PSYCHIAT 3200 - Fundamentals of Biological Psychiatry

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2023

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	Medical Specialties
Term	Semester 2
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Prerequisites	HLTH SC 2104 or ANAT SC 2006 or MEDIC ST 1000B
Restrictions	Available to 2nd year MBBS students; 3rd year BPSYC and 3rd year BHMS students
Assessment	Literature Review, Group journal club presentation, Mid-semester in-class test, Final Exam

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Catharine Jawahar

Dr Catharine Jawahar
Course Coordinator/ Lecturer
Email: catharine.jawahar@adelaide.edu.au
Tel: 8313 5153
Location: Rm EH4-39, level 4, Eleanor Harrald building

Additional academic staff

Dr Catherine Toben
Lecturer
Email: catherine.toben@adelaide.edu.au

Dr Scott Clark
Clinical lecturer
Emal: scott.clark@adelaide.edu.au

Prof Bernhard Baune
Head of Discipline of Psychiatry
Email: bernhard.baune@adelaide.edu.au

Course Timetable

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

Course Learning Outcomes

1. To provide introductory material that promotes a broad knowledge and understanding of contemporary Biological Psychiatry.
2. To emphasise the importance of Biological Psychiatry as an interdisciplinary approach towards understanding, and eventually treating, psychiatric disease
3. To develop knowledge and understanding of some of the major psychiatric disorders affecting Australia and other Western societies
4. To promote an appreciation of the complexity and heterogeneity of psychiatric disorders and how this impacts upon the diagnosis and treatment of patients
5. To provide insight into some of the major research approaches and techniques currently being employed to further our understanding of Biological Psychiatry
6. To emphasise the importance of research designed to obtain findings that can be translated to the clinic with the potential to make a real-world difference
7. To promote an awareness of some of the ethical issues that impact upon the field of Biological Psychiatry
8. To promote core attributes that facilitate high quality scientific research including the ability to find, organise, evaluate, synthesise and communicate scientific information both independently and within a team

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.	1-8
Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.	8
Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.	8
Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.	3, 7
Attribute 6: Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competency Graduates have an understanding of, and respect for, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values, culture and knowledge.	1-8

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 slides in pdf formats will be posted to MyUni along with videos of the lectures, so students can print them off and use them along with the lecture for ease of understanding. Both required and recommended reading lists will also be posted to MyUni within the course modules. Pre-class learning materials (including lecture content) for Tutorials/workshops will be posted a week prior to the tutorial dates and students are required to have completed the pre-class tasks prior to the consecutive tutorials. General announcements regarding lectures and tutorials will be updated on a weekly basis after the course starts and any SGDE discussion will be done using group discussion boards. Lecture recordings will be available in Echo360 and contents from each tutorial will be in MyUni at the end of the tutorial week. Models for the final exam will also be available within the assessment module in 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 students’ learning. Overall, it is hoped that a combination of didactic and tutorial-style teaching will maximise knowledge transfer.

• Each lecture will last approximately 1 hour in a pre-recorded format and will be available in Echo360 each week. Tutorials will also be for approximately 1 hour (i.e., 50 minutes plus a 10-minute grace period for late comers). All students will complete watching lectures online and the pre-class tasks for each tutorial, whilst during tutorials, students will be split into small groups of 4-5 each. 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 along with lectures and before tutorials to further facilitate knowledge transfer. Students will be given in-depth feedback on assessments using a specific rubric for each assessment and constructive comments will also be provided on the marking. It is recommended that students familiarise themselves with the marking criteria thereby enhancing their potential to perform well in each assessment.

•    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 a 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.

The total workload for this course is 12 hours per week, which includes a 3-hour contact time;
As a guide it includes the following;
1. Watching lectures including preparation: 4 hours (2 hours of lecture to watch each week)
2. Tutorial/workshop including preparation: 3 hours
3. Preparation for assessments, revision and study: 5 hours

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. The multidisciplinary aspects of biological psychiatry are covered across 8 topics in this course.

Each lecture or tutorial slot will last approximately 1 hour. All lectures will be pre-recorded and published online in Echo360, whilst tutorials will be face to face and students will be split into groups of 4-5 in each session for interactive learning. 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 breakdown of the modules along with their constitutive lectures and tutorials.

