Psychology 180W: The Biological Basis of Psychopathology
Syllabus
Fall 2010
W 1:15 – 4:00
Instructor: Nicole Y. Weekes, Ph.D.
Office: Lincoln 2123
Phone: (909) 607-5594
E-mail: nweekes@pomona.edu
Appointments: by appointment
We will survey a number of biological models of psychopathology. The course
will incorporate aspects of abnormal psychology, behavioral neuroscience and human
neuropsychology. Unlike neuropsychology, however, it will focus exclusively on
traditional psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, personality disorders and
schizophrenia. The course will survey both classic and current journal articles and book
chapters and will focus on three major questions: (i) what is the evidence that major
psychological disorders result from biological irregularities? Here, evidence will be
discussed that most psychopathologies have at least some biological component to their
etiologies. (ii) what are the major “biological irregularities” that could account for the
myriad of symptoms which accompany these psychopathologies? Here, evidence will be
discussed that neuroanatomical degeneration and neurochemical dysregulations are the
most plausible biological models of psychopathology and (iii) what is the intersection
between the neuroscience of mental illness, physical health, philosophy and the law?
Here, we will focus on, well . . . the intersection between the neuroscience of mental
illness, physical health, philosophy and the law . . .
Grading will consist of three major assignments.
First, beginning in week 4, you will be required to write 8, 2-page summaries and
critiques that incorporate at least 3 readings for that week. At least one of these
readings must be a primary source article (if such a reading exists for the week).
These summaries will be worth 40% of your grade.
NO late assignments. If the assignment is not turned in at the beginning of class,
please just turn in another summary on a different week to count towards your 8.
ALSO, please do not submit assignments electronically!!!! I am conscious of my
carbon footprint, but am also conscious of the number of e-mails I get in an average
day, and I do not want to lose your work.
Second, beginning in week 4, you will lead the discussion of the articles for one
week for the class. This will be worth 25% of your grade. A different week, you will
lead a critique of the articles in class. An added assignment for your critique week is
that by the Monday of your critique week, EACH critique student should present me
with an additional article (primary source, not literature review) that you think will add
to the conversation. Copies of the article ABSTRACT should also be distributed to the
class. The critique presentation will also be worth 25% of your grade.
The expectation is that the summary presenters will have an hour for their
summary/discussion and the critique presenters will have an hour for their
critique/discussion. The final thirty minutes will be used for general Discussion.
Overall preparation and participation will be the final 10% of your grade.
You will grow as a student, as a consumer of scientific information, and as a
person.
READINGS
-Most readings are on sakai.claremont.edu
-There are 3 books that you will also want to purchase as early in the semester as
possible. These include:
1. Jamison, KR (1995). An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness.
New York: Random House. Due 10/13
2. Saks, E. (2007). The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness,
Hyperion. Due 11/03
3. Hornbacher, M. (1998). Wasted. Random House. Due 12/01
TIPS for PRESENTATIONS
- In choosing which week to cover, think about where your knowledge is most extensive.
If you do not have a good working knowledge of genetics or treatment, for instance, these
may be weeks when you may not want to present. Take a look at the articles far in
advance so you have a good sense of their foci, and what preliminary knowledge is
required.
-Try to avoid covering the articles one at a time. Instead, come up with 3 or 4 major
themes for the week and talk about the articles by overarching themes (all articles
talk about X), and/or how the articles differ in the way they analyze, interpret, etc.
this theme.
- BUT, you do want to summarize articles in detail that are particularly difficult to make
it through (i.e., the ones you least want to summarize). This is simply to make sure that
we all understand the point, details, etc. of each article.
- Expect to have to use supplementary readings to summarize and critique well. This can
take a number of different forms.
- Please AVOID coming in the day of your presentation and saying, “I did not
understand this part.” You should read the articles enough in advance of the day you are
presenting that you could either find the answer yourself or make an appointment with
me to discuss/find the answer together.
-Finally, BE CREATIVE and have fun with the presentations!!! Students in past
semesters have used sidewalk chalk, cookie decorations, picture drawing, jeopardy
games, performance art (e.g., you be the K+ ions and we’ll be the Na+ ions), debates, and
a host of other strategies to summarize and help the class think critically about the topics
and details of the week’s articles. The skies the limit!!
Oh, one more thing. THE WRITING CENTER (Smith Campus Center 216, above the
Coop Fountain) offers students free, one-on-one consultations at any stage of the writing
process — from generating a thesis and structuring an argument to fine-tuning a draft.
