Course overview
The aim of this course is to provide students with an understanding of a range of diseases and conditions affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems. General topics covered include the causes and consequences of raised intracranial pressure, headache, infections, tumours and dementia, as well as more specific disorders such as epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. Traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, stroke and the effects of alcohol and illicit drugs on the brain will also be discussed. Some lectures will take the form of large group tutorial sessions which provide an opportunity for students to examine macroscopic and microscopic specimens illustrating selected pathologies covered in lectures and work through key concepts with interactive activities. The Small Group Discovery Experience (SGDE) will see students working as a team.
Course learning outcomes
- Understand the pathogenesis and management of common and important neurological diseases including cerebrovascular disease, brain injury, neurotransmitter disorders and dementia
- Acquire the ability to relate these basic pathological processes to the pathogenesis of these common and important neurological diseases
- Gain knowledge and understanding of the predisposing factors, causes, pathogenesis, morphology, potential complications and how they arise, natural history of, and the main symptoms and signs of such diseases
- Correlate clinical features with causes and mechanisms of disease
- Understand how knowledge of pathological processes can be utilised in the investigation, management and prevention of disease
- Use and understand terminology for the field of neuosciences correctly and contextually
- Ability to verbally present a scientific topic to an audience of peers
- Acquire, read, interpret and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner
- Acknowledge and reference sources of information appropriately
- Work in groups and individually in the pursuit of scientific knowledge