Course Syllabus
Cognitive Neuroscience of Addiction |
| Semester & Location: |
Fall 2025 - DIS Stockholm |
| Type & Credits: |
Core Course - 3 credits |
| Study Tours: |
Sweden | England |
| Major Disciplines: |
Neuroscience, Pre-Medicine / Health Science, Psychology |
| Prerequisite(s): |
One course in neuroscience, physiological psychology, biological psychology, or cognitive psychology at university level. |
| Faculty Member: |
Ieva Miseviciute, PhD (current students please use the Canvas Inbox) |
| Program Contact: |
Department email address psy.cns@dis.dk |
| Time & Place: |
Mondays & Thursdays, 16.25-17.45 Location: D410 |
Course Description
Addictive disorders involve complex interactions among neurobiological, psychological, environmental, and sociocultural features and can reflect problems across a range of substances or behaviors. From drug abuse, to gambling, to the more controversial sex addiction and food addiction, problems with addiction share important commonalities in neurocircuitry. In this course, we will adopt a multidisciplinary lens and review contemporary research involving techniques such as neuroimaging, brain stimulation, and real-time neurofeedback to explore addiction processes and strategies for treatment and prevention. Finally, we will explore various approaches for addressing problems with addiction and discuss similarities and differences across the United States and Scandinavia.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Describe the nature of addiction using a multidisciplinary framework, including biological, psychological, sociocultural, and systemic factors.
- Synthesize and critically evaluate the neural implications of addiction processes.
- Describe and critically evaluate contemporary research methods that are used to understand the neuroscience of addiction.
- Compare and contrast intervention strategies for addiction between the United States and Scandinavia.
Faculty
Faculty Name
Ieva Miseviciute, PhD
Ieva began her academic journey in psychology before transitioning to the field of neurobiology for her Master’s studies. During this time, she worked at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam, conducting research on the neural mechanisms underlying habit formation, cocaine addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She went on to earn her PhD in Neuroscience and Brain Technologies at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa, where she investigated endocannabinoid-mediated synaptic plasticity at prefrontal cortex–locus coeruleus synapses during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Throughout her academic career, she developed expertise in a wide range of neuroscience techniques, including ex vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics, chemogenetics, neuropharmacology, fluorescence imaging, stereotactic surgeries in rodents, and immunohistochemistry. She now works as a Scientific Content Specialist at BioLamina, applying her scientific expertise to communicate research in the life sciences.
Readings
Book and book chapters:
Nicholas W. Gilpin 'Neurocircuitry of addiction", 2022
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/DIS/detail.action?docID=7150291
Articles
Hyman, S. E., Malenka, R. C., & Nestler, E. J. (2006). Neural mechanisms of addiction: The Role of Reward-Related Learning and Memory. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 29(1), 565–598.
Luscher and Janak 2021 Consolidating the circuit model for addiction.pdf
Drugs_of_abuse_hijack_a_mesolimbic_pathway_that_pr.pdf
LuscherRobbinsEveritt_The transition to compulsion in addiction.pdf
Wise and Robble_Dopamine and adddiction.pdf
Wolkow et al., Addiction circuitry in the human brain.pdf
motivation_reward_addictive_state_kendal_6thEd_2021.pdf
Field Studies
The field studies may include activities such as the following:
- Visiting a center for drug rehabilitation to learn about their treatment strategies
- Visiting a tobacco producer to understand methods of measuring nicotine to tobacco ratios across different cigarette types
- Visiting a research lab that specializes in addiction research
Guest Lecturers
The guest lecturers are to be determined but may include the following:
- Lived experience narrative from someone in recovery or impacted by addiction
- Psychopharmacology researcher to describe current research on the neural implications of substance use
- Legal expert or law enforcement officer to discuss substance use or related public health policies in Sweden
Approach to Teaching
Our approach to teaching is based on a core assumption: Learning is a collective endeavour in which the contribution of each individual has an impact on how much is learned overall. Lectures can serve a valuable purpose both in providing useful information and in stimulating creative thought. But genuine learning takes place only when the student takes an active role –in reading carefully, thinking critically, in raising questions and objections, and in listening to others. It is only through engaged dialogue that we have the capacity to enrich our understanding of the world. Our expectation is that students will actively engage in the learning process, both inside and outside the classroom.
The course utilizes a variety of pedagogical methods, including lectures, discussions, student presentations, and study visits. There is a strong emphasis on discussion and student participation. Everyone is expected to not only complete the readings for each class, but to come to class well prepared to engage in discussion.
Attendance at all lectures and field studies is mandatory.
Note that it is important to check your e-mail and DIS Canvas regularly since outlines, assignment info etc. will be distributed here.
Expectations of the Students
Students are expected to have done the readings and come prepared with relevant questions and notes for each class. This will give us material to generate conversation. When responding to questions in class, refer to our readings to support the points you are making. Students are expected to challenge themselves and their worldviews with an investigative mindset and curiosity, seeking to understand the topics at hand as well as how they relate to themselves as individuals and the world around them.
A Word on Laptops in the Classroom
The default policy for this class is NO laptops in the classroom. Both academic research and personal experience have shown laptops to be an enormous source of distraction and an impediment to engaged discussion as well as learning. Thank you for your understanding.
Evaluation
Note. To be eligible for a passing grade in this class you must complete all of the assigned work.
You will be evaluated based on your performance on the course assignments as outlined below. Full details are provided in the “Assignments" section.
Grading
| Assignment |
Percent |
| Active class participation |
20% |
|
Core course week assignment: neuroscience research methods |
15% |
|
Research grant proposal |
25% |
|
Long study tour assignment: recovery-friendly London |
20% |
|
Final project: Neuroscience-based social advertisement on addiction |
20% |
|
Total: |
100% |
Academic Accommodations
Your learning experience in this class is important to me. If you have approved academic accommodations with DIS, please make sure I receive your DIS accommodations letter within two weeks from the start of classes. If you can think of other ways I can support your learning, please don't hesitate to talk to me. If you have any further questions about your academic accommodations, contact Academic Support acadsupport@disstockholm.se
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|