SEMINARS, SPRING 2024

ON THIS PAGE:
-Final Update on Seminar Openings
-January Update: Seminar Openings Available
-Lottery Information
-Seminar Program Overview
-Spring 2024 MBB Seminar Descriptions
-Spring 2024 Department Courses

For fall 2023 seminars, see Seminars 2023-2024 | Mind Brain Behavior (harvard.edu).


FINAL UPDATE, JANUARY 17TH

The application process for remaining seminar openings is closed. Openings remain for MBB 980X (Translational Neuroscience) and MBB 980DD (Computational Neuropsychiatry). If you would like to enroll in either of these courses, please contact Shawn Harriman at shawn_harriman@harvard.edu before 5 p.m. on Monday.


JANUARY UPDATE: SPRING 2024 SEMINAR OPENINGS

After the November seminar lottery, openings still remained or have since arisen for our seminars. As of January 15th, openings are as follows.
MBB 980H, What Disease Teaches Us about Cognition – 1 opening
MBB 980M, Functional Neuroimaging of Psychiatric Disorders – 1 opening
MBB 980T, Sleep and Mental Health – 3 openings
MBB 980X, Translational Neuroscience – 1 opening
MBB 980CC, The Gut-Brain-Biota Axis – 1 opening
MBB 980DD, Computational Neuropsychiatry – 6 openings

If you are interested in taking any of these courses, you must apply for one of the open spots by completing the form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1122J4WD0J0zI-0mYH2KUSLMX5CXgUGKWrpkdGSm44lY. This form is due at noon on Wednesday, January 17th. Completing the form means you are committing to take the course if admitted. This is very important for instructor planning. When you submit the form, please also add the course to your Crimson Cart with a request to enroll (as permission is required). You will be informed of the result of your application the morning of Friday, January 19th, and we will also then approve enrollment requests of successful applicants in their Crimson Carts.


MBB 980 SPRING LOTTERY INFORMATION (lottery has passed)

Students will be admitted into MBB 980 courses via lottery. The lottery will take into account student and instructor preferences, enrollment limits (15), and priorities (MBB students). You may lottery for multiple seminars (and will be asked to rank your preferences if you do); however, you will only be admitted to one seminar in a given semester.

The fall lottery will take place on Wednesday, November 8th. To participate, complete the lottery form by 5:30 p.m. You should only lottery for a course you will definitely take if admitted. Also by November 1st, be sure to request admission via your Crimson Cart for all MBB seminars you have lotteried for. Note: Each semester on lottery day, several students are still resolving advising, immunization, or financial holds on their college registration. If this is your situation, you may still lottery for an MBB seminar; indeed, you should participate in the lottery because it is the only opportunity to join a seminar.

CLICK HERE FOR MBB SPRING LOTTERY FORM [link is now live]

You will be informed of lottery results on Thursday, November 9th and must enroll in the course by Wednesday, November 15th. If you do not enroll on the 30th, your place in the seminar will be given to another student.


SEMINAR PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Each MBB student is required to take an Interdisciplinary Seminar, usually during the junior year. These seminars are discussion-based courses that usually meet once a week for a few hours, during which students consider important readings and research on a topic or set of topics related to mind/brain/behavior. In lieu of exams, students usually prepare papers based on library or laboratory research, and grades are usually based on these papers and class participation.

In choosing a seminar, you might select a seminar closely allied to your interests to allow you to deepen your specialized knowledge, or you might take one in a more distant area to gain an appreciation of the varying perspectives and methodologies within MBB.

The seminars offered by the MBB program, listed in the catalog as Mind, Brain, and Behavior 980 courses, explore questions in mind/brain/behavior whose answers will require the perspectives and findings of several fields. Unless otherwise noted, their enrollments are limited to 15, with enrollment priority given to juniors in MBB tracks or in the MBB secondary field, and they provide four units of course credit. In addition to the seminars listed currently, we expect to offer several additional seminars in the spring.

In addition to the MBB 980 courses, some departmental courses also qualify, and are listed below after the MBB seminars.

Neuroscience students are expected to choose only from among the MBB 980 courses (no departmental options). Some tracks, including Psychology and Human Evolutionary Biology, will want to approve which course a student takes from those listed below; consult your concentration advisor if this applies to you.



MBB 980 SEMINARS FOR SPRING 2024

Computational Psychiatry
Poornima Kumar (Medical School), pkumar@mclean.harvard.edu
Mind, Brain, and Behavior 980DD, Tuesdays 3:45-5:45 p.m.
4 units of course credit, course ID 224044, class # 21993
Computational Psychiatry is an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines principles from neuroscience, psychology, and computer science to understand the neural basis of mental disorders and develop computational models for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. The objectives of this seminar are to 1) introduce students to computational methods and modeling approaches used in psychiatric research, 2) explore the application of computational psychiatry in understanding the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders, 3) to develop students’ critical thinking through assignments and final project, 4) to prepare the next generation of computational neuroscientists. Overall, the seminar aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of computational modeling in psychiatry, its applications in mental illness research, and the potential for advancing precision psychiatry through these approaches.

