Course Syllabus
Affective Neuroscience:
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Semester & Location: |
Fall 2018 - DIS Stockholm |
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Type & Credits: |
Core Course - 3 credits |
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Core Course Study Tours: |
Paris, France |
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Major Disciplines: |
Neuroscience, Psychology |
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Faculty Members: |
Élodie Cauvet - eca@disstockholm.se |
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Program Director: |
Carla Caetano - cca@dis.dk |
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Time & Place |
Monday/Thursday 8:30 – 9:50, Location: 1E-510 |
Description of Course
Prerequisite: One semester of neuroscience, physiological psychology, or biological psychology at university level
Co-requisite: Enrollment in Affective Neuroscience Research Lab
How do we understand the interplay of human emotions and their neural networks? This course applies findings from the interdisciplinary field of neuroscience and the psychological study of cognition, emotion, and personality. Basic, complex, and social emotions are explored from the perspective of, for example, the subjective experience of emotion, non-conscious processes, how emotions are interpreted, expressed, or regulated. Affective systems, neural networks, and their relationship to cognitive processes such as attention, learning, memory, and decision making are addressed. Where relevant, human brain imaging findings, pathological conditions, treatment and cultural perspectives are considered.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Discuss the main theoretical perspectives in affective neuroscience
- Contrast different emotions on their physiological and neurological correlates
- Critically analyze the impact of emotions on cognitive processes, including - but not only - higher order functions
- Integrate the different levels of emotion processing (cognitive, psychological and neurological) and their interplay within multimodal models
- Compare and discuss the alterations of affect and its regulation in terms of cognitive and neural processes from typical and pathological perspective
- Reflect upon the developmental milestones of emotions and their regulation in terms of behavior and neurological process
- Present, discuss and criticize scientific papers
- Critically evaluate research methods used in the affective neuroscience field
The following topics will be covered during the course:
Theme 1: Key elements in neurobiology of emotion
Neuroanatomy and cerebral organization of emotion systems
Hormonal systems
Autonomic nervous systems
Theme 2: Foundations: theories of emotion in cognitive psychology
Overview of cognitive functions
Cognitive and psychological theories of emotion: the role of neuroscience
Interplay of emotion and cognitive domains
Theme 3: Methods in affective neuroscience research
Neuroimaging
Physiological measures
Psychological measures
Theme 4: Emotions: from basics to complex and their cognitive and neural correlates
Positive emotions: excitement, pleasure, desire and their relation to happiness
Negative emotions: Anger, disgust, fear and sadness
Social emotions: moral, empathy
Theme 5: External antecedents of emotions: selected topics
Emotion and the body: from touch to olfaction
Emotion and audition: from music to language
Theme 6: Emotion and cognition
Emotion and attention: bias and top down effects
Emotion and memory
Emotion regulation and the prefrontal cortex
Emotion and consciousness
Theme 7: Variability in emotion
Sex differences
Aging
Cultural differences
Faculty
Élodie Cauvet obtained her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, from Pierre & Marie Curie University in Paris (France). Her research interest started with language acquisition in infants leading to the study of the cerebral processing of language and music in adults. She became interested in neurodevelopmental disorders starting with developmental dyslexia then expending into autism spectrum disorders as well as ADHD. She is using techniques from psychology as well as neuroimaging in her research; this includes MRI (anatomical and functional) as well as EEG and eye tracking. She has been conducting her latest research at Karolinska Institutet Center for Neuro-developmental Disorders (KIND). Her interests include social cognitive skills, empathy and emotion processing within the whole spectrum of functioning from typicality to disorders such as ASD. With DIS since 2016.
Reading
Required textbook
Armony, J. & P. Vuilleumier (Eds.), (2013) The Cambridge Handbook of Human Affective Neuroscience; Cambridge University Press, New York, NY.
Books: (selected chapters)
Kandel (2013): Principles of Neural Science, 5th edition, chapter 48, Emotions and Feelings and chapter 63, Disorders of Mood and Anxiety
Power, M. & Tim Dalgleis, T. (2008). Cognition and Emotion: From Order to Disorder. Chapter 3 and 10. Psychology Press: New York
Articles:
TBA
Field Studies
1) Wednesday, August 22nd 8:30 – 12:30
How are emotions represented in photography? Representing and experiencing emotions
We will visit the Fotografiska museum of Stockholm. Students will team up in two’s and will go through the different exhibitions for approx. 1.5 hours. Questions will be used to guide the experience and allow for reflection. These reflections will be discussed together afterwards.
