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Published

September 25, 2025

Modified

August 18, 2025

The Neurological Bases of Human Behavior

“A GPS for your mind” (2023)

Themes

There is no more fascinating or challenging field of inquiry than the nature, origin, structure, and functioning of the human mind and the behavior it enables. This course will examine human mental states and observable behaviors from a biological basis, especially focusing on the evolution, development, structure, and functioning of the nervous system.

Instructor

Rick O. Gilmore, Ph.D. 
Professor of Psychology
rog1 AT-SIGN psu PERIOD edu

Office hours

Tuesday & Thursday, 11:00a - 11:45a in 114 Moore or by appointment: https://doodle.com/mm/rickgilmore/book-a-time

Lab web site: https://gilmore-lab.github.io

Teaching Assistant

Katie Billedeaux
Graduate Student in Developmental Psychology
kab7845@psu.edu AT-SIGN psu PERIOD edu

Meetings by appointment

Meeting time & location

Tuesday & Thursday, 12:05p-1:20p
114 Steidle Building

Textbook

Watson, N.V. & Breedlove, S.M. (2024), The Mind’s Machine: Foundations of Brain and Behavior (5th ed), PSU Bookstore Page

Canvas site

We will use Canvas to submit assignments and grade them. The Canvas site may be found here:

Under construction

This site is still a work-in-progress.

Most of the course content will be found on this site.

References

A GPS for your mind: Penn State Health’s Brainlab surgical system helps teen recover from hemorrhage. (2023, October 30). Retrieved August 18, 2025, from https://pennstatehealthnews.org/2023/10/a-gps-for-your-mind-penn-state-healths-brainlab-surgical-system-helps-teen-recover-from-hemorrhage/