Biological Foundations of Clinical Psych

Catalog description

This is a doctoral level course dedicated to Discipline-Specific Knowledge in the scientific psychology foundation of biological aspects of behavior. This goal is achieved through the critical examination of the structure and function of the nervous system and related systems; the role of the nervous system in sensory transduction, movement, sleeping, memory, learning, cognition, and emotion; and finally, through a critical examination of the role of the nervous system in selected psychopathologies (e.g., seasonal affective disorder, depression, anxiety, chronic stress reactions, and so forth.) A particular emphasis is placed on learning the scientific language of physiological psychology, the methods of study and analysis, as well as learning basic central nervous system neuroanatomy. The course topic sections are all anchored by primary source materials from peer-reviewed empirical American Psychological Association (APA) journal articles in biological science, representing the current state of original empirical work in this area.