Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the directives below carefully. Contact your instructor with any questions using the listed forms of contact found under the “People” tab in the left navigation of your online classroom. For your research, it is suggested you use the PubMed Central (Links to an external site.) web page. You may also consider reviewing the PubMed Central Quick Start Guide (Links to an external site.) and PubMed Tutorials (Links to an external site.) to help you navigate the resource more effectively.

Your final project, which began with your Week 2 and Week 3 written assignments, is an analysis and discussion of the role of the brain in a disorder or a brain process.

In your paper,

• Analyze of the role of the brain in a disorder or a brain process.
• Examine the neuroanatomy of the topic, the neurotransmitter systems involved, and any other biological system, such as hormones, that may be involved.
• Identify any life-span implications, how the topic is studied, and relevant history of the topic.
• Describe behavioral processes that are involved in the disorder or brain process.
  • Disorders and behaviors that have heavy social influences are not suitable topics.

The Biological Basis of Behavior final project

• Must be 10 to 12 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)resource.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of project
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least 10 scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
  • To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view this Ashford University Library Quick ‘n’ Dirty (Links to an external site.) tutorial, which introduces the Ashford University Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) guide.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Attention Students: The Masters of Arts in Psychology program is utilizing the Pathbrite portfolio tool as a repository for student scholarly work in the form of signature assignments completed within the program. After receiving feedback for your final project, please implement any changes recommended by the instructor, go to Cengage | Pathbrite (Links to an external site.) website and upload the revised final project to the portfolio. (Use the Pathbrite Quick-Start Guide to create an account if you do not already have one.) The upload of signature assignments will take place after completing each course. Be certain to upload revised signature assignments throughout the program as the portfolio and its contents will be used in other courses and may be used by individual students as a professional resource tool. See the Pathbrite Student User Guide: Portfolios (Links to an external site.) page on the Cengage | Pathbrite (Links to an external site.) website for information and further instructions on using this portfolio tool.