Week 5 – Final Project

Biopsychological Analysis of a Neuropsychological Disorder

[WLOs: 3] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4]

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review your completed Week 1 Selection of Final Project Topic written assignment, Week 2 Final Project Annotated Bibliography written assignment, and your Week 3 Final Project Annotated Outline written assignment.

In your Final Project, you will synthesize an overview of the major theories relating to the pathology of a disorder, as well as provide a detailed discussion of the etiology (causes) and clinical interventions, using research to support your analysis. Your topic will be the same neuropsychological disorder that was selected and approved by the instructor in your Week 1 written assignment, and for which you provided an annotated bibliography in your Week 2 written assignment, and an annotated outline in your Week 3 written assignment.

For your Week 5 Final Project, you will expand on the subject content from your previous assignments. Be sure to include all the information covered in the Week 3 outline. In keeping with the focus of this class, the emphasis of your paper will be on the neuroscience aspects of the disorder, to include the following:

Explain the theories of etiology (causes) of the disorder with a focus on the neurobiology of the disorder.

Explain associated factors in development of the disorder (genetic, environmental, familial, lifestyle).

Describe the pathology of the disorder with an emphasis on the abnormalities of nervous system structure and function (brain structures, neural pathways, neurotransmitter/receptor systems), including any genetic and biochemical aspects.

Give examples of treatment options including both drug (pharmacological) and non-drug (pharmacological treatments), with rationales for use of these treatments based on current understanding of the neurobiology of the disorder.

Summarize diagnostic and research technologies employed in clinical diagnosis, clinical and behavioral health care, and basic science research.

Your research will include the references you identified in your Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3 assignments, with additional references as needed. Your references should include a minimum of six to eight peer-reviewed and/or scholarly sources, which provide evidence-based information regarding the biological and psychological features of the disorder and were published within the last five years. At least four of your references should be peer-reviewed publications of original research studies. For further information, please review the Original Research Study Tipsheet (Links to an external site.). To justify your assertions, provide in-text citations for all factual statements taken from your research, with corresponding references drawn from scholarly sources. All citations and sources are to be documented according to APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center, and should support and enhance your analysis of the selected disorder. Sources may include review articles, original research articles, information from governmental agencies (e.g., National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, Drug Enforcement Administration) and/or professional societies (e.g., professional society position papers or clinical practice guidelines). With the exception of the DSM-5, you may cite and reference course materials such as the textbook, required or recommended reading, or multimedia, but these will not fulfill the source requirement.

The Biopsychological Analysis of a Neuropsychological Disorder final project

Must be a minimum of 10 to 12 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)

Must include a separate title page with the following:

Title of paper

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 six to eight scholarly or peer-reviewed sources.

The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types and the Ashford University Quick ‘n’ Dirty (Links to an external site.) video provides library search tips. 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.

Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)

Must include a separate reference page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.