Functional Neuroimaging of Psychiatric Disorders: Insights into the Human Brain-Mind in Health and Disease
David Silbersweig / Medical School / dsilbersweig@bwh.harvard.edu
Mind, Brain, and Behavior 980M, Thursdays 3-5 p.m.
4 units of course credit, divisional distribution Sciences and Engineering/Applied Sciences, course ID 160759, class # 12507
Functional brain imaging has revolutionized the study of systems-level behavioral neuroscience and psychiatric disorders, through the ability to localize and characterize distributed brain activity directly associated with perception, cognition, emotion and behavior in disorders where there are not gross brain lesions. This seminar will introduce students to translational neuroimaging methods at the interface of neuroscience, psychology and medicine. It will cover recent and ongoing advances in our understanding of fronto-limbic-subcortical brain circuitry across the range of psychiatric disorders (e.g. mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, addictions). It will discuss new, emerging biological (as opposed to descriptive) taxonomies and conceptualizations of mental illness and its treatment. It will explore the implications of such knowledge for issues such as consciousness, meaning, free will, emotion, resilience, and religiosity. It will incorporate clinical observations, scientific data and readings, and examine future directions in brain-mind medicine. Class Note: Additional class meetings for site visits to be arranged.

The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: How Gut Microbes Modulate Human Cognition and Mental Health
Javiera Oyarzun (Psychology/FAS), joyarzun@fas.harvard.edu & Elizabeth Phelps (Psychology/FAS)
Mind, Brain, and Behavior 980CC, Wednesdays 3-5 p.m.
4 units of course credit, course ID 224043, class # 21992
The idea of a brain-gut connection has long been recognized. From Hippocrates' famous declaration that "all diseases originate in the gut," to contemporary idioms such as "trust your gut," and "feeling butterflies in your stomach," it seems evident that the gut is somehow connected to cognition and feelings. Today, we not only know that they are anatomically connected but are also functionally intertwined. More interestingly, evidence emerging from various fields of study underscores the pivotal role of the gut-residing microbes in the gut-brain communication and the preservation of cognitive and mental health. Excitingly, the plasticity of the gut microbiota composition opens up exciting potential for innovative therapeutic interventions. In this course, students will explore the microbiota-gut-brain axis and its role in human cognition and mental health. We will discuss literature coming from different research fields, including studies in rodents and humans, investigation involving patients with gastrointestinal, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases, and epidemiological studies related to nutrition and mental well-being. We cover the evolutive significance of the gut-brain connection and discuss how contemporary lifestyles may be influencing its composition and, consequently, human health. By the conclusion of this seminar, students will acquire insights into the pathways through which gut microbes influence diverse brain functions, the external factors shaping the gut microbiota, the repercussions of its disruption, and the current methodologies employed to study and modify its composition. The course will comprise a mix of brief lectures and discussions centered around papers previously curated by the instructor or suggested by the students. Students will be encouraged to ask questions and pursue the answers by exploring the available literature and propose experimental ideas. In this way, students will be able to shape the class content according to their own interests. Additionally, we have two guest speakers scheduled to join us.

Sleep and Mental Health
Edward Pace-Schott / Medical School / epace-schott@mgh.harvard.edu
Mind, Brain, and Behavior 980T, Mondays 3:45-5:45 p.m.
4 units of course credit, course ID 207092, class # 19224
The scientific study of sleep is an area of research that is both highly diverse and among the most interdisciplinary and unifying of topics in psychology and neuroscience. In the past several decades, exciting new discoveries on the neurobiology of sleep have been facilitated by technologies such as functional neuroimaging and molecular genetics. Nonetheless, sleep remains mysterious and controversial and, remarkably, there still is no generally agreed upon function for this behavioral state that occupies one third of our lives! Sleep science exemplifies the translational approach in biomedical science whereby human and animal research together continually advance the field of sleep medicine. In this seminar, lectures during the first half of each class will provide overviews of the physiology and behavioral neuroscience of sleep. The second half of each class will be devoted to student-led discussions of assigned study questions as well as free discussions. In a short term paper, students will research in depth a topic of their choice that they find particularly interesting related to sleep neuroscience or mental health. will also briefly present what they have learned about their topic during the final class meetings. Some topics students might choose are described in the following paragraph. In addition, students will keep a nightly sleep and/or dream diary for 2-3weeks at some point during the semester in order to learn more about sleep from their own experiences. They will then describe what they have observed in a short essay. In the past, students have found this exercise to be especially interesting. Lastly, there will be a short open-book, unlimited-time final exam on material from the lectures. Topics for term papers might include the characteristic abnormalities of sleep in mood, anxiety, psychotic, addictive or neurodevelopmental disorders. Scientific findings increasingly point to the importance of sleep for mental health and optimum performance, as well as to sleep disruption as both a result and a contributing cause of mental illnesses. Thus, one might focus on the contribution of primary sleep disorders to psychiatric and neurological illness, such as the circadian rhythm disorders in bipolar illness or insomnia as a risk factor for mood and anxiety disorders. Still other topics might focus on the contribution of normal sleep to emotional regulation, memory consolidation, and cognitive performance. For those with more cellular neuroscience interests, topics might focus on linkages between sleep and immunity or the role of sleep in disposal of abnormal proteins as it relates to neurodegenerative diseases.

