Prospectus

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Neuromodulation of Cognition

Course
2020-2021

Important Note

  • All Semester II bachelor and master psychology courses and examinations (2020-2021) will be offered in an on-line format.

  • If it is safe and possible to do so, supplementary course meetings may be planned on-campus. However, attendance at these meetings will not be required to successfully complete Semester II courses.

  • All obligatory work groups and examinations will be offered on-line during Central European Time, which is local time in the Netherlands.

  • Information on the mode of instruction and the assessment method per course will be offered in Brightspace, considering the possibilities that are available at that moment. The information in Brightspace is leading during the Corona crisis, even if this does not match the information in the Prospectus.

Entry requirements

Only open to MSc Psychology (research) students. The students should have completed Cognitive Neuroscience or a similar course. For admission requirements, please contact your study advisor.

Description

Neuromodulation is the process in which several classes of neurotransmitters in the nervous system regulate diverse populations of neurons. In recent years, there has been a considerable increase in knowledge of how cognition is shaped by neuromodulation, by identifying key roles of several neurotransmitter systems.

This course will provide mechanistic insight into the role of different neurotransmitters in cognition. We will also discuss several ways to manipulate neuromodulation experimentally in order to study the biological basis of human cognition. Each course meeting aims to provide a deeper insight into the theoretical and methodological background of a current research interest. On the basis of 8 seminar meetings, each student will prepare a research proposal, which consists of a critical review of the literature relevant to the chosen topic and recommendations for future research.

Course objectives

This course is intended to review and discuss state-of-the-art developments in neuromodulation, covering issues like the role of dopamine in learning and executive control, the role of noradrenalin in attention and neural gain, and the effects of non-invasive brain stimulation to modulate cortical excitability and synaptic plasticity.

Timetable

For the timetables of your lectures, work groups and exams, please select your study programme in: Psychology timetables

Seminars

Registration

Course

Students need to enroll for lectures. Master’s course registration

Examination

Students are not automatically enrolled for an examination. They can register via uSis from 100 to 10 calendar days before the date. Students who are not registered will not be permitted to take the examination. Registering for exams

Mode of instruction

8 seminars

Assessment method

The assessment is based on:

  • 50% One individual presentation

  • 50% One individual research proposal

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences has instituted that instructors use a software programme for the systematic detection of plagiarism in students’ written work. In case of fraud disciplinary actions will be taken. Please see the information concerning fraud.

  • All Semester I bachelor and master psychology courses and examinations (2020-2021) will be offered in an on-line format.

  • If it is safe and possible to do so, supplementary course meetings may be planned on-campus. However, attendance at these meetings will not be required to successfully complete Semester I courses.

  • All obligatory work groups and examinations will be offered on-line during Central European Time, which is local time in the Netherlands.

  • Information on the mode of instruction and the assessment method per course will be offered in Brightspace, considering the possibilities that are available at that moment. The information in Brightspace is leading during the Corona crisis, even if this does not match the information in the Prospectus.

  • At this time it is not possible to provide information about Semester II (2020-2021).

Reading list

Readings available via Brightspace. Exemplary literature includes:

Cools, R. & D’Esposito M. (2011). Inverted U-shaped dopamine actions on human working memory and cognitive control. Biological Psychiatry, 69(12):e113-e125.

Contact information

Dr. Bryant Jongkees b.j.jongkees@fsw.leidenuniv.nl