The Writing Fellows — Pomona students will work with you on an assignment from any
discipline. Consultations are available by appointment, which you can make online:
http://writing.pomona.edu/writingcenter <http://writing.pomona.edu/writingcenter>
Section I: THE BASICS
Week 1: Introduction and Discussion (9/01)
Week 2: Psychopathology in the DSM (9/08)
The following link provides a COMPLETE List of DSM-IV Codes. Click on links for
criteria.
http://www.psychnet-uk.com/dsm_iv/_misc/complete_tables.htm
Image. Psych.pdf
Halgain, R.P. (2009). Issue 1: Is the DSM-IV a useful classification system?
In Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Abnormal Psychology. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Kendell, R. & Jablensky, A. (2003). Distinguishing between the validity and utility of
psychiatric diagnoses. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 8-11 (but read rest if – like
me - you often confuse validity and utility).
“Defining Abnormal Behavior and the “Myth of Mental Illness”. From Holmes, D.S.
(1994). Abnormal Psychology (Second Edition). New York: HarperCollins College
Publisher.
Zsasz, T.S. (1960). The Myth of Mental Illness. American Psychologist, 15, 113-118.
Dobbs, D. (2009). The Post-Traumatic Stress Trap. Scientific American, 300 (4) 64-69.
Week 3: Neuroanatomy, Neurochemistry and Neuroimaging (9/15)
Neuroanatomy website
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/42/19/20.full
Image.TheBrain,pdf
Image.Hippocapus.pdf
Image.PrefrontalCrx,pdf
Image.Prefrontal2.pdf
Image.Prefrontal3.pdf
Sexton, C.E., Mackay, C.E. & Ebmeier, K.P. (2009). A systematic review of diffusion
tensor imaging studies in affective disorders. Biological Psychiatry
Phillips, M.L. (2007). The emerging role of neuroimaging in psychiatry: Characterizing
treatment-relevant endophenotypes. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 697-699.
Mining Chemistry for Psychiatry. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 809.
Dalgleish, T. (2004). The emotional brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5, 582-589.
Lewin, R. (1980). Is your brain really necessary? Science, 210, 1232-1234.
Section II: EXPLANATORY MODELS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Week 4: Behavioral Genetics (9/22)
AAAS (2008). Chapter 4: How is Genetic Research on Behavior Conducted?
Kendler, K.S. (2008). Explanatory Models of Psychiatric Illness. American Journal of
Psychiatry, 165, 695-702.
Plomin, R. & Asbury, K. (2005). Nature and Nurture: Genetic and Environmental
Influences on Behavior. ANNALS, 600, 86-98.
Collins, F.S., Weiss, L. & Hudson, K. (2001). Heredity and Humanity. The New
Republic, 27-29.
Wenner, M. (2009). Too Little, Too Much: A new sense of how variable numbers of
genes cause disease. Scientific America, 24-25.
Gottesman, I.I. & Gould, T.D. (2003). The endophenotype concept in psychiatry:
Etymology and strategic intentions. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 636-645.
Week 5: The Environment: Prenatal and Adult Environment and Psychosocial
Stress (09/30)
** A lot of articles, I know. But most are rather short AND really interesting (I
hope . . . ; )**
Cannon, T.D., Yolken, R., Buka, S., Torry, F. et al. (2008). Decreased neurotrophic
response to birth hypoxia in the etiology of schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 64,
797-802.
Spinelli, S., Chefer, S., Suomi, S.J., Higley, J.D., Barr, C.S. & Stein, E. (2009). Earlylife stress induces long-term morphologic changes in primate brain. Archives of General
Psychiatry, 66, 658-665.
Yap, M.B.H., Whittle, S., Yucel, M., Sheeber, L., Pantelis, C., Simmons, J.G. & Allen,
N.B. (2009). Interaction of parenting experiences and brain structure in the prediction of
depressive symptoms in adolescent. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 1377-1385.
Cirulli, F., Laviola, G. & Ricceri, L. (2009). Risk factors for mental health: Translational
models from behavioural neuroscience. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 33,
493-497.
Monji, A., Kato, T., & Kanba, S. (2009). Cytokines and schizophrenia: Microglia
hypothesis of schizophrenia. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 63, 257-265.
