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PSY546 Selected topics in contemporary neuroscience
Lecturers:
Mgr. Pavlína Hlavatá,
Mgr. Martin Jáni,
Klára Marečková, Ph.D., M.Sc.,
Mgr. Pavlína Linhartová,
Mgr. Lenka Sakálošová
MSc. Miguel Salazar,
Mgr. Beáta Špiláková,
Mgr. Petra Zemánková, Ph.D.
Supervisor
doc. Mgr. Lenka Lacinová, Ph.D. (Department of Psychology - Faculty of Social Studies)
Contact information
doc. Mgr. Lenka Lacinová, Ph.D.: lacinova@fss.muni.cz
Mgr. Pavlína Hlavatá: 323434@mail.muni.cz
Mgr. Martin Jáni: 217488@mail.muni.cz
Klára Marečková, Ph.D., M.Sc.: klara.mareckova@ceitec.muni.cz
Mgr. Pavlína Linhartová: pavla.linhartova@gmail.com
Mgr. Lenka Sakálošová: lenka.sakalosova@ceitec.muni.cz
MSc. Miguel Salazar: miguel.salazar@ceitec.muni.cz
Mgr. Beáta Špiláková: beata.spilakova@ceitec.muni.cz
Mgr. Petra Zemánková, Ph.D.: petra.zemankova@ceitec.muni.cz
Extent and Intensity
4 blocks per 4 lectures (á 60 min)
4 credits
Type of completion: z (credit)
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Course objectives
The aim of this course is to introduce students to selected topics and latest advances in social
neurosciences. As a part of the course, students will visit Multimodal and Functional Imaging
Laboratory (MAFIL) at Central European Institute of Technology, where various neuroimaging
techniques will be demonstrated.
At the end of the course, students will understand the basics of neuroimaging techniques and the
practical aspects of research in neuroscience. They will have knowledge about recent advances in
selected areas of social neuroscience research.
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Schedule & Syllabus:
• 5.10. at 8.00;
o Introduction to Contemporary Neuroscience
Will discuss basic principles of the nervous system functioning and the recent advances and findings from
human brain mapping.
Zimmer, C., & Clark, R. (2014). Secrets of the brain. Nat. Geogr, 28-58.
o Biomarkers and underlying mechanisms of psychiatric diseases
Will discuss the DSM vs. RDoC approach to study mental health disorders and the related biomarkers
and include examples from my research.
Cuthbert, B. N., & Insel, T. R. (2013). Toward the future of psychiatric diagnosis: the seven pillars of RDoC.
BMC medicine, 11(1), 126.
o Impulsivity
Impulsivity can be defined as acting without thinking about possible alternatives and consequences. In
fact, it is very heterogenous term which can manifest in personality traits, cognitive and emotional
processes and behaviour control. Neural correlates of impulsivity as well as cooccurrence with various
mental disorders will be discussed.
o Inhibition
Inhibition can be observed in all levels of organization in the nervous system, from neurons inhibiting one
another to our social behaviour, where we must forego our egocentric tendencies in favour of the rules
of conviviality. We will describe the important role inhibition has in shaping our minds and we will place
in the context of three psychiatric conditions: Major Depressive Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,
and Tourette's syndrome.
Monnart, A., Kornreich, C., Verbanck, P., & Campanella, S. (2016). Just Swap Out of Negative Vibes?
Rumination and Inhibition Deficits in Major Depressive Disorder: Data from Event-Related Potentials
Studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(1019). http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01019
• 26.10. at 8.00 (at CEITEC at University Campus at Bohunice; further instructions will be given
at first lecture);
o Research methods in neuroscience
What they can reveal about human brain structure and functions? How they are often misinterpreted?
We will cover types of research design, behavioural methods and overview the most popular imaging
methods with focus on electrophysiology (e.g. EEG), which is not as sexy as fMRI, but stays the backbone
of functional neuroscience.
Carter, M., & Shieh, J. C. (2015). Chapter 1 - Whole Brain Imaging. Guide to research techniques in
neuroscience. Academic Press.
o Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive imaging method used routinely in the clinic and in
research. In this lecture, the theoretical basis, examples of methods and applications of structural MRI
and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) will be presented. In this lecture we will also visit
Multimodal and Functional Imaging Laboratory at CEITEC MU, in order to show you how an actual fMRI
experiment looks like.
Logothetis, N. K. (2008). What we can do and what we cannot do with fMRI. Nature, 453(7197), 869.
o Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation & fMRI biofeedback
The lesson will go over principles and mechanisms of both repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
(rTMS) and real-time fMRI neurofeedback techniques. Further, possible areas of both research and clinical
of the methods will be explained, with focus on research and treatment of emotion regulation
impairment.
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o EEG, TMS & MRI demonstrations
• 16.11. at 8.00;
o Social cognition in schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder with severe difficulties in social functioning. Various
approaches to studying neural substrate of social cognition deficits will be discussed.
Green, M. F., Horan, W. P., & Lee, J. (2015). Social cognition in schizophrenia. Nature Reviews.
Neuroscience, 16(10), 620
o Ambiguity in social cognition
Inherent ambiguity of social cues makes effective functioning in our social world relatively challenging.
