PSYCHIAT 3200 - Fundamentals of Biological Psychiatry

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2014

This course aims to convey fundamental knowledge and understanding of Biological Psychiatry. Biological Psychiatry represents a multidisciplinary approach towards understanding psychiatric disease with input from the fields of genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and neurobiology. The course will begin with material introducing the field of Biological Psychiatry and will then go on to elucidate some of the more prevalent psychiatric disorders affecting Australia (both indigenous populations and otherwise) and the rest of the world. Subsequent material will then cover the scientific approaches and techniques commonly used in the field of Biological Psychiatry to investigate the causes, the underlying biological mechanisms, as well as potential therapeutic interventions relevant for psychiatric disorders.

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Course Details

Course Code	PSYCHIAT 3200
Course	Fundamentals of Biological Psychiatry
Coordinating Unit	Psychiatry
Term	Semester 2
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Prerequisites	For BHLTH and BPSYC students as part of the Neuroscience major: ANAT SC 1102; ANAT SC 1103; PATHOL 2200. No prerequisites will be required for MBBS students
Restrictions	Available to 2nd year MBBS students; 3rd year BPSYC and 3rd year BHLTH students
Assessment	Literature review, group poster presentation, essay, exam

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr David Stacey

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .

Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes

No information currently available.

University Graduate Attributes

No information currently available.
Learning Resources

Required Resources

Students will not require a textbook for this course. However, they will be required to read additional material on a weekly basis. Required reading for each lecture will be posted on MyUni, along with relevant URLs. Students will submit assignments using Turnitin, so familiarity with this system is required (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/myuni/tutorials/content/Turnitin_submitting_as_a_Student.html).

Recommended Resources

Familiarity with electronic databases for literature searching is highly recommended (i.e., PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) as students are encouraged to supplement the required reading with extracurricular reading. Familiarity with the 成人大片 library will also be useful.

Online Learning

Lecture notes will be posted to MyUni prior to lecture commencement so students can print them off and bring them to the lecture if they wish. Lecture recordings will be posted to MyUni after each lecture ends. Both required and recommended reading lists will also be posted to MyUni.

Learning & Teaching Modes

There will be an eclectic approach to teaching and learning.

•    Didactic teaching will be complemented with tutorial-style teaching, whereby students will be encouraged to discuss themes from lectures and complete relevant practical tasks within small groups. This will give students the opportunity to better understand, synthesise, apply, and communicate lecture content, whilst also promoting an environment whereby students can facilitate other student’s learning. Overall, it is hoped that a combination of didactic and tutorial-style teaching will maximise knowledge transfer.

•    Each lecture or tutorial slot will last approximately 1 hour (i.e., 50 minutes (including questions) plus a 10 minute break). The full quota of students will attend lectures together, whilst for tutorials, students will be split into groups of 20-30. We will consider segregating students from different programmes for tutorials if required (i.e., if we feel there is value in approaching tutorials in slightly distinct ways depending on whether students are from the MBBS or the Bachelor of Health Sciences for example).

•    Students will be given required (and recommended) reading to be completed either before or after lectures and tutorials to further facilitate knowledge transfer-   Students will be given in-depth feedback on assessments after marking and they will also be given the opportunity to complete a mock assessment during the tutorial in week 1. It is hoped that formative feedback from the mock assessment will familiarise students with the marking criteria thereby enhancing their potential to perform well in subsequent assessments.

•    Students will be treated as independent and active learners. They will be encouraged to direct their own learning outside of lectures and tutorials, whereby in addition to completing the required readings they should also actively seek out other relevant literature and learning aids.

•    Students will be encouraged to consider content from lectures within the context of other lectures to facilitate better synthesis of knowledge.

•    Students will also be expected to reflect upon and assess their own learning throughout this course and will be required to be flexible in their approach if necessary.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

Contact time is 3 hours per week (1x morning / afternoon block) over a 12 week period (36 hours total).

Students should expect to spend another 120 hours over the course of the semester engaged in the following:
•    Required and recommended readings
•    Extracurricular readings
•    Preparation of assignments.

Learning Activities Summary

This course is designed to convey knowledge and understanding of the Fundamentals of Biological Psychiatry to 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students and so all learning activities will reflect this.

Each lecture or tutorial slot will last approximately 1 hour (i.e., 50 minutes (including questions) plus a 10 minute break). The full quota of students will attend lectures together, whilst for tutorials, students will be split into groups of 20-30. We will consider segregating students from different programmes for tutorials if required (i.e., if we feel there is value in approaching tutorials in slightly distinct ways depending on whether students are from the MBBS or the Bachelor of Health Sciences for example). See below for a break-down of the units along with their constitutive lectures and tutorials.