Feder, A.F., Nestler, E.J. & Charney, D.S. (2009). Psychobiology and molecular genetics
of resilience. Nature Neuroscience Reviews, 10, 446-457.
Section III: SPECIFIC DIAGNOSES
Week 6: Depression and Suicide (10/6)
Here is the Stephen Fry clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKiAz6ndUbU
Image.Woolf.pdf
Beck, A.T. (2008). The evolution of the cognitive model of depression and its
neurobiological correlates. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 969-977.
Milak, M.S., Parsey, R.V., Keilp, J., Oquendo, M.A., Malone, K.M. & Mann, J. (2005).
Neuroanatomic correlates of psychopathologic components of major depressive disorder.
Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 397-408.
Kendler, K.S., Fiske, A., Gardner, C.O. & Gatz, M. (2008). Delineation of two genetic
pathways to major depression. Biological Psychiatry, 65, 808-811.
Dunlop, B.W. & Nemeroff, C.B. (2007). The role of dopamine in the pathophysiology of
depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64, 327-337.
Nesse, R.M. (2000). Is Depression an Adaptation? Archives of General Psychiatry. 57,
14-20.
Levinson, D.F. (2006). The genetics of depression: A review. Biological Psychiatry, 8492.
Week 7: Depression II (10/13)
Jamison, K.R. (1995). An Unquiet Mind. New York: Random House. Recommended
Pages: 1-123, 191-219
Week 8: Anxiety Disorders (10/20)
“PTSDGenesChildhood” entitled “Genes and Post-Traumatic Stress” Claudia Willis,
Time Magazine, March 178, 2008.
Nemeroff, C.B., Bremner, J.D., Foa, E.B., Mayberg, H.S., North, C.S. & Stein, M.B.
(2006). Posttraumatic stress disorder: A state-of-the-science review. Journal of
Psychiatric Review 40, 1-21.
Ursano, R.J., Zhang, L., Li, H., Johnson, L., Carlton, J., Fullerton, C.S. & Benedek, D.M.
(2009). PTSD and traumatic stress: From gene to community ad bench to bedside. Brain
Research, 1293, 2-12.
Gilbertson, M.W., Shenton, M.E., Ciszewski, A., Kasai, K., Lasko, N.B., Orr, S.P., &
Pitman, R.K. (2002). Smaller hippocampal volume predicts pathologic vulnerability to
psychological trauma. Nature Neuroscience, 5, 1242-1247.
Stein, M.B. & McAllister, T.W. (2009). Exploring the convergence of posttraumatic
stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166,
768-776.
Halgain, R.P. (2009). Issue 8: Should memory-dampening drugs be used to alleviate the
symptoms of trauma? In Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Abnormal Psychology.
Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Week 9: Psychological Factors and Health: Health Psychology and Psychiatry
(10/27)
Sapolsky, R. Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers?
Surtees, P.G., Wainwright, N.W.J., Luben, R.N., Wareham, N.J., Bingham, S.A. &
Khaw, K-T. (2008). Depression and ischemic heart disease mortality: Evidence from
the EPIC-Norfolk United Kingdom prospective cohort study. American Journal
Psychiatry, 165, 515-523.
Gidron, Y., Russ, K., Tissarchondou, H. & Warner, J. (2006). The relation between
psychological factors and DNA-damage: A critical review. Biological Psychology, 72,
291-304.
Miller, G.E., Rohleder, N., Stetler, C., Kirshbaum, C. (2005). Clinical depression and
regulation of the inflammatory response during acute stress. Psychosomatic Medicine
67:679-687.
Lemieux, A., Coe, C.L. & Carnes, M. (2008). Symptom severity predicts degree of T
cell activation in adult women following childhood maltreatment. Brain, Behavior and
Immunity, 22, 994-1003.
Week 10: Schizophrenia (11/03)
Images
Elyn Saks, The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness, Hyperion, 2007.
Takashi, S., Tanabe, E., Yara, K., Matsuura, A., Matsushima, E & Kojima, T. (2008).
Impairment of exploratory eye movement in schizophrenia patients and siblings.
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 62, 487-493.
Walker, E., Kestler, L., Bollini, A. & Hochman, K.M. (2004). Schizophrenia: Etiology
and course. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 401-430, focus more on the Origins of
Vulnerability section 407-411 and the Brain Abnormalities section 415-419.