Translational Neuroscience: The Limits of Adaptation from Extreme Environments to Clinical Practice
Vladimir Ivkovic / Medical School / vivkovic@mgh.harvard.edu & Gary Strangman / Medical School / strang@mgh.harvard.edu
Mind, Brain, and Behavior 980X, Fridays 12-2 p.m.
4 units of course credit, course ID 219973, class # 14861
Within the translational neuroscience paradigm, this course explores the concepts of neurobehavioral adaptation, stress, resilience, and neuropsychiatric disorders, in relation to the underlying neurophysiologic mechanisms that regulate them. What can we learn about the limitations of human neurobehavioral function through exposure and adaptation to extreme environments, as well as readaptation to “normal” environment, or onset of neuropsychiatric disorders? We will explore neurobehavioral adaptations to extreme activities such as spaceflight, expeditionary (polar, underwater, desert exploration, military deployments), emergency response services (e.g. firefighting), and impact sports (e.g. football). The limits to neurobehavioral adaptations will be discussed in the broader context of mental and occupational health, gender differences, and understanding the etiology of neuropsychiatric conditions such as, depressive and anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), intracranial hypertension and stroke, etc. These will be augmented with insights from COVID-19 pandemic which placed a large portion of the world’s population in an extreme environment defined by social and physical isolation/confinement, movement and travel restrictions, disruption of personal and professional activities, novel health risks, and behavioral adjustments. Contemporary findings from research studies conducted in laboratory, occupational/extreme, and clinical environments will be discussed in the context of translational neuroscience paradigm including neurocognitive, neurophysiological, and psychoneuroimmunological considerations. Special focus will be placed on demonstrations of research/clinical application of novel technologies such as ambulatory brain and physiologic monitoring. Theoretical concepts and research findings will be evaluated relative to their utility in developing prevention and mitigation strategies in extreme environments, as well as translational implementation in clinical treatments for related medical conditions in the general population. This course may be particularly interesting to Mind Brain and Behavior students pursuing careers in translational neuroscience, psychology, medicine, and related fields. This course features expert guest lecturers (e.g. NASA astronauts and researchers, Antarctic expeditionary physicians, underwater explorers, etc.), demonstrations of unique experimental methodologies and equipment (e.g. ambulatory brain and physiologic monitoring) used in extreme environments, and field visits to operational facilities such as Boston Fire Department Training Academy and/or Neural Systems Group (NSG) at Massachusetts General Hospital (directed by course head, Dr. Strangman).

What Disease Teaches about Cognition
William Milberg / Medical School / william_milberg@hms.harvard.edu
Mind, Brain, and Behavior 980H, Tuesdays 3:45-5:45 p.m.
4 units of course credit, divisional distribution Social Sciences, course ID 109866, class # 13184
This course seeks to reconcile the complicated and messy problems of patients with brain disease with the concise analysis of precisely defined cognitive functions in normal subjects. Students will learn to overlap cognitive functions on to the brain in disease - at the gross dissection and imaging levels - and to understand some of the complex interactions of individual cognitive operations in disease using the examples of famous landmark cases in the literature (e.g.Broca’s Monsieur Leborgne, Phineas Gage, HM and others) The course will include a dissection of a human brain, an examination of how the actual brain maps onto two dimensional neuroimages, and discussions of how the classic lesion based maps of cortical function are related to contemporary maps based on functional neuroimaging.


