Maastricht University - Center for European Studies

Several environmental, personal, and biological factors appear to be important for healthy socio-emotional development, but occasionally these influences can lead to problem behavior. The course focuses on the development of problem behavior during childhood and adolescence, how it originates, and how it can be treated as it poses a risk for further healthy development. Topics addressed are the influence of genes/neurobiology, personality, the child’s environment (peer interaction, parent attachment/parenting style) on socio-emotional, and moral development and the development of psychopathology such as anxiety, depression, suicide, and narcissism. The final assessment for this course is a numerical grade between 0,0 and 10,0.

Chemical ecology is the study of how chemicals, called semiochemicals, mediate interactions within and between species. Such interactions are very diverse, including, within species, mating, intraspecific competition, social status and foraging and, between species, predation and parasitism, defense and mutualisms such as pollination. This course examines how the different semiochemicals originate and how they are used and detected by organisms. Examine how chemists and biologists study these interactions and how some of these interactions can be used to assist humans, by manipulating organisms in the nature. Students are encouraged to develop their own interests, and the course is not limited to one particular organismic group. Both biologists and chemists are encouraged to join the course. Pre-requisites include BIO2001 Cell Biology and CHE2001 Organic Chemistry.

The course Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience presents an overview of the core topics in cognitive and biological psychology. These topics include (human) perception, learning, memory, planning, problem solving, reasoning, language, speech, and action. Both the functional and neuroanatomical foundations of cognitive faculties are addressed. Several models of cognition and theories of brain function that are of relevance to knowledge engineering are outlined. Several skills trainings are given to train understanding in biological functioning of neuronal communication and functioning of neural networks and genetic algorithms.

Study the development of cognition through a neuroscientific lens, examine how the nervous system starts out wired for every possible contingency to eventually prune (tune) itself towards an efficient functioning for the environment it resides it, study the neural network structure and functioning of the brain, its common properties that support efficient cognitive functioning, and how disruptions to these networks can impair cognition. The course also covers the theory of neuroplasticity, focusing on the role of the brain’s lifelong ability to rewire itself. In addition, study mirror neurons, atypical developmental processes (including autism, schizophrenia, and trauma), and the intersection between developmental cognitive neuroscience and society. A mandatory field trip to Amsterdam is included, where the Van Gogh museum is visited to study Van Gogh’s art as a clinical case and experience immediate neuroplasticity first-hand by dining in complete darkness during a three-course meal. Motivated and dedicated students have the opportunity to co-author a paper with the course coordinator for potential publication in well-respected journals (topics of interest can be discussed). Students should have completed at least two Psychology courses and should be interested in brain development and neuroscientific methods that can be used to uncover developmental processes.

This course introduces the general technical/methodological requirements, problems/challenges, and application possibilities of brain-computer interfacing. Besides attending lectures, in which course participants are provided with basic relevant knowledge by local BCI researchers, students study seminal papers of recent BCI work. Further, discuss the pros and cons of different functional brain imaging methods employed for BCIs as well as ethical implications and future directions. The practical part of this course includes a demonstration of an fNIRS-BCI experiment. At a later stage of the course, students perform an fNIRS-BCI experiment themselves.

The course's main topics are demography and epidemiology, with a special focus on population ageing and migration as important demographical developments in the European Union (EU). Learn to apply epidemiological methods to examine the impact of important demographical developments on public health in the EU. The course consists of three parts. In Part I, demography is introduced and students learn to describe and analyze the extent and causes of population ageing and migration in the EU. In Part II, several core epidemiological concepts and methods are dealt with, including research designs, association measures, bias, effect-modification, validity & reliability, and causal interpretation of research findings. Students familiarize themselves with these concepts by applying them to examine how population ageing and migration impact health in the EU. The role of socio‐economic differences is considered. Next to the exploration of ageing-related diseases (e.g. dementia), the course also introduces reproductive/child health. In Part III, to apply the knowledge from the first two parts to compare and critically appraise preventive measures (e.g. population screening) and public health policies for controlling negative health consequences of population ageing and migration in the EU.