2020/2021

2021/2022

DM270

M-PSI/08 (CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY)

DEPARTMENT OF BRAIN AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

PSYCHOLOGY, NEUROSCIENCE AND HUMAN SCIENCES

PERCORSO COMUNE

2°

1st semester (04/10/2021 - 21/12/2021)

6

36 lesson hours

English

WRITTEN AND ORAL TEST

CRISTEA IOANA ALINA (titolare) - 6 ECTS

Knowledge of general psychology (perception, emotion, attention, memory, reasoning), clinical psychology (symptoms of the main mental disorders) and research methods (experimental design and randomized clinical trials)

The course will center on applications of experimental findings from cognitive neuroscience to the understanding and treatment of the principal mental disorders. Initially, the students will be introduced to the experimental psychopathology approach and to ways of assessing its validity. Subsequently, the course will focus on cognitive processes relevant to the main mental disorders. For each disorder, the course will consider the experimental paradigms primarily studied and the most important findings, their relevance to understanding symptoms and etiology, and any implications for improving or developing psychological treatment. Throughout, students will be encouraged to have a critical approach both in regards to the quality of the research presented, as well as to its successful translation to clinical practice.

1. Neuroscience and transforming clinical research and practice
2. Main concepts and applications of experimental psychopathology
3. Evaluation of external validity for experimental psychopathology
4. Fear extinction and exposure treatment
5. Attentional biases and anxiety disorders
6. The social stress paradigm in social anxiety disorder
7. Memory consolidation/reconsolidation in post-traumatic stress disorder
8. Cognitive bias modification in substance abuse disorders
9. Emotion regulation in depressive disorders
10. Novel interventions targeting cognitive distortions in psychotic disorders
11. Cognitive distortions in eating disorders
12. Experimental psychopathology and innovative treatment development: The Lancet Psychiatry Commission
13. Designing an experimental psychopathology research study

The course is based on lectures, in class discussions of scientific articles and interactive work in groups.

Holmes, E. A., Ghaderi, A., Harmer, C. J., Ramchandani, P. G., Cuijpers, P., Morrison, A. P., . . . Craske, M. G. (2018). The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on psychological treatments research in tomorrow's science. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5(3), 237-286. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(17)30513-8
Scientific articles for discussion will be provided by the lecturer during the course.

Written exam. A maximum of 2 bonus points can be accumulated through in-class participation and submission of an optional project.

Students are expected to register for the course on the Kiro platform, where recorded lectures, slides, assigned readings and all other material will be made available.