Week	Topic		Lecture
Week 1	Introduction to Psychiatric Disorders	This is an introductory unit designed to initially define the aims of the course and then to relate to students some of the major psychiatric disorders currently affecting Australia (indigenous and otherwise) and the rest of the world. This unit will include information concerning clinical symptoms, diagnosis, treatment (both current and future), and it will also touch upon some of the underlying pathophysiology with more in-depth detail to follow as the course progresses.	i) Lecture Introduction to Psychiatric Disorders ii) Lecture Affective Disorders - Depression and Anxiety iii) Tutorial Mock assessment with feedback designed to familiarise students with the marking criteria (students will be provided with 2 short passages of material related to one of the above lectures and will be asked to compare and contrast – no prior knowledge is assumed for this task)
Week 2	Introduction to Psychiatric Disorders		iv) Lecture Psychoses - Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder v) Lecture Addiction - Substance and Behavioural Addiction vi) Tutorial DSMIV / V and Diagnosis of case studies (students will be introduced to the DSM and will be asked to diagnose and discuss case studies in groups. The aim is to illustrate the difficulties associated with diagnosis)
Week 3	Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders	This unit will begin by introducing basic neurobiological concepts as they apply to psychiatric disease in general. This will then be followed by a discussion of some of the major neurotransmitter systems, pathways, and networks in the brain along with their relevance to specific psychiatric disorders such as Schizophrenia and Depression. Finally, the contributions of modern neuroimaging techniques - including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) - to our understanding of the Neurobiology of psychiatric disorders will be outlined and discussed.	i) Lecture Introduction to the Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disease ii) Lecture Glutamate and GABA in Psychiatric Disease iii) Lecture The Serotonergic System in Major Depression
Week 4	Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders		iv) Lecture The Dopaminergic System in Schizophrenia and Addiction v) Lecture Neuroimaging Paradigms in Psychiatric Disease vi) Tutorial Quiz or group exercise designed to consolidate knowledge of neurobiology within the context of psychiatric disease
Week 5	Psychiatric Disorders Across the Lifespan	This unit will begin by outlining the relationship between abnormal brain development and psychiatric disorders sometimes referred to as “neurodevelopmental” disorders, such as Schizophrenia and Autism. Old-age psychiatric disorders including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease shall then be described to include an outline of current knowledge of the underlying pathophysiology, whilst key issues surrounding old-age psychiatry, namely the expected societal and economic impacts of an ageing population, shall be discussed.	i) Lecture Psychiatric Disorders and the Developing Brain ii) Lecture Old-Age Psychiatry I iii) Lecture Old-Age Psychiatry II
Week 6	Neuroinflammation in Major Psychiatric Disorders	This unit introduces the concept of neuroinflammation whilst also describing how neuroinflammation is relevant for psychiatric disease and related phenotypes.	i) Lecture Introduction to Neuroinflammation ii) Lecture Neuroinflammation as a Mechanism of Cognitive and Behavioural Dysfunction Relevant to Neuropsychiatric Disorders iii) Tutorial Group exercise designed to consolidate knowledge of neuroinflammatory mechanisms in psychiatric disease and to discuss / develop strategies to harness this as a possible therapeutic intervention for psychiatric disease
Week 7	Fundamentals of Psychiatric Genetics	This unit highlights the major impact that human genetic approaches have had on psychiatry research. Students will first be introduced to the field of Psychiatric Genetics, which will include a primer on the concept of a gene and the basics of genetics. The heritability of psychiatric disorders will then be established before outlining the way in which genetic approaches have evolved over the years in order to address the aetiology of psychiatric disease.	i) Lecture Introduction to Psychiatric Genetics ii) Lecture Are Psychiatric Disorders Heritable? iii) Lecture Identification of Genes Involved in Psychiatric Disease I – the Candidate Gene Approach
Week 8	Fundamentals of Psychiatric Genetics		i) Lecture Identification of Genes Involved in Psychiatric Disease II - Genome-Wide Approaches ii) Lecture Gene-Environment Interactions in Psychiatry iii) Tutorial Candidate Gene Association Study (students will have the opportunity to analyse and interpret mock candidate gene association data)
Week 9	Molecular Psychiatry	This unit will introduce and describe some of the key molecular approaches that have emerged out of a need to complement and extend upon traditional genetic and genomic approaches in psychiatric research. Gene expression studies will be emphasised in the context of psychiatric disorders, whilst the importance of study at the protein level will also be highlighted. Furthermore, the integral role of bioinformatics and biostatistics in integrating, manipulating, and sharing large-scale molecular data sets originating from genomic and proteomic studies will be discussed.	i) Lecture Introduction to Molecular Psychiatry ii) Lecture Functional Genomics and Proteomics in Psychiatry Research iii) Lecture Bioinformatics and Biostatistics
Week 10	Animal Models of Psychiatric Disorders	This unit highlights the importance and describes the various applications of animal research relevant to psychiatric disorders. The concept of the intermediate phenotype, or “endophenotype”, will initially be defined, and then the most commonly used psychiatry-related behavioural tasks in animal research will be described. Genetically modified (or manipulated) mouse and rat models will also be discussed, whilst a tutorial will give students the opportunity to discuss the ethical issues surrounding animal research as well as the associated limitations.	i) Lecture Introduction to Murine Models of Psychiatric Disease I - Endophenotypes and Behavioural Tasks ii) Lecture Introduction to Murine Models of Psychiatric Disease II - Genetic Mouse Models in the Study of Biological Mechanisms and Therapeutic Interventions iii) Tutorial Ethical Issues and Limitations Concerning Translation into the Human Condition
Week 11	Key Concepts in Translational Psychiatry	This unit stresses the importance of translational research with the potential to make immediate and significant improvements in psychiatric clinics. Biomarker and pharmacogenetic research that aims to improve upon current diagnostic and treatment response prediction criteria will be outlined with examples of notable progress from the literature. Furthermore, novel biological therapeutic interventions such as stem cells will also be discussed.	i) Lecture Role of Biomarkers in the Diagnosis of Major Psychiatric Disorders Including Depression and Schizophrenia ii) Lecture Pharmacogenetics of Major Psychiatric Disorders iii) Lecture Novel Biological Therapeutic Interventions
Week 12	Poster Presentations and Feedback	Earlier in the course, students will be divided into groups (4 students per group) to prepare and give a poster presentation in a conference-like format during this session. Each group will be assigned assessors who will ask questions and grade their overall performance / poster on the day. The cost of printing posters will be covered by the Discipline of Psychiatry. Students will also be asked to complete a course feedback form during this session.	The poster presentation will constitute 20% of student’s final mark for this elective.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Assessment Type	Weighting
1500-Word Literature Review	Formative/Summative	25%
Group Poster		20%
2000-Word Essay		30%
2hr Exam		25%