Each group will be assigned a different couple of emotions. Each group will select pieces of art that depict these emotions, analyze how these emotions are rendered, (specifically identifying which features were critical for this emotional recognition). Each student will further reflect upon the individual emotions that were elicited by these pieces. Specifically, each student will need to pay attention to their own feelings but also to the physiological responses individually experienced. These emotional responses can be related to other moments in life when similar responses were experienced and how these responses might have affected decisions, actions etc. After the visit, we will meet at the café of the fotografiska museum for a Fika ( Swedish tradition to gather around coffee and pastries) with it’s beautiful view of Stockholm. The discussion at the café (with pastries) is for each group to present their reflections and findings in order to define the emotions and their physiological, psychological and neural correlates. This field study constitutes the introduction and presentation of the class.
Learning objectives:
- Define different emotions
- Assess individual knowledge in terms of: emotion psychological constructs, psychological and cognitive models, neural representations
- Introduce the class content
- Discuss class expectations
- Ice-breaker: meet fellow students and teacher in a cozy location
2) Wednesday, September 26th 8:00 – 12:00
Rück Lab: Research on OCD and related disorders at Karolinska Institutet
The lab focuses on internet-based CBT, OCD and related disorders including hoarding and body image problems. Another research focus is the relationship between genetic variation and response to psychological treatment.
3) Wednesday, October 24th 9:00 - 12:30
The Fisher Lab, Stockholm university
The lab focus on different aspects of emotional, social, and cognitive information processing, and how age, gender, genetics, personality, and sleep deprivation affect these processes.
Study Tours
Study tours are an integral part of the class. Class content will be reviewed and integrated with real word settings (research, clinical etc.) and experience.
The goal is to experience first-hand different settings related to the class content: including high-end research lab and facilities and clinical venues. We will inquire how emotions are elicited by different mediums and their subjective individual experience and importantly use also scientific objective description of their neural correlates and mechanisms.
Core Course Week and Short Study Tour: Göteborg
Expressing and experiencing emotions: Disorders and Remediation
Improvisation workshop: "Acting = Fake emotions?”
Experience how to display emotions and group social interaction from an acting point of view. Discuss the characteristics of such emotional displays from the emitter and receiver perspectives. Learn about the physiological and neurological processes elicited by acting/faking emotions and about group interactions. Practical experience.
Music therapy: Communication, contact and collaboration: grounding experiences in physio-music-therapy within psychiatry
Anna-Karin Kuuse, is a music therapist and Anna Behn is a Physiotherapist in Gothenburg. They have been working together in an Adult Psychiatric Outpatient Unit with groups in Physio-music-therapy. Within these groups, they tackle grounding, communication, contact and collaboration. The work they developed is adequate for several clinical groups. This workshop will initiate discussions about different treatments and resources.
Genetics of autism and social behaviors: Lars Westberg: Students will visit a wet lab including the fish facility at Gothenburg university and attend lectures. They will need to keep in mind their own assignment topic.
Serotonin, SSRI in relation to anxiety and depression: Elias Eriksson: Lecture overview of pharmacological treatment of depression with focus on SSRI. Discussion about the controversy of the efficacy of antidepressant.
Long Study Tour: Paris, France
More details in the study tour booklet.
Guest Lecturers
Monica Siquieros is a psychologist and a PhD student at the Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet. In her PhD research, she aims to investigate the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to individual differences in cognitive measures associated to Autism Spectrum Disorders and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder in children and infants combining eye-tracking, EEG and a twin design.
Kristiina Tammimies is a senior researcher at Karolinska Institutet. Her research aims to understand how genetic factors contribute to the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and how these factors translate into biological pathways affecting brain development using genome-wide techniques such as whole genome sequencing. Here, Kristiina will give an introduction into genetic factors affecting NDDs and the techniques used to to study them.
/Lab/
Refer to the co-requisite syllabus for all details
Approach to teaching
I am an enthusiastic teacher whose goal is to develop your curiosity, sense of questioning and critical thinking. As such, I encourage asking questions whether for clarification or for deeper understanding. There is no such things as bad questions: what appears trivial might actually turn into the most interesting and insightful questions.
Each class include both lectures by the teacher and discussions led by the students. We will develop and reflect upon the emotions, mood and their typical and atypical correlates from different descriptive scales: physiological, psychological, cognitive and neural. Classes’ content relies on the readings. Content of the readings is expected to nourish the discussions and will not be developed in details during the class. However, any unclear areas, pointed out by students’ questions, will be reviewed in class.
