-236.
Giurfa, M. 2003. Cognitive neuroethology: dissecting non-elemental learning in a honeybee brain. Curr Opin Neurobiol, 13(6), pp.726-735.
Hoyle, G. 1984. The scope of neuroethology. Behav Brain Sci, 7(3):367-381.
Further reading:
Warrant, EJ. 2017. The remarkable visual capacities of nocturnal insects: vision at the limits with small eyes and small brains. Phil Trans R Soc B 372: 20160063.
Farris, SM. 2013. Evolution of complex higher brain centers and behaviors: behavioral correlates of mushroom body elaboration in insects. Brain Behav Evol 82(1): 9-18.
Chittka, L., and Niven, J. 2009. Are bigger brains better? Current Biology 19(21): 995-1008.