I only say the wordload is heavy bc it took me forever to read the textbook and his lectures are usually about two hours per chapter but can be longer. The discussions are harshly graded, but if you write a lot you usually do fine. If you get a bad grade on anything it screws you over for the whole semester. Study for the exam; he gives you a week w/o assignments to study, use it.

I liked the content ig but I'm a psych major DO NOT take this unless you are a psych or BCN major. There are way easier psych classes.

Pros: interesting lectures, engaging, wants you to do good Cons: no EC, exams are hard asf, harsh grader

Focus on the textbook more than the lectures, prep the entire week he gives you, know the research given inside and out

Attendance wasn't mandatory but I highly recommend going to class to even begin understanding all the material. There is A LOT of material covered that you are expected to know for the exams. It's a lot at first, especially if you're new to neuroanatomy/physio stuff but study and you will pass!

A lot of it is learning functional neuroanatomy (neurotransmitters, parts of brain and what they're involved with etc) and how certain behaviors/thought processes can be understood with this.

Odegaard was a very engaging professor. He was straightforward and always checked in with us to see if we were following his points during lectures. Great professor overall because of this and the exams he wrote were fair.

Be prepared to study a lot.

As a behavioral cognitive neuroscience major, I really enjoyed this class! It was super fascinating and definitely relevant for psychology majors. Dr. Cahill and the textbook go into a lot of depth about the topics, and although it can get pretty complicated, it's super fulfilling if psychology is your thing.

Dr. Cahill is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the course. He explains things very well, makes interesting applications and explanations, and overall is a great professor. I do agree with other responses that he can be a very harsh grader, and that you definitely have to stay on top of the textbook readings and lectures.

Course material was pretty interesting, slightly dense at times.

Cahill is a tough professor, but he genuinely wants students to do well. I never had him say that he took pride in students failing, but I’m sorry that someone had that unfortunate experience. He doesn’t hand out grades, and definitely expects you to do work, but he’s not unreasonable imo.

Definitely watch the lectures and take notes on it. Quiz yourself on material, don’t just read stuff over and over. Also take the discussion posts seriously, there’s not many of them but he does grade them more harshly than most other classes.

You definitly have to put the work in for this class. The discussions will take up a lot of your time and are graded rather harshly by the TA's but you can always dispute your grade. Gotta stay on top of lectures and taking notes since its all pre-recorded. Cahill also offers many extra credit opportunities throughout the semester.

Cahill is kinda insufferable. He takes pride in students dropping out of his class or psychology in general because of him. Doesn't curve because he thinks that's 'cheating out of your degree'. But he does want his students who are willing to challenge themselves to succeed.

Go to his exam reviews!!! They are super super helpful and chances are a question you have another student does too and will ask it during the review. Use Quizlet to study for each exam!!