Behaviour and the Brain part 1: Addiction - Period 5

When we engage in behaviour, we often hope to gain something, to be rewarded. To optimize the reward we receive, we exquisitely fine-tune our behaviour and become expert reward-seekers. Our behaviour can lead to positive effects, such as gaining new skills and achieving academic success, but it may also have negative consequences, for instance the short-term reward of drug intake may lead to addiction. During part I of the course you will gain knowledge of the biological and psychosocial processes that play a role in the search for rewards, in particular in relation to drug use and addiction. The nature of drugs, their short-term reward and related progression into addiction, as well as non-drug related addictions will be addressed. In part II you will gain insight into processes that guide our attention and learning and relate this to drug use. Throughout the course you will also learn more about the methods scientific research has at its disposal to increase this knowledge.

Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.