Ashford PSYCH7510 Week 6 Discussion 1

Week 6 - Discussion Forum 1

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Consciousness and Executive Function [WLOs: 1, 2] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapter 8: Consciousness and Sleep, Section 8.1, from the course text, Biological Bases of Behavior and Part 1: Executive Functions in Health, pages 1–15 from the book Executive Functions in Health and Disease. Additionally, read the article Are the Neural Correlates of Consciousness in the Front or in the Back of the Cerebral Cortex? Clinical and Neuroimaging Evidence (Links to an external site.).

Instructions

Please answer all three questions below:

Question 1 Choose and answer ONE of the following questions:

·         Option 1: Given what you have learned in our course and using at least one peer-reviewed paper of your choice, what do you think consciousness is and what are some of its most notable neurological correlates? You may focus on just one or two elements of consciousness given the complexity of the construct. For an optional challenge, you may also discuss the unconscious and its neurological correlates.

·         Option 2: Given what you have learned in our course and using at least one peer-reviewed paper of your choice, what is executive function and what are its most notable neurological correlates? You may focus on just one or two elements of executive function given the complexity of the construct.

o    For your topic, what might be an example of a practical application of this information?

Question 2·         Briefly describe one disorder of consciousness or executive function and explain its possible neurology and treatment methods.

·         Support your response with at least one credible or peer-reviewed reference.

Question 3·         Last, how has your study of biological psychology shaped your general understanding of people or life?

·         Explain any fundamental realizations, what you find mysterious, or even what was most fun or interesting to learn.

Research Tips

·         To find articles, likely search terms include “cognitive neuroscience, neuroscience, neurology, behavioral neuroscience, neurobiology, genetics, neurophysiology, neural mechanisms, and other similar terms” of (your topic).

·         Remember that the neurobiology of any topic MUST include the relevant brain region and circuits.

·         Optionally and as needed, you can mention the cellular and molecular mechanisms found in those regions including neuron types, neurotransmitters of interest, genetics, epigenetics, and even the effects of toxins, microorganisms, nutrition, or other environmental factors.

·         Keep your explanations manageable and write them as if you are educating friends, family, or coworkers who have listened to your previous explanations and know a little about basic brain anatomy.

·         Include a few statistics or numerical results, interesting methods, and use paraphrasing rather than quotation.

Each part of the prompt must be 100 words or more. You must cite two scholarly, credible or peer-reviewed (Links to an external site.) articles according to APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.).

Guided Response

Respond to a minimum of two classmates by Day 7. Each response to a classmate must be at least 150 words.

·         Identify what you found most interesting in your classmates’ post.

·         Compare and contrast your discoveries with classmates’ discoveries.

·         Use at least one peer-reviewed article to support your claims in at least one of the replies.

You are encouraged to post your required replies earlier in the week to promote more meaningful and interactive discourse in this discussion forum. Continue to monitor the discussion forum through Day 7 (Monday), and respond to anyone who replies to your initial post.