Assessment Related Requirements

Students must achieve a minimum of 50% in each summative assessment in order to pass the course.

Attendance atlectures and tutorials will not form part of the overall assessment, though attendance is expected to correlate highly with assessment performance

Assessment Detail

1) Literature review:
Provide a detailed literature review of one topic selected from the list posted on MyUni. Highlight specific research papers you think have made a major impact on your chosen topic, identify important questions yet to be answered, and make suggestions as to future research to address these questions. (1500 words) (25%)

Referencing should be in Harvard format, as per the following link:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/referencing_guides/harvardStyleGuide.pdf

2) Poster presentation:
In collaboration with your designated group, prepare a poster presentation summarising your allotted research paper. Be prepared to provide a concise verbal summary in conjunction with your poster and also to answer questions. (A0 poster) (20%)

Groups will be designated at the beginning of the course on MyUni.

3) Essay:
Describe the difficulties associated with elucidating and treating psychiatric disorders. How do you think contemporary Biological Psychiatry has helped, or can help, to overcome these difficulties? Use examples from the literature. (2000 words) (30%)

Referencing should be in Harvard format, as per the above link.

4) Exam:
You have 2hrs to complete 6 out of the 10 questions (20 mins per question). Please answer in a concise and structured manner with a brief introduction (i.e., definition of relevant terms) and conclusion for each answer. Full essay-style answers are not required; answers will not be judged on writing style but they will be judged on clarity. Feel free to draw diagrams or figures to clarify your answers where appropriate. (25%)

An example exam paper will be made available through MyUni.

Submission

Students will be required to submit their assignments using Turnitin, instructions can be found at (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/myuni/tutorials/content/Turnitin_submitting_as_a_Student.html). A cover sheet is not required. Late submission of an assignment will result in a 5% deduction (per day) from the mark for that assignment (i.e., the final mark for an assignment submitted 3 days late will be deducted 15%). In the event of extenuating circumstances, these circumstances should be communicated to the course coordinator well in advance of the deadline in order to be able to arrange for an extension. Turn-around for the provision of grades and feedback from assessments will be ≤ 4 weeks.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through .

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student鈥檚 disciplinary procedures.

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Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator

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