Affective Neuroscience
Psych 254 (3 units)
M 1:30-4:30 PM
03/28/22-05/30/22
Online (canvas.stanford.edu)
Prerequisites: Background in neuroscience or psychology + instructor consent
Brian Knutson, Ph.D.
Psychology and Neuroscience
Bldg. 420, Rm. 470, Stanford CA 94305
Phone: 650.724.2965
Email: knutson'at'stanford.edu
Office Hours: W 2:00-3:30 PM (c/o rschumm'at'stanford.edu)Description:
This seminar aims to provide an overview of and historical context for the growing field of Affective Neuroscience. Emphasis will be on mapping affective experience and behavior to brain function, including cross-level integration of anatomical, chemical, and electrical data. Readings will come from the text as well as relevant selections from the current literature. Course requirements include a midterm, discussion of assigned readings, as well as a project proposal and presentation. Learning goals include: (1) increasing familiarity with theories of affect, (2) identifying relevant neural circuits, and (3) critiquing and conducting affective neuroscience research.Primary Text:
Panksepp, J. (1998). Affective Neuroscience. New York: Oxford University Press.
Schedule:
Date Content Overviews Findings 03/28/22 Intro / History Intro & Dukes Dalgleish 04/11/22 Measurement / Anatomy Ch. 3 / Ch. 4 Rolls / LeDoux 04/11/22 Electricity / Chemistry Ch. 5 / Ch. 6 Bechara / Martinez 04/18/22 Excitement / Fear Ch. 8 / Ch. 11 Knutson / Mobbs 04/25/22 Anger / Lust Ch. 10 / Ch. 12 Knutson / Heath 05/02/22 Love / Sadness Ch. 13 / Ch. 14 Kosfeld / Zubieta 05/09/22 Midterm (BK out) 05/16/22 Playfulness / Reflection Ch. 15 / Ch. 16 Blakemore / Kelley 05/23/22 Implications / Presentations Macniven 05/30/21 No class (Memorial Day)
Grading:
Midterm 25% Outline (5) / Presentation (10) / Proposal (20) 35% Notes (15) / Discussion (15) 30% Attendance (5) / Attention (5) 10%
Midterm: The midterm derives from readings and related discussion. The goal is to ensure that you are comfortable with anatomical, chemical, and electrical aspects of brain function. The midterm will include 25 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions. Sample midterm questions can be found here. If you need to reschedule the midterm, let me know in advance, so you can take it within a week after it was administered.
Outline / Presentation / Proposal: Proposals should be from 5-10 pages in length. Proposals should focus answering a novel question in affective neuroscience (i.e., investigating links between emotion and the brain) and include all the elements found in a typical journal article, including Introduction, Methods, Results (projected), and Discussion. The goal of this exercise is to familiarize you with the process of academic writing and editing.
You should first electronically submit an outline of your proposal by 05/08/22 (midnight), on which I will provide feedback. The outline should include a question, independent variable, dependent variable, hypothesis, potential confounds, and 3-5 references. Format is flexible and can be brief (e.g., either paragraphs or bullet points are fine). You will briefly present your proposal in the final class (e.g., in a powerpoint with ~5 slides), which will be evaluated by both your colleagues and me. The final proposal is due at midnight on 06/05/22 (not meeting the deadline will result in 5% reduction in that portion of your grade per day of lateness). A guide for your proposal can be found here.
Notes / Discussion: These brief (1/2 page per reading) comments on the readings should include a short summary of each chapter or associated reading and one question that the chapter or reading raised in your mind that you'd like to discuss. Electronically submit notes by midnight on the Sunday before class on Monday (15% of your grade; with participation in discussion determining an additional 15%; not meeting the deadline will result in a 5% reduction in that portion of your grade per day of lateness)
Attendance / Attention: Valid reasons for absence include: (1) arrangements made in advance with the instructors to participate in a Stanford-sanctioned activity (e.g., athletic competition), (2) a medical condition that requires the treatment of a physician, or (3) the death of a close family member. "Attention" is essentially psychological participation.
Guidelines: Plagiarism is considered academic theft and can result in a failing grade (I take this seriously). I typically ask students not to use laptops or devices in class, as they have been shown to impair learning. This is probably due to distraction, so try to shut all other windows / documents / links when in class (there will be a break half-way through). http://stanford.edu/~knutson/ans/anssyll.html (updated: 22.04.03)