Course Description:
An examination of how genes contribute to the production of behaviors, either
as structural elements or direct participants in behavioral regulation. Covers molecular
genetics, natural selection, and genetic methods followed by specific examples of congenic
disorders that affect behavior and studies of normal behaviors in human and animal
models.

Assignment description:
Write a research proposal on one of the
topics covered in the lecture. Your research proposal should have an introduction, main
hypotheses/questions, a detailed method section, discussion, and a results section (e.g.
figure, table) that shows expected outcome. The proposal will be evaluated based on the
following points:
– Importance of the main hypothesis: the introduction summarizes sufficient background
information to understand why the main hypothesis is important.
– Effectiveness of experiment(s): sufficient justifications are provided to evaluate the
proposed experiment(s) is the best way to address the hypothesis.
– Logic of expected outcome: expected results are logical and are clearly and thoroughly
demonstrated

Topics:
1. Shizophrenia
2. Autism
3. Depression/anxiety
4. Genetic Variations influencing personality and sexuality (DRD4, AIS, CAH, sex chromosome abnormalities)
5. Rett Syndrome
6. Dementia