The course examines historical and current theories that address principles, concepts and research methodology associated with the study of emotions. A parallel goal is to introduce students to contemporary neuroscientific approaches designed to unravel brain circuitry responsible for the emergence of emotions. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the profound influences that emotions exert over our everyday decisions, mood, reactions and overall behavior.
This material is integrated with contemporary findings from the field of neuroscience to reveal how the development of subjective emotional expression involves underlying physiological, conceptual and cognitive processes. We will explore how these important changes are coordinated by a constellation of different brain structures. Thus, the course focuses on revealing the neural basis of behavior that emerges through emotional appraisal processes, cognitive conceptual learning, and principles of motivation. Course topics introduce students to the vast areas of behavioral neuroscience research, the ingenious approaches to understand the etiology of mood disorders, and foundations of emotion regulation strategies that lead to healthy, positive and productive behaviors. The different forms of resources will be integrated to understand the neural basis of human behavior, psychopathology and brain related disorders (e.g. anxiety, depression, OCD, addiction, fear, helplessness).