DEPARTMENTAL SEMINARS FOR SPRING 2024

Departmental courses that will fulfill the MBB seminar requirement include neuroscience junior tutorials. These tutorials are full-year courses, and the following second-half courses are available this spring: Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience (Neuroscience 101WB); Brains and Bytes: Neuroprosthetics, Brain Computer Interfaces, and Artificial Intelligence (Neuroscience 101ZB); Introduction to Neural Computation (Neuroscience 101UB); Neurobiology of Emotions and Mood Disorders (Neuroscience 101RB); Neuropharmacology of Pain (Neuroscience 101YB); Neuroscience of Learning and Memory (Neuroscience 101QB); Sculpting Activity: How Inhibition Shapes the Brain in Health and Disease (Neuroscience 101VB); Sleep Talk: Unraveling the Mystery of Sleep (Neuroscience 101LB); and Stress, Resilience, and Susceptibility: Mechanisms and Models (Neuroscience 101XB). More detail on the courses are available below in the departmental seminar fall 2023 section of this page above.

The Emotional, Social Brain
Elizabeth Phelps / Psychology-FAS
Psychology 1325, Mondays 9-11 a.m.
4 units of course credit, course ID 216792, class # 16717
Emotions color our lives, and even everyday variation in emotional experience can influence how we think, perceive and decide. Many of our emotions stem from our experiences with others. In this seminar we will examine the science behind the influence of emotion and social interaction on human brain function and behavior. We will examine questions such as: How does the brain process threats, and how do we learn about potential threats from others? How, and why, do our memories for emotional events differ from memories for mundane events? How does the brain process rewards, and respond to social rewards such as trust? What can we learn about implicit social biases from understanding their representation in the brain? What can we learn about the brain systems of human emotion and social interactions from studying other animals? Building on this foundational knowledge, we will explore how advances in human brain science might inform larger societal issues, including legal decisions, clinical interventions for the treatment of anxiety, and racial bias. Recommended Preparation: The Psychology Department requires completion of Science of Living Systems 20 or Psychology 1 or the equivalent of introductory psychology (e.g. Psych AP=5 or IB =7 or Psyc S-1) and at least one foundational course from PSY 14, PSY 15, PSY 16, and PSY 18 before enrolling in this course; or permission of instructor.

Evolution, Anatomy, and Physiology of Sleep
Joanne Clark Matott / Human Evolutionary Biology-FAS
Human Evolutionary Biology 1317, hours to be determined
4 units of course credit, course ID 217869, class # 14454
What is special about human sleep? HEB 1317 is a research seminar that introduces current research on the evolution of sleep, the neuroanatomical circuits that regulate sleep and wake, and the cultural and social factors that can affect sleep duration and quality. Students in HEB 1317 analyze and interpret physiological sleep recordings and sleep diary data to build data analysis skills while completing a self-directed research project on a topic of their own choosing using publicly-available datasets, existing research data, or self-collected data. Notes: Enrollment limited to 12. This course counts as a Junior Research Seminar in Human Evolutionary Biology.

Multilingualism
Ashley Leung / Psychology-FAS
Psychology 1616, Mondays 3-5 p.m.
4 units of course credit, course ID 222656, class # 17161
More than half of the human population speaks more than one language. How do the languages we speak influence the way we talk, think, and act? Is there really a “bilingual advantage”? In this course, we will explore the psychology of multilingualism. We will examine adult and developmental empirical research to consider the differences and similarities between bilinguals/multilinguals and monolinguals, from the way they acquire language as babies, to how they make decisions and experience emotions as adults. We will also discuss how we use language and accents to make judgments about others. Recommended Preparation: The Psychology Department requires completion of Science of Living Systems 20 or Psychology 1 or the equivalent of introductory psychology (e.g. Psych AP=5 or IB =7 or Psyc S-1) and at least one foundational course from PSY 14, PSY 15, PSY 16, and PSY 18 before enrolling in this course; or permission of instructor.

Transdiagnostic Models of Psychopathology: Theory, Research, and Treatment
Travis Evans / Psychology-FAS
Psychology 980TM, Tuesdays 3-5 p.m.
4 units of course credit, course ID 220478, class # 1533Why do different mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety co-occur so frequently and share many of the same features (e.g., avoidance, social isolation, sleep disturbance, etc.)? Why do individuals with the same mental health condition experience opposite symptoms (e.g., hypersomnia vs. insomnia in depression) and respond differently to the same treatment? For over 70 years, psychopathology has been researched and treated based on grouping individuals into diagnostic categories based on symptom presentation. In this course, we will examine how disruption to core emotional, cognitive-behavioral, and neurobiological processes is shared across traditional diagnostic categories, which raises fundamental questions about the nature and treatment of psychopathology. Students will review and critique emerging transdiagnostic models of psychopathology as well as cutting-edge research ranging from case studies to clinical trials. Recommended Preparation: The Psychology Department requires completion of Science of Living Systems 20 or Psychology 1 or the equivalent of introductory psychology (e.g. Psych AP=5 or IB =7 or Psyc S-1) and PSY 18 or PSY 1861 before enrolling in this course; or permission of instructor.