Behaviour and the Brain part 1: Addiction

COURSE OBJECTIVE
To provide insight into the biopsychosocial mechanisms that underlie behavior, with a focus on drug use and addiction, learning and attention.

COURSE CONTENT
When we engage in behaviour, we often hope to gain something, to be rewarded. To optimize the reward we receive, we exquisitely fine-tune our behaviour and become expert reward-seekers. Our behaviour can lead to positive effects, such as gaining new skills and achieving academic success, but it may also have negative consequences, for instance the short-term reward of drug intake may lead to addiction. During part I of the course you will gain knowledge of the biological and psychosocial processes that play a role in the search for rewards, in particular in relation to drug use and addiction. The nature of drugs, their short-term reward and related progression into addiction, as well as non-drug related addictions will be addressed. In part II you will gain insight into processes that guide our attention and learning and relate this to drug use. Throughout the course you will also learn more about the methods scientific research has at its disposal to increase this knowledge. During a set of the practical sessions you will take on the role of experiment leader to conduct a study related to the course topic and you will lay down your research findings in a paper.

TEACHING METHODS
Lectures, tutorials and laboratory sessions.

TYPE OF ASSESSMENT
Part I: Assignments and poster
Part II: Assignments and research report

REMARKS
Students should follow both Behaviour and the brain part 1 : Addiction (coordinated by Biological Psychology) and Behaviour and the Brain part 2: Attention (coordinated by Cognitive Psychology)