Cognitive Neuroscience: Memory, Emotion, Language, and Consciousness

Learning objectives: 

Students possess advanced knowledge in neurocognitive psychology in the subject areas: memory, emotions, language, and consciousness. They are familiar with the key theoretical concepts, empirical findings, and practical applications of neurocognitive methods within these fields of cognitive neuroscience. They are able to develop specific research questions based on this knowledge and link them to selected neurocognitive methods (e.g., reaction time measurement, EEG, fMRI, non-invasive neuromodulation techniques/tDCS/TMS) according to the principle of “the methods must fit the questions.” They also have the skills to evaluate and interpret empirical studies. They can present and discuss empirical research results in a scientific manner, both individually and as part of a team.

Content: 

Selected theoretical foundations and important empirical findings from cognitive neuroscience and related foundational disciplines (e.g., general and biological psychology) are conveyed through selected examples. Students are introduced to the benefits of using selected neurocognitive methods in conjunction with algorithmic process models and their practical applications. The distinction between the memory processes of short-term and long-term memory as well as encoding and retrieval of memory content, the underlying neurobiological processes, and their neuroanatomical classification are also discussed. The neurobiological principles of emotion and language processing and production, as well as their contributions to cognitive processes such as decision-making, are discussed based on review articles. The challenges in defining and operationalizing concepts in cognitive neuroscience are debated based on current research into human consciousness and current research on neural correlates of conscious processes (e.g., sub- and supraliminal stimulus processing, disorders of consciousness, conscious contents, and altered states of consciousness).