Course Syllabus

 

Research Assistant: Early Brain Development in Autism Spectrum Disorder

 

Semester & Location:	Spring 2020 - DIS Stockholm
Mentor:	Elodie Cauvet  eca@distockholm.se
Type & Credits:	Elective Course - 3 Credits
Major Disciplines:	Psychology, Neuroscience
Course Coordinator:	Kenzie Zimmer  mz@dis.dk
Program Director:	Tina Mangieri  tma@disstockholm.se

About the Research:
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impairment in social interaction and communication alongside stereotypic, restricted, and repetitive behaviors and interests, causing functional impairment in everyday life. Reliable diagnosis can be given from the age of 2 to 3 years, but relies solely on behavioral symptoms with no biomarkers available so far. Early brain development disruption is thought to underlie the development of ASD, even before clinical signs are visible. Over the past couple of years, research is starting to point at prodromes, i.e. early symptoms of ASD, being potentially detectable during the
first two years of life. For instance, early over-expansion of several cortical regions and especially the visual cortex has been revealed in high-risk children who will develop ASD.
This research project consists in a systematic review and a potential meta-analysis of the existing neuroanatomical findings related to early autism, used ultimately to write an article providing a better understanding of the literature and giving new insights into this recent field of research. More concretely, you learn about neuroimaging techniques, neuroanatomy and the autism research field. You also learn systematic review  techniques, which include article screening, extracting and compiling data, and writing a systematic review using a very specific, scientific format. A meta-analysis complements the systematic review using the extracted data.

Researcher Bio
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 Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND). Her interests include social cognitive skills, empathy and emotion processing within the whole spectrum of functioning from typicality till disorders such as ASD. She has been
with DIS since 2016.

Description of role and responsibilities of the Research Assistant
You are expected to spend a minimum of 10 hrs per week on the project. The workload may vary over the semester. When you will travel for field visits, additional time may be required. This research project is a group project and requires multiple brains and skills to be fruitfully combined.

As research assistant you will:
  1. Participate in weekly meetings with your research mentor at a time set collectively at the beginning of the semester.
  2. Participate in a research orientation at the beginning of the semester with your fellow Research Assistant students from other projects
  3. Participate in two workshops during the semester:
                 1. A workshop at beginning of the semester: orientation and strategies for successful international research work
                 2. A workshop discussing strategies and best practices for effective communication of research, especially to those not in the field
  4. Write an assessment of your own strengths and weaknesses in the research process at the beginning of the semester. Revisit at the end of the semester as part of an evaluation of your own participation in, and learning from, the research project.
  5. Keep a research journal and submit it in person or via email every week (or another specified interval) to your research mentor, describing the activities of the week, and outlining goals for the following week.
  6. Learn to use bibliographic, statistical tools and softwares. You will also learn about neuroanatomy, neuroimaging techniques relevant for the project as well as early autism symptomatology.
  7. Participate in carrying out the research project. These include: data compilation, article screening, literature review, statistical analysis. The specific responsibilities in a given semester vary depending on the phase of the project and  will be set by the research mentor at the beginning of the semester. Be prepared to contribute to tasks that may come up during the semester. Research processes are not always predictable.
  8. Present the relevance of the research and/or findings to peer(s) from other disciplines at the End of Semester Showcase.
  9. Make a final oral presentation of the research you are involved in as well as write the final paper: systematic review.

 

Workshops & Orientation

All sessions are mandatory and take place in 1D-409.

Orientation: January 15th, 14.00-15.00 

Workshop 1: February 12th, 16.30-18.00

Workshop 2: April 15th, 16.30-18.00

Research Symposium @ Final End of Semester Showcase: May 5

 

Learning Objectives
The primary objective is for you to experience the world of research and gain experience that will prepare you for any future career you choose to pursue. By the end of the semester you will grasp the complexities of the research project, and have made your own contribution to the project. You will also have learned to communicate ideas
and findings, both orally and in writing, to members from your particular discipline as well as peers from other disciplines.
Additional objectives include:
• Learn about neuroimaging techniques, neuroanatomy and the autism research field
• Develop and apply systematic review techniques, which include article screening, extracting and compiling data
• Contribute to writing a systematic review using a very specific, scientific format
• Assist with a meta-analysis that complements the systematic review using the extracted data

Readings
The readings will be agreed on with the mentor at the beginning of the semester, and the exact content will differ depending on your background. You will receive guidance concerning the basics of relevant concepts, study designs, methods of analysis, etc.

