Neuropsychology of Happiness

3 credits · Undergraduate

This course will explore cognitive and affective components of happiness and distress, including pleasure, meaning, and well-being, sadness, fear, and anger. Also, negative thought patterns associated with various psychological disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and PTSD, and their neurological underpinnings. Then we will turn to the new field of self-directed neuroplasticity to explore evidence-based psychotherapeutic techniques for transforming negative thoughts and cultivating positive ones, including mindfulness, gratitude, and CBT-based techniques. We will compare these to psychoactive drugs and brain stimulation used to treat such disorders. We will also look at recent developments in neuroimaging data.