PSYC 5587 Cellular Perspectives on Motivated Behavior

Name: Cellular Perspectives on Motivated Behavior
Rating: 4.75 (12 reviews)

The goal of the course is to describe how changes in activity and the composition of single cells contribute to motivated behavior. Behaviors to be covered include but are not limited to: fear and anxiety, reward learning, addiction, feeding, pair bonding, and aging. The bulk of the reading and lecture materials will come from the primary literature and an extensive neuroscience background is required. As such this course is targeted for graduate students and only the exceptional undergraduate.

Course overview

Department: Psychology and Neuroscience
School: MCAS
Credits: 3
Level: Both
Offered: Periodically

Catalog details

Prerequisites: PSYC2285 and at least two 3000-level courses in the Systems Neuroscience cluster.

Catalog text is imported from the reviewed Boston College course snapshot. Confirm eligibility in EagleApps.

Requirements fulfilled

Neuroscience B.S.: Systems Neuroscience (3 Credits) — Any one of the following courses (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)

Requirement eligibility can vary by school, cohort, and section. Confirm the selected section in EagleApps or with an advisor.

Course evaluations

Response-weighted averages from Boston College’s official course evaluations (Avalanche/Blue).

Course rating: 4.75 / 5 · Excellent
12 responses
Instructor rating: 4.83 / 5 · Excellent
12 responses
Terms evaluated: 1
Most recent: Fall 2023

Scales: overall ratings run from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent); agreement questions from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); weekly effort from 1 (up to 1 hour) to 5 (10 or more hours).

Evaluations by term and instructor
Term	Instructor	Course overall	Instructor overall	Well organized	Clear learning objectives	Intellectually challenging	Helpful assignments	Applicable beyond course	Attendance necessary	Weekly effort	Responses
Fall 2023	Michael A McDannald	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	5.0	4.8	4.9	4.8	1–3 hrs/week	12 of 13

Data freshness

Course and evaluation data last updated 2026-10-09. Source details and limitations are documented in Data Sources and Methodology.

Instructors

Michael A McDannald
Spring 2027, Fall 2023 · Official rating 4.83/5

Sections

Section 01
Spring 2027 · Michael A McDannald · O'Neill Library 245 Tu 09:30AM-12:00 Noon · Offered