PY0677 - Mental Health, Cognition, and the Brain

On this module you will learn through a combination of online and face to face lectures and workshops, along with independent study. You will attend two hour of interactive lectures each week to learn about how cognitive and the brain relate to mental health, fortnightly there will be additional content delivered online to support the topic in that week. Lectures will focus on one topic and provide the framework for the module topic. Reading lists will be provided to support each lecture. You will engage in directed study supported by reading lists. The current literature will support the topics covered in each lecture. Reading lists will guide your independent learning and increase the depth of your understanding of the topics covered. These will be applied readings rather than those which focus on cognitive theory. You will engage in tutor supported discussions with your peers, learn to give and receive peer feedback as well as receiving feedback from your tutor. Workshops will support the development of your confidence with the material and allow you to practice application of knowledge gained through lectures and independent reading. The learning strategies of interactive lectures, workshops, directed and independent study aim to develop conceptual knowledge of cognition, the brain and mental health, and illustrate the methods used to investigate it. Learning strategies will enhance your skills e.g. research, critical thinking, communication.

You will be supported through the use of e-learning portals resources (Blackboard), which will provide access to the lecture and workshop materials. Materials which will be made available to you include, PowerPoint slides, handouts, reading lists, directed assessment related-activities, links to relevant video clips. Technology enabled learning will be implemented using Panopto lecture recording. There will be online discussion boards separately addressing assessments and content for the module, where tutors can engage in transparent discussion with students so that you might learn from one another’s questions and concerns. Tutorial content will also be made available online so that students are able to discuss the content with tutors.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge and Understanding:
• MK1 You will be expected to demonstrate critical understanding and integrated comprehension of a range of theoretical approaches to understanding mental health, cognition and the brain. This will include understanding how healthy cognitive processes can inform the understanding of mental health symptoms, how compromised cognition can impinge on day-to-day functioning in people with poor mental health, and how cognition may play role in the vulnerability towards developing a mental health condition. You will demonstrate your understanding of how cognition relates to mental symptoms, disorders and their treatments, including dementias and substance use disorders.

Intellectual / Professional Skills & Abilities (IPSA):
• MIP1 You will build employability through demonstration of effective communication to a range of audiences and you will successfully source, critique and review a range of peer reviewed research publications.
• MIP2 You will be able to understand how to apply your knowledge of specific issues about how the relationship between cognition, the brain and mental health can be useful in a clinical context. Such skills are valuable for enhancing employability.
• MIP3 You will take charge of your own career development learning, through critical self evaluation and reflection on the relevance of the module for career enhancement and future learning. These skills are useful for your future employability.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural Awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• MPV1 You will understand the role of research to contribute to knowledge generation and dissemination, demonstrating awareness of ethical principles thus demonstrating the characteristics of a Northumbria Psychology Graduate.

Formative Assessment will take place through discussion and/or observation based tasks with the module tutor and with peers, where you will consider questions, case studies, and presentations relating to the mental health topics (MK1; MK2; MIP1; MPV1).

Summative Assessment:
The assessment consists of two individual pieces of work:
1. A written assignment (maximum 3500 words) that requires you to critically consider one of the topics covered in the module, using two forms of communication:
a) outline the nature of the problem for an intelligent lay person to understand; and
b) for a psychology educated audience devise appropriate design and methodologies to investigate this problem from a scientific perspective (MK1, MIP1, MIP2, MPV1). This assessment is worth 90% of the module mark.

2. The second assessment is a self-reflective account in which you will be asked to consider how this module has influenced your employability and future career (MIP3). This will be worth 10% of the module mark (500 words).

Feedback
Formative Assessments:
Verbal group feedback in addition to peer feedback will be provided through discussion during activities.

Summative Assessments:
Individual written feedback will be provided on the electronic submission. This will be in the form of a level-specific rubric and written comments that will identify a minimum of one strength and two areas for improvement.
General feedback will be provided via the eLearning Portal.
For the second summative assessment
you will be required to arrange a tutorial with your Personal Tutor for formal feedback on your reflection.

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This module has been designed for students who want to enrich their applied understanding of mental health symptoms, how they relate to the brain and cognition. Mental health symptoms are complex and not necessarily bound within diagnostic categories. For instance, psychotic symptoms are found in post traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorders as well as psychotic disorders. Understanding how cognitive processes are related to mental health provides a transdiagnostic understanding of mental health as well as applied cognition. Appreciating the interaction between cognition, the brain and mental health is important for both the development of interventions and understanding the constraints within which they need to operate.
Mental Health, Cognition and the Brain is an interdisciplinary module which leverages from your knowledge of cognition and the brain to understand mental health symptoms and disorders. The module will provide you with an understanding of different elements of cognition and how they are present in mental health disorders, dementias and substance use disorders. The applied topics will extend your understanding of the role of cognition in these circumstances so that you appreciate how cognitive processes present in healthy populations are also relevant to different conditions, as well as how they directly relate to symptoms and real world functioning. Through this module your understanding of both cognition and mental health will be enriched.