The more ambiguous the situation, the higher the risk of misinterpretation and reliance upon cognitive
bias. Here we will discuss the mechanisms and neural correlates of social cognitive bias in healthy
population, as well as in mental disorders where cognitive bias plays crucial role in the development and
maintenance of the disease (e.g., anxiety disorder, major depression, eating disorders).
Todorov, A., Harris, L. T., & Fiske, S. T. (2006). Toward socially inspired social neuroscience. Brain research,
1079(1), 76-85.
o Connectivity and network neuroscience
There is a growing tendency in neuroscience to focus on networks and connectivity instead on discrete
brain areas. We will introduce concepts of functional and effective connectivity, basics of graph theory
and show their applications in network research in neuroscience. We will attend several well research
networks in human brain, including resting state network, salience network and attention networks.
https://theconversation.com/the-brain-a-radical-rethink-is-needed-to-understand-it-74460
o Meta-analysis in neuroscience
Meta-analysis is an important tool for quantitatively summarizing results from studies. Advantages
include higher statistical power but are prone to biases. Various methods in context of neuroscience will
be discussed.
• 7.12. at 8.00;
o Altruism, cooperation & competition
We will discuss neural mechanisms of prosocial behaviour, empathy, cooperation & competition. Results
from recent hyperscanning research on competition and cooperation will be presented.
o Consciousness
The hard problem: how does biological brain activity give rise to subjective experience? We will give a
little philosophical background (fun thought experiments), overview main theories of consciousness and
discuss their shortcomings, reveal (the little we know about) neural correlates of consciousness, study
methods and their flaws and cover most interesting case studies.
Koch, C., Massimini, M., Boly, M., & Tononi, G. (2016). Neural correlates of consciousness: progress and
problems. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17(6), 395–395. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.61
o Presentations & Discussions
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Literature
• Green, M. F., Horan, W. P., & Lee, J. (2015). Social cognition in schizophrenia. Nature Reviews.
Neuroscience, 16(10), 620.
• Logothetis, N. K. (2008). What we can do and what we cannot do with fMRI. Nature, 453(7197), 869.
• Zimmer, C., & Clark, R. (2014). Secrets of the brain. Nat. Geogr, 28-58.
• Cuthbert, B. N., & Insel, T. R. (2013). Toward the future of psychiatric diagnosis: the seven pillars of
RDoC. BMC medicine, 11(1), 126.
• Todorov, A., Harris, L. T., & Fiske, S. T. (2006). Toward socially inspired social neuroscience. Brain
research, 1079(1), 76-85
• Monnart, A., Kornreich, C., Verbanck, P., & Campanella, S. (2016). Just Swap Out of Negative Vibes?
Rumination and Inhibition Deficits in Major Depressive Disorder: Data from Event-Related Potentials
Studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(1019). http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01019
• Koch, C., Massimini, M., Boly, M., & Tononi, G. (2016). Neural correlates of consciousness: progress and
problems. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17(6), 395–395. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.61
• Carter, M., & Shieh, J. C. (2015). Chapter 1 - Whole Brain Imaging. Guide to research techniques in
neuroscience. Academic Press.
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Assignments
• Reading: 1-3 papers prior to each block; fill in an online questionnaire on each paper (see
section above)
• Writing: a neuroscience research proposal OR presentation of a neuroscientific topic
• Attendance: absence on 1 lecture (60 minutes) is allowed, if you need to skip an entire block,
you will be asked to write an additional assignment:
read this paper
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131219-brain-bioethics-neuroscience-
greely-science/
pick one of the topics mentioned and write an essay discussing your opinion on
this topic. This essay should be no shorter than 3 standard pages (but no longer
than 5) and should include at least 3 sources.
Neuroscience research proposal
Select any topic (can be ideas for your diploma thesis, old assignments of other courses, current
interests in psychology) and propose a way to do neuroscientific research based on it.
These sections are expected to be covered:
Introduction
• Motivation for the research
(what new and interesting discoveries could come about if we implement your proposal?)
• Brief overview of the literature
(what has been done in the field so far, what did you base your hypotheses on)
• Hypotheses
Methods
• Participants
• Methods, tasks
• Physiological/ neuroimaging/ behavioural/ or computational modelling techniques used
Discussion
• Expected results & their interpretation.
• Significance of the results, possible applications
Literature
3-5 standard pages (5400-9000 characters, literature not included)
Presentation on a neuroscientific topic
Introduce a neuroscientific topic that wasn’t covered on the lectures (we can help you come up with
an idea)
10-minute presentation (+ 5 minutes for discussion)
Short handout with the take-home messages of the presentation
Interact with your audience, prepare some questions.
Make a nice story of it
Both assignments are due to 4.11., you will get feedback by 25.11. and you will have a chance to
resubmit by 5.12.
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Assessment methods
Students will be given their credits based on attendance and writing assignments.
Assignments will be evaluated based on these criteria:
1. State of the art: ability to grasp the selected topic, find relevant articles, communicate the current
knowledge of the issue and identify the scientific gap
2. Methodology: understanding of general scientific research principles, methodologies used, basic
understanding of neuroscientific tools
3. Impact and applications: the ability to reflect, what implications can the topic have in real life, (e.g.
clinical practice, education etc.) AND/OR the potential to bring new knowledge or inspire further
research
4. Format: segmentation, intelligibility,
Opinion essay:
1. Understanding of the topic
2. Ability to communicate different angles of the issue
3. Personal opinion