Introduction to Psychology (PSYCB105)

Introductory Psychology delves into the human mind and asks questions like “what happens in our brain while we sleep?” “how do we form memories?” and “what is love?” This course covers all subdisciplines within the field of psychology (i.e. biological psychology, clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, cultural psychology, developmental psychology, health psychology, social psychology, etc). This course also has a laboratory component, which complements the concepts learned during lecture and allows students hands-on experience in collecting and analyzing data.

Behavioral Neuroscience (PSYCB218)   

In this 200 level survey course, students learn about the brain and how it underlies behavior. More specifically, the first third of the course focuses on the brain and neuronal communication, and latter two thirds of the course focus on how the brain controls sex behavior, hunger, sleep, and emotion. The course also introduces students to reading primary neuroscience literature through journal clubs and a literature review on a topic of interest.

Behavioral Neuroscience Lab (PSYCB286)

Behavioral Neuroscience Lab is a writing-intensive laboratory course that provides students with experience in the design, implementation, analysis, and presentation of behavioral neuroscience research. Students perform hands-on experiments that explore the relationship between the brain and behavior, using rats as a model organism. Previous iterations of the course have included studies on the effects of estrogen on the stress response in female rats or how music affects stress and anxiety behaviors in male and female rats. Assignments in the class include several drafts of a research report on experiments performed in the lab, as well as an oral presentation on research conducted.      

Stress Neuroscience (PSYCB315)

Stress Neuroscience is a 300-level seminar course examining the neural mechanisms underlying physiological and emotional responses to stress. In this course, students learn about the effect of stress on memory, sleep, reproduction, appetite, and psychological health. We also discuss the effects of stress at various developmental time points (spanning from in utero to aged individuals). Each week, we spend one class period covering introductory material in a subtopic in stress neuroscience (eg how stress affects the brain to impair sleep), and another class period discussing two primary research articles on that subtopic area. Assignments include weekly reflections, presentations, and discussions about primary literature, as well as an original research proposal in the stress neuroscience field.