Coursework

Students will complete at least two required courses in Neuroscience while at Yale. This coursework can range from an overview of neuroimaging modalities, a seminar discussing research methodologies, and basic neuroscience and its relation to disorders of cognitive function and psychopathology. Students will have opportunities to attend a variety of additional ‘elective’ courses offered by Yale’s undergraduate and graduate departments, ranging from cognitive neuroscience to genetics and statistics.

Research

The academic focus of the second year is on the execution and completion of a research project under the supervision of a research mentor. During the first year in London, students are paired with a research mentor at Yale according to the student’s individualized interests. Mentors are experts in their field, and many are senior faculty members from the Child Study Center, or departments associated with the Yale Medical School. Proposed project areas have spanned a broad range of populations and methodologies and have included:

• Social neuroscience and mirror neurons in autism
• Neurobiological effects of early childhood trauma
• Temporal lobe epilepsy on the hippocampal network by using fMRI-based connectivity mapping
• Early intervention programs in children and Parent-Infant Psychotherapy
• Neurobiology of behavioral addictions
• EEG assessment of maternal sensitivity in mothers with substance abuse problems

Thesis

In their research thesis, students will be encouraged to consider how psychoanalytic theory can inform and augment our understanding of developmental psychopathology. In order to assist in linking psychoanalytic concepts with developmental neuroscience, each student will be provided a psychoanalytic mentor who is a qualified clinical psychoanalyst and member of the esteemed Western New England Psychoanalytic Institute. By the end of the second year, the student submits a research thesis of typically 10-15,000 words to University College London for assessment.

The Child Study Center

The Anna Freud Centre

The Anna Freud Centre began as the Hampstead War Nurseries, set up by Anna Freud in 1940, after fleeing from Vienna with her father, Sigmund. The Anna Freud Centre’s clinic specializes in therapeutic work with promotes the emotional health of families and development.