Module Topic	Weeks	Description	Lectures/ Tutorials
Introduction to Psychiatric Disorders	Weeks 1, 2 and 3	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, and treatment (both current and future), and it will also touch upon some of the underlying pathophysiologies with more in-depth detail to follow as the course progresses.	Lectures 1. Introduction to Psychiatric Disorders 2. Addiction - Substance and Behavioural Addiction 3. Affective Disorders - Anxiety 4. Affective disorders - Depression 5. Psychoses - Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Tutorial 1. DSM 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)
Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders	Week 3, 4 and 5	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.	Lectures 6. Introduction to the Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disease 7. Glutamate and GABA in Psychiatric Disease 8. The Serotonergic System in Major Depression 9. The Dopaminergic System in Schizophrenia and Addiction 10. Neuroimaging Paradigms in Psychiatric Disease Tutorials 2. Quiz or group exercise designed to consolidate knowledge of neurobiology within the context of psychiatric disease 3. Using module lectures and a seminal paper on the triple network model of psychiatric disorder we will apply the model to Major depressive disorders.
Psychiatric Disorders Across the Lifespan	Weeks 6 and 7	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.	Lectures 11. Old-Age Psychiatry I 12. Old-Age Psychiatry II 13. Early Childhood disorders - a clinical perspective 14. Early Childhood Disorder - a biological perspective Tutorials 4. Addressing the burden of the ageing population and risk of dementia by developing strategies to prevent or treat dementia. 5. Understanding the biology behind childhood mental disorders and their association with a focus on Autism
Neuroinflammation in Major Psychiatric Disorders	Week 8	This unit introduces the concept of neuroinflammation whilst also describing how neuroinflammation is relevant for psychiatric disease and related phenotypes.	Lectures 15. Introduction to Neuroinflammation 16. Neuroinflammation as a Mechanism of Cognitive and Behavioural Dysfunction Relevant to Neuropsychiatric Disorders Tutorial 6. Discuss the role of neuroinflammation and how it's linked to psychiatric disorders using a high-impact review on neuroinflammation
Fundamentals of Psychiatric Genetics	Week 9	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.	Lectures 17. Introduction to Psychiatric Genetics 18. Identification of Genes Involved in Psychiatric Disease Tutorial 7. Candidate Gene Association Study (students will have the opportunity to analyse and interpret mock candidate gene association data)
Molecular Psychiatry	Week 10	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 studying at the protein level will also be highlighted.	Lectures 19. Functional Genomics and Proteomics in Psychiatry Research 20. Epigenetic mechanisms in psychiatric disorders Tutorial 8. Understanding of genetic polymorphisms and environment interactions in psychiatric disorders
Animal Models of Psychiatric Disorders	Week 11	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.	Lectures 21. Introduction to Murine Models of Psychiatric Disease I - Endophenotypes and Behavioural Tasks 22. Introduction to Murine Models of Psychiatric Disease II - Genetic Mouse Models in the Study of Biological Mechanisms and Therapeutic Interventions Tutorial 9. Ethical considerations in designing animal model experiments.
Key Concepts in Translational Psychiatry	Week 12	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.	Lectures 23. Pharmacogenetics in Psychiatry 24. Biomarkers and Novel biological Therapeutic Interventions

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 for Grading	Hurdle Requirement	Learning objective(s) addressed
Literature Review (1500-Word )	Formative/Summative	20%	No	1, 3, 4 and 7
Group online PowerPoint Journal Club Presentation	Summative	20%	No	1, 3, 4 and 7
Mid-semester Test in tutorial session (MCQs and Short answers)	Summative	20%	No	1-7
Final Exam (in-person during exam week)	Summative	40%	No	1-7

Assessment Related Requirements

There are no hurdle requirements in the course as the aim is to achieve an overall understanding of the multidisciplinary nature of biological psychiatry and the ability of the students to critically evaluate biological psychiatry research.
Attendance at lectures 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: 1500 words- 20%
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.
Referencing should be in Harvard format, as per the following link:
/writingcentre/docs/Harvard_Referencing_Guide.pdf
This assessment will be submitted in 2 parts: Part 1: A 2-page outline of the review with a reference list for initial feedback on the structure of the review and selected papers; 2: Part 2_ Final completed literature review incorporating feedback from part 1.

2) Group Poster presentation: 20%

In collaboration with your designated group, select an original research article within one of the four focus areas as released by the coordinator. After approval of the selected article, prepare a PowerPoint presentation (With Audio) summarising the research in the selected research paper. Groups will be designated at the beginning of the course in MyUni and provided with focus themes and a set of criteria that will aid in the selection of research articles.

3) Mid-semester in-class test: 20%

Students will complete an in-class online test for a duration of 50 min in the week 8 Tutorial session. The test will include 25 MCQs and 3 short answer questions (dot-pointed answers) from lectures across weeks 1-7 (Module topics 1-3). Students will be given feedback on their answers to help prepare for final exams which will have a similar format but on paper.

4) Final Exam: 40%
Students will have 2 hrs to complete 50 MCQs and 5 out of the 8 short answer questions. The content for the exam will be from all the lectures across the semester. For the short answer questions, students are expected to answer in a concise and structured manner with a brief introduction (i.e., the definition of relevant terms) and a 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. 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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