Week 11: Drug Addiction/Abuse (11/10)
Image.Addiction.pdf
Imagine.Addiction2.pdf
Image.Addiction3.pdf
Koob, G.F. & Le Moal, M. (2008). Addiction and the brain antireward system. Annual
Rveiew of Psychology, 59, 29-53.
Ernst, M. & Paulus, M.P. (2005). Neurobiology of decision making: A selective review
from a neurocognitive and clinical perspective. Biological Psychiatry, 58, 597-604.
Shoenbaum, G. & Shaham, Y. (2008). The role of orbitofrontal cortex in drug addiction.
A review of preclinical studies. Biological Psychiatry, 63, 256-262.
Sinha (2009). Stress and addiction: A dynamic interplay of genes, environment, and
drug intake. Biological Psychiatry, 66, 100-101.
Covington, H.E., Tropea, T.F., Rajadhyaksha, A.M., Kosofsky, B.E. & Miczik, K.A.
(2008). NMDA receptors in the rat VTA: A critical site for social stress to intensify
cocaine taking. Psychopharmacology, 197, 203-216.
Robinson, T.E. & Berridge, K.C. (2003). Addiction. Annual Review of Psychology, 54,
25-53. **Use for reference purposes**
“What Addicts Need,” Jeneen Interlandi, Mar 3, 2008, Newsweek.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/114716
Explores the recent advancements in neuroscience in the treatment of drug and alcohol
addiction and how those advances are not only aiding in treatment but also in the way
others treat addiction. Excellent for addressing issues surrounding treatment, DSM, or
Drug and Alcohol Addiction and Abuse.
Week 12: Violent Behaviors (11/17)
Sapolsky, R. (1997). The trouble with testosterone. New York: Scribner.
Jones, O.D. (2006). Behavioral Genetics and Crime, In Context.
And then read . . .http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/05/14/scotus.death/index.html
And then read . . . http://atlanticphilanthropies.org/news/news/execution_method_ok_d
American Bar Association (2004). Adolescence, brain development and legal
culpability.
Siever, L.J. (2008). Neurobiology and aggression and violence. American Journal of
Psychiatry, 165, 429-442.
Raine, A. (2008). From genes to brain to behavior. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 17, 323-328.
Yang, Y., Raine, A., Lencz, T., Bihrle, S., LaCasse, L. & Colletti, P. (2005). Volume
reduction in prefrontal gray matter in unsuccessful criminal psychopaths. Biological
Psychiatry, 57, 1103-1108.
Churchland, P. (2006). The big questions: Do we have free will? New Scientist
Magazine, 2578, 42-45.
Week 13: THANKSGIVING (11/24)
Week 14: Eating Disorders (12/01)
Marya Hornbacher, Wasted. Random House, 1998. Recommended Pages: 1-144,
especially 99-124
An autobiographical account of the author’s struggles with eating disorders, written when
she was only twenty-two. It was nominated for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in non-fiction and
covers many of the biological as well as environmental roots of the disorder as well as the
physical and psychological toll it takes on its sufferers.
Kaye, W. (2008). Neurobiology of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Physiology &
Behavior, 94, 121-135.
Díaz-Marsáa, M., et al . (2007). Enhanced cortisol suppression in eating disorders with
impulsive personality features. Psychiatry Research, 158, 93-97.
SECTION IV: TREATMENT
Week 15: Treatment (12/08)
Bryant, R.A , Felmingham, K., Whitford, T.J., Kemp, A., Hughes, G., Peduto, A. &
Williams, L.M. (2008). Rostral anterior cingulated volume predicts treatment response to
cognitive-behavioural therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder. Reviews Psychiatry and
Neuroscience, 33, 142-146.
Goldman, W.K. & Insel, T.R. (2009). Deep brain stimulation in psychiatry:
Concentrating on the road ahead. Biological Psychiatry, 65, 263-266.
Nurnberger, J.I. (2009). New hope for pharmacogenetic testing. American Journal of
Psychiatry, 166, 635-638.
“Your doctor may perform genetic tests to determine what treatment is likely to work
best for you”. A recent drug corporation advertisement.
Horgan, J. (1999). Prozac and other placebos. In The Undiscovered Mind. New York:
Simon and Schuster.
Sapolsky, R.M. (2003). Gene therapy for psychiatric disorders. American Journal of
Psychiatry, 160, 208-220.
Halgain, R.P. (2009). Issue9: Are antipsychotic medications the treatment of choice for
people with psychosis? In Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Abnormal Psychology.
Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.