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Fall 2023

Permission forms will be accepted for Fall 2023 courses beginning on May 1, 2023.  Note that all the PSYC courses listed below are accepted towards the Psychology major, but only some are accepted towards the Neuroscience major.

PSYC 60

Principles of Human Brain Mapping with fMRI

In 23F at 2A, Jim Haxby

This course is designed to introduce students to the theoretical and practical issues involved in conducting functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments of cognitive and behaviorally-related brain activity. Participants will gain an understanding of the physiological principles underlying the fMRI signal change, as well as the considerations for experimental design. The course will include firsthand exposure to the scanning environment and data collection procedures. Participants will be provided conceptual and hands-on experience with image processing and statistical analysis. At the completion of this course, it is expected that participants will be prepared to critique, design and conduct fMRI studies; appreciate limitations and potentials of current fMRI methods and techniques; and better understand the broad range of expertise required in an fMRI research program. The course is designed to provide the participant with intensive, hands-on instruction. As a result, enrollment in the course will be limited to 12 people. Knowledge of MR physics, signal processing, or the UNIX/Linux operating system is not a prerequisite.

Approved course for the Neuroscience major/minor.
Prerequisite: Instructor permission through the department website.

PSYC 80.04

The Weight Among Us: What Neuroscience Can Teach Us About Obesity

In 23F at 9L, Ann Clark

In 1995, ~56% of adults in the US were overweight or obese. Fast-forward ~25 years and the prevalence has increased to 70%. Over this time period there have been significant advances in the scientific understanding of obesity, yet many questions remain unanswered. In this course, students will examine, through the lens of neuroscience, how successes, failures and challenges in obesity research inform the prevention, management, and treatment of obesity.

Approved course for the Neuroscience major/minor.
Prerequisite: PSYC 6 and one of the following: PSYC 37 or PSYC 45 (recommended), instructor may waive PSYC 37/45 for qualified students; and instructor permission via the department website.

PSYC 83.09

Neurobiology of Social Intelligence

In 23F at 10A, Arjen Stolk

A deep understanding of any social species requires a neurobiological understanding of how and why brains interact. In this culminating seminar, we will critically examine the social contexts that forged and continue to shape human intelligence. We will be considering evolutionary, comparative, game-theoretic, computational, developmental, and pathological aspects of our social intelligence from a neurobiological perspective. The goal is to gain insight into how humans became such big-brained other-regarding apes, and how our brains developmentally construct and pathologically lose socio-cognitive faculties, as seems to be the case in certain psychiatric and neurological disorders. Students will be expected to read and critically assess the neuroscientific literature and explore empirical opportunities for new insights into the neurobiology of human social intelligence.

Approved course for the Neuroscience major/minor.
Prerequisites: PSYC 1 or PSYC 6, and instructor permission via the department website.

PSYC 84.06

Organizational Psychology

In 23F at 3A, John Jordan

How do some organizations unleash remarkable creativity, teamwork, job satisfaction, and performance, while others struggle, stagnate, become toxic and/or fail?  Through active engagement with case studies, simulation challenges, external experts, and project-based learning we will find out.  This seminar will explore how the attitudes, motivations and behavior of individuals and groups affect organizational performance, and the psychological science that helps explain why.  We will discover how the best leaders use their power and influence to shape their organization's culture and build organizational systems that place the right talent in the right roles, empower high-performing teams, improve processes, develop capabilities, and reward the right behaviors.  Students will derive practical science-based insights they can use to strengthen the teams, clubs, and organizations to which they belong.

Prerequisite: PSYC 1 or PSYC 6; and one of the following: PSYC 23 or 28 or 53.12 or 54.08; and Instructor Permission through the department website.

Distributive: SOC