Expectations of the students
Students are expected to be involved in their studies and are responsible for them. In addition to being present in class, having read the required readings and handing in assignments at the due time (all mandatory), students are expected to participate actively in class and to create a lively and positive learning environment. This includes (but is not restricted to) participating in the discussions and asking questions to both the teacher and peers.
Students are responsible for their learning. This implies taking notes from the lecture and summarizing the content of both lectures and discussions. Presentations include graphs, pictures and illustrations necessary to understand the class. Students are expected to take notes complementing and explaining the slides. The presentations are a support and should be treated as such and not as the main source of information. Class content delivered orally by the teacher need to be written down individually by the students. Main discussions must be summarized by the students and transcribed on white board. A picture of these will be available on Canvas for the respective classes.
Evaluation
The course consists of lectures, discussions and assignments at home and in class as well as field studies, core course week and long study tour. Students’ attendance of the classes, visits, tours and their active participation in the discussions are mandatory and taken into account in the evaluation. In discussions and assignments (in class or in tours), students are required to demonstrate that they read and understood the required literature. They should be able to integrate their knowledge to discuss in depth research questions and topics. Showing independent and critical thinking is expected.
Grading
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Assignment |
Percent |
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Active Class Participation |
10% |
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Study Tour Assignment (core course week) |
10% |
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Study Tour Assignment (Long Tour) |
10% |
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Midterm |
15% |
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Class topic presentation Group oral presentation |
15% |
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Integrative Paper (individual) |
20% |
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Final Exam |
20% |
| Total |
100% |
Detailed assignment description and rubrics will be available via Canvas and in-class
Descriptions of assignments
Active class participation (10%):
The student is active in discussions and group work. Active participation and engagement includes asking questions related to readings and material presented in the class and taking part in discussions as well as being active during field trips, study tours and guest lectures. Active participation also means taking the initiative. Attendance is mandatory and will be reflected in this assignment grade. See Canvas for class participation grading.
Study Tour Assignment: Core Course Week (10%)
Date: September 14th
Students will grouped in two’s or three‘s and be assigned to one affective disorder. Students will have to pay specific attention during the visits and lectures for their assigned disorder in order to learn and ask as many relevant questions as possible. This include preparing discussion topics and/or questions in advance of the academic visits.The goal is to be able, by the end of the core course week, to provide the class with a comprehensive presentation of the disorder and integrate the content of the core course week with the state of the art research on the disorder. In addition of the group presentation, that will take place on the last day of the week (Sept. 14th), students will have to hand in a visual summary (power point presentation slides, poster, graphs) that will summarize and integrate their knowledge of the disorder. Students are expected to ask questions and discuss with the other groups, the content of which will be taken into account in their grade.
Study Tour Assignment: Long Tour (10%)
Date: November 2nd
TBA
Midterm (15%)
Date: October 4th
Short answered questions (between 7 and 10) and two short essays. Short answer questions will be a combination of information recall and explanation of concepts and theory. Short essays will summarize knowledge on a specific topic covered in class and will require integration of class content. This can include describing emotional processing at neural level in a concrete everyday life situation, or proposing an experiment to answer a research question and the expected results. .
Class topic presentation (35%)
group presentation (15%) + Integrative paper – Group (20%)
Date: Variable across groups
Students will be grouped in two’s or three’s and will be assigned to one of the themes from classes 12 to 16. Students will have to prepare an oral presentation on this topic (20-30minutes) including a discussion theme with their fellow students. The oral presentation will be graded as a group and the goal is to present the state of the art on this topic as well as the current burning research questions. The group presentation will be complemented by a group paper (four pages, excluding title page and references) integrating the presented information and exploring in depth a subtopic (one research question) in relation to the presented topic. The teacher must have previously approved the research question. Presentation dates and topics will be assigned randomly during class at least 2 weeks before the first presentation. After the presentation, the slides will be handed in. Group grades will take into account the slides (quality and readability), the oral presentation, the information presented (quality of the topic search and organization), and the lead of the following discussion.
The group paper will be handed in 1 week after the last presentation and will be graded according to the rubric, based on the quality of the research papers presented, the integration of knowledge in exploring a new question within the theoretical frameworks discussed in class, constructive criticism of the presented data, coherency and structure.
Final Exam (20%)
Date: Tuesday, December 11th 9:00 - 11:00
Individual
Short answer questions, short essays and multiple-choice questions will be included in order to cover the content of the whole class. Integration of knowledge within theoretical framework is expected as well as related to the latest research questions discussed in class.
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:
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