Overview

This unit provides students with understanding of complex brain/behaviour relations and their underlying mechanisms, as they apply to higher order functions, in particular, attention and sleep states.

Requisites

Prerequisites
NEU20005 Sensation and Perception

Equivalent
HET320 - Psychophysiological Project and NEU30001 - Psychophysiological Project

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
02-March-2026
31-May-2026
Last self-enrolment date
15-March-2026
Census date
31-March-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
21-April-2026
Results released date
07-July-2026

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Differentiate between varieties of attentional behaviour
  • Examine sleep behaviour and comprehend sleep laboratory recording
  • Design and carry out a cognitive neuroscientific experiment within the laboratory environment
  • Compare, contrast and synthesise critical arguments associated with key research in the cognitive neuroscience of attention and sleep

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
On-campus
Class		 3.00  12 weeks  36
On-campus
Lab		 2.00  6 weeks  12
Specified Activities 
Various		 3.00  12 weeks  36
Unspecified Activities 
Independent Learning		 5.50  12 weeks  66
TOTAL     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
AssignmentIndividual 40% 1,2,4 
EssayIndividual 30% 1,2,4 
ProjectGroup 30% 3,4 

Content

Attention:

Anatomical and physiological basis of attention:

  • Cortical streams – dorsal and ventral;
  • Vision for perception;
  • Vision for action;
  • Magnocellular and Parvocellular visual pathways and receptive field properties.

Psychophysics of Attention

  • Cueing;
  • Visual search; masking; distraction;
  • Perceptual rivalry; binocular rivalry;
  • Normalization models of attention;
  • Emotional attention.

Filter theory of attention;

  • Feature integration theory;
  • Conscious awareness;
  • Divided attention; 
  • Spotlight model of attention.

Neuropsychology and Attention

  • Unilateral neglect; 
  • Controlled and automatic processing.

Sleep:

What is sleep? 

  • Manifestations of sleep;

Sleep stages;

  • Rapid eye movements

Comparative sleep in animals;

  • Neural mechanisms;
  • Neurochemical aspects of sleep;
  • Sleep in marine and avian creatures;
  • How much sleep does an animal need?

Recording of sleep;

Dreaming;

  • Effects of sleep deprivation;

Disorders of sleep;

  • Sleep fatigue;
  • Consciousness;
  • Parasomnias;
  • Diurnal rhythms.

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.