Field Studies
To anchor your systematic review - meta-analysis into concrete clinical background, we will visit a couple of places to discuss with other researchers and clinicians about early autism and how this disorder is diagnosed and the remediation strategies offered in Sweden to young children. Field studies might include visits at the autismcenter för små barn, visits at the center for sensory stimulation, visit and discussion with psychologist and researchers from the center for neurodevelopmental disorder at Karolinska institute, visit and discussion with the researchers from the Babylab in Uppsala University.

Approach to Mentoring
Having mentored all different levels of students, from high school to PhD students, my mentoring depends on the person, the level and the project. Specifically, this project is a group project in neuroimaging which requires discussion with your peers and myself. We will meet every week and you are most welcome to communicate with me outside of this time either via email or directly by passing by my office.  I will guide you through the necessary knowledge and skills required by the projects (neuroimaging techniques, neuroanatomy, statistics, autism research, bibliography handling etc.). However, I will also rely on your already acquired skills which are different across the group members.

From experience, more brain power is always beneficial to conduct research projects, especially in neuroimaging. For this project, you will have to rely on each other and on your specific skills and knowledge. We will start by assessing you skills and we will plan your work altogether with an approximate semester timeline.  This timeline and the associated tasks will be reviewed every week checking individual and group advancement, potential challenges and will updated accordingly.

Expectations of the Research Assistant
The specific expectations of the individual research assistant are agreed upon at the beginning of the semester. The research assistant is expected to take initiative, take ownership of the project and work independently as well as team up constructively with the other assistants. You must also be prepared for meetings and be willing to part take in relevant discussions. Carrying out a research project is not a straight forward and predictable process. This is part of what makes it exciting. It also means that communication is crucial. You are expected to take  responsibility for communicating about problems or issues that arise.

Data
Data will be extracted from the articles selected for the systematic review. Analyses will thus be based on already published data from the literature which will be reanalyzed using statistics specific to meta-analysis.

Evaluation and grading
All research assistants are assessed on their participation in the seminar on responsible research practices, weekly status reports to the research mentor, self-evaluation and presentation to peers from other disciplines. Grading will be based both on individual but also group work as followed:

Active Participation (individual) 20%

Participation in all meetings, and research activities is required. Any absence will result in lowering the active participation grade of  value of a grade. Active participation includes participating in the discussions whether physical or electronic in a constructive and positive fashion. These discussions include within group discussion, with the mentor, during the field studies with the different hosts. The active participation will also include the assessment of the strength prior and after the internship (see grading rubric).

Research Notebook (group but modulated by individual involvement) 15%

Research notebook will be reviewed and graded. The goal of a notebook being that the conducted research can be reproduced by other researchers. As such, the notebook need to include the relevant information. You will need to select and report in this document all relevant information and decisions taken throughout the research process keeping the aim of the notebook in mind.

Data extraction, table making  (group)   10%

The data extracted from the bibliography search will need to be organized logically so that they can be discussed and formatted into a big picture. They will need to be selected so that the meta-analysis can be performed.

Oral presentation  (group) 20%

Presentation of the systematic review findings during one of the class of the developing brain to cover ASD, as one of the Neurodevelopmental disorder. The level of the presentation will need to be adjusted for students from the Developing Brain class and will need to present the background of the topic as well as the findings.

Poster (group)  15%

Creation and presentation of the poster at the showcase to convey graphically the results of the research conducted.

Manuscript  (group)   20%

Final manuscript summarizing the finding into a systematic review and if time allows a meta-analysis. This will need to follow the systematic review format. Eventually this paper will be submitted to a scientific journal for publication.

 

Disability and Resource Statement
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Academic Support (acadsupp@dis.dk) to coordinate this. In order to receive accommodations, students should inform the instructor of approved DIS accommodations within the first two weeks of classes.

 

Policies
Attendance
It is crucial for your learning that you stay on task and hand in assignments on or before the due date. All work– including in-class projects – have to be completed in order to pass the class. Late papers or projects will be marked down with 1/3 of a grade for each day it is late.

Academic Honesty: Plagiarism and Violating the Rules of an Assignment
DIS expects that students abide by the highest standards of intellectual honesty in all academic work. DIS assumes that all students do their own work and credit all work or thought taken from others. Academic dishonesty will result in a final course grade of “F” and can result in dismissal. The students’ home universities will be notified. DIS
reserves the right to request that written student assignments be turned in electronic form for submission to plagiarism detection software. See the Academic Handbook for more information, or ask your instructor if you have questions.