Undergraduate Course: Sensory Physiology and Dysfunction (BIME10014)

Course Outline
School	Deanery of Biomedical Sciences	College	College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate)	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	20	ECTS Credits	10
Summary	This is a senior honours course which explores the development, function and pathophysiology of sensory systems. From the molecular basis of sensory transduction to systems level sensory integration, this course encompasses the wide range of sensory mechanisms that are essential in order to perceive and interact with our environment. To critically appreciate in detail the complexity of sensory systems we will focus on three main research themes; mechanosensation and hearing, pain and vestibular function. The żmechanosensationż theme will introduce molecular mechanisms of mechanosensory transduction in hearing and proprioception in different model systems and explore current research approaches to investigate these mechanisms. We shall then concentrate on hearing by looking at the physiology of inner ear hair cells and their dysfunction in deafness, and then how basic research on the control of hair cell development might inform regenerative medicine strategies for therapeutic intervention to reverse deafness. The żpainż theme will a) introduce the transduction apparatus and neural pathways that mediate pain; b) explore the plasticity that can occur within pain pathways that leads to debilitating chronic pain conditions and how these manifest in the clinic; c) discuss the challenges in translating basic pain research to the clinic and d) outline how this system develops and the consequences for somatosensation in the newborn. The żvestibularż theme will discuss the organisation and function of hair cell mechanoreceptors in the vestibular system of the inner ear; their role in signalling head orientation and movement; the organisation of the brainstem networks that mediate vestibular reflexes, and the mechanisms of neuronal and synaptic plasticity which bring about recovery of function after damage to the inner ear (vestibular compensation).
Course description	Contributors: Andrew Jarman, Mayank Dutia, Sutherland Maciver

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None
Additional Costs	None

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 1
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 24, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 5, Formative Assessment Hours 3, Summative Assessment Hours 4, Other Study Hours 4, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 156 )
Additional Information (Learning and Teaching)	presentation preparation
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 70 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	In course assessment - Oral presentation 30% Degree examination - 70%
Feedback	Feedback will be available throughout the course in many forms: ż Feedback from lecturer on your paper presentations (wks 3-5) to facilitate preparation for the ICA paper presentations in wk 9. ż Feedback from lecturer(s) on ICA paper presentations is timetabled for wk 10. ż Feedback from the exam will be made available ż this will be arranged by the course administrator
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)	Sensory Physiology and Dysfunction		1:30

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: Demonstrate the ability to examine in detail, critically appraise and orally present a selected research paper related to one of the main themes of the course Understand how pain information is processed within the somatosensory nervous system and how this processing is disrupted in chronic pain conditions Understand how somatosensation develops in the newborn Understand the mechanisms of vestibular function and the adaptive plasticity that promotes recovery from inner ear damage. Appreciate the challenges of translating basic research to the clinic Demonstrate the ability to examine in detail, critically appraise and orally present a selected research paper related to one of the main themes of the course