Year 3 Module Outline (PDF 325KB) - University of Birmingham

03 24692 L3: UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS: A NEURO-
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
Module Leader: Dr Pia Rotshtein
Teaching Staff: Dr Pia Rotshtein
LEVEL: SEMESTER: CREDIT VALUE: CONTACT HRS:
3 1 20 30
RESTRICTION ON ENROLMENT: 50
STATUS:
Optional
CONTACT HOURS:
Lectures: 10 × 2 hours (lectures and student presentations)
Office hours: 10 × 1 hour
MODULE DESCRIPTION/CONTENT:
The modules would explore the main debates in the neuro-cognitive research of emotions. It would focus on evidence
from a variety of research methods including behavioural, neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies.
1. Are bodily responses the core or the consequence of emotions
2. What is the relation between emotion and cognition
3. How many emotions do we have
4. Are emotions universal or culture specific
5. Is there a special class of social emotions
KEY LEARNING OUTCOMES:
On completion of this module the student will be able to:
1. Describe and discuss the underlying cognitive and neural processes that shape our emotion;
2. Critically evaluate theories and evidence in social cognition;
3. Demonstrate understanding of the methods used in emotional and cognitive neuroscience research; and
4. Formulate a clear research question along with a structured plan for answering it by empirical study.
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT:
25% student led seminar; 50% research design and grant proposal coursework; 25% peer review of grant proposals
READING LIST:
Readings will be empirical papers and book chapters selected by the instructor. Example readings include:
Critchley, H. D. (2005). Neural mechanisms of automatic, affective, and cognitive integration. J. Comp Neurol.
493, 154-166
Critchley, H. D., Wiens, S., Rotshtein, P., Ohman, A. and Dolan, R. J. (2004). Neural systems supporting
interoceptive awareness. Nat. Neurosci. 7, 189-195
Dolan, R. J. (2002). Emotion, cognition, and behaviour. Science 298, 1191-1194
Dolan, R. J. and Vuilleumier, P. (2003). Amygdala automaticity in emotional processing. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci.
985, 348-355
Ohman, A. (2005). The role of the amygdala in human fear: automatic detection of threat.
Psychoneuroendocrinology 30, 953-958
Pessoa, L. (2005). To what extent are emotional visual stimuli processed without attention and awareness Curr.
Opin. Neurobiol. 15, 188-196
Vuilleumier, P. (2005). How brains beware: neural mechanisms of emotional attention. Trends Cogn Sci. 9, 585-
594
ANY OTHER INFORMATION
Feedback
Generic feedback on all of the assessments will be posted on the module WebCT page. Where coursework is returned to
students, it will be accompanied by individual feedback.
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