Courses & Curriculum

Apply neuroscience to your field of interest

Penn’s Graduate Certificate in Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) is a four-course program that can be completed in one to two years. The required courses provide a strong grasp of neuroscience for non-neuroscientists, emphasizing those aspects of the field that are most relevant to understanding human behavior. The curriculum is composed of two foundational requirements and two electives.

Students meet individually with the program directors in September of their first year to discuss their goals and possible elective courses. To fulfill the requirements of the SCAN certificate, students are expected to earn a B or higher in every course.

Required courses

The Foundations course (PSYC 5470) is designed to give you a basic textbook understanding of social, cognitive and affective neuroscience. The Contemporary Research Issues (PSYC 7470) course extends that knowledge to a familiarity with primary research literature, enabling students to read primary sources critically. The two required courses are carefully synchronized so that students taking them in the same semester will not encounter topics in 7470 until they have been covered in 5470.

To be taken first semester enrolled in SCAN.

This course is only offered in Fall semesters.

This course is designed to introduce students to the interdisciplinary field of social, cognitive and affective neuroscience. We begin with the basics of neurons, synapses and neurotransmission and the functional anatomy of the human brain. We then move on to neuroscience methods including cellular recordings, EEG/ERP, lesion methods, structural and functional neuroimaging and brain stimulation. The remainder of the course covers the neural systems involved in emotion, social cognition, executive function, learning and memory, perception and development. We focus on how our understanding of these systems has emerged from the use of the methods studied earlier. Classes combine lecture and discussion, as well as regular tests. Homework includes written assignments reinforcing the reading and lecture content.

This course is only offered in Fall semesters.

In this seminar, students engage with primary research literature and deepen their understanding of a variety of topics in social, cognitive and affective neuroscience. We begin with the basics of research design and data interpretation, including recent controversies concerning replicability in the neural and behavioral sciences. Classes combine lecture and discussion, along with collaborative reading and analysis of articles published in the last two to three years, many of which apply neuroscience to problems in students’ home fields. In addition to weekly reading and discussion, students take one brief quiz, present one article to the class and write a referee’s report on another article of their choosing.

Elective courses

The remaining two courses are intended to strengthen your mastery of specific areas of neuroscience and its relation to your fields of interest. Electives are organized into three categories, shown below. For these electives, students may take two Advanced Neuroscience courses or one course from any of these three categories: Advanced Neuroscience, Neuroscience & Society, Bridging. A list of approved electives from past and upcoming semesters can be viewed below.

Specific courses offered vary from year to year. Examples include:

  • Proseminar in Psych: Neuroendocrinology, Loretta Flanagan-Cato, (PSYC-6000)
  • Brain-Computer Interfaces, Brian Litt, (BE/NGG-5210)  (appropriate for students with a significant math/programming background)
  • Theoretical  and Computational Neuroscience, Vijay Balasubramanian, (NRSC- 5585/NGG-5940)  (appropriate for students with a significant math/programming background)
  • Consumer Neuroscience, Gideon Nave, (MKTG-8500) (This is a .5 credit course)
  • Proseminar in Psych: Perception, Johannes Burge (PSYC-6000)
  • Neuroscience, Brain Development and Learning, Hilary Gerstein (EDUC -7548)
  • Network Neuroscience, Danielle Bassett (BE-5660)  (appropriate for students with a significant math/programming background)
  • Proseminar in Psych: Social Behavior & Biology, Martha Farah, (PSYC-6000)
  • Violence: A Clinical Neuroscience Approach, Adrian Raine (CRIM-6710)
  • Neuroscience, Ethics and Law, Martha Farah (PSYC-5570)
  • Proseminar in Psych: Human Memory, Michael J. Kahana (PSYC-6000)
  • Controversies in Psychology and Neuroscience, Joseph Kable (PYSC-5250)
  • Sleep and Memory, Anna Schapiro (PSYC-5410)
  • Seminar in Neuroeconomics, Joseph Kable (PSYC-5730)
  • The Social Neuroscience of Communication, Emily Falk (COMM-8800)
  • Proseminar in Cognitive Neuroscience: Language (PSYC-6000)
  • Neural Circuits for Survival, John Betley, Lavinia Boccia (BIOL-5116)
  • Topics in Translational Neuroscience, Mariella De Biasi (NGG-5880)

Specific courses offered vary from year to year.  Examples include:

  • Intro to Brain Science for Business, Michael Platt, (MKTG-7370) (This is a .5 credit course)
  • Consumer Neuroscience, Gideon Nave, (MKTG-8500) (This is a .5 credit course)
  • The Public Health Challenges of Alzheimer’s Disease and Cognitive Aging, Jason Karlawish, (PUBH-5890)
  • Neuroscience, Brain Development & Learning, Hilary Gerstein (EDUC-7548)
  • Neuroscience, Ethics and Law, Martha Farah (PSYC-5570)
  • The Social Neuroscience of Communication, Emily Falk (COMM-8800)
  • Bioethics and Technology: Neuroethics, Jonathan Moreno (BIOE-5550)
  • Neuroethics, Jonathan Moreno (PSYC-7050)
  • Brain Development & Society – Martha Farah (PSYC-7440)

This category includes courses in the student’s home field or a closely related field that include [note include, not includes!] substantial neuroscience material. Bridging courses must be approved by the SCAN Advisory Board on the basis of an up-to-date syllabus, as graduate courses frequently change their topics from year to year. Examples include:

  • Intro to Brain Science for Business, Michael Platt, (MKTG-7370) (This is a .5 credit course)
  • Visual Marketing, Elizabeth Johnson & Barbara Kahn (MKTG-7390)
  • Mental Health Law, Stephen Morse (LAW-7050) (appropriate for students law, criminology, or related fields)
  • Freedom, Responsibility and Neuroscience, Stephen Morse (LAW-9250) (appropriate for students law, criminology, or related fields)
  • Ethics in Mental Healthcare, Dom Sisti (BIOE-5900) (*must include a neuro-focused term paper)
  • Neuroscience, Ethics and Law, Martha Farah (PSYC-5570)
  • Inside the Criminal Mind, Rebecca Waller (PSYC-3766) (appropriate for students law, criminology, or related fields)
  • Philosophy of Psychology, Gary Hatfield (PHIL-5840) (appropriate for students in philosophy, HSS, or related fields)
  • Philosophy of Mind, Lisa Miracchi (PHIL-5640) (appropriate for students in philosophy, HSS, or related fields)

Other program requirements and opportunities

Students meet individually with the program directors in September of their first year to discuss their goals and possible elective courses. To fulfill the requirements of the SCAN certificate, students are expected to earn a B or higher in every course. In addition to the four courses, it is a requirement to attend the annual half-day retreat while enrolled in the program.

The SCAN program makes study space available near the required course classrooms, with textbooks on reserve. Students may propose local neuroscientists as SCAN-sponsored lunch guests for informal conversation in this same area.

Prerequisites

There are no course prerequisites required to apply to the SCAN program. However, some of the elective courses that can be taken to fulfill the SCAN course sequence do have prerequisites. Please check the Penn course register for more information. Some requirements are waived for SCAN students via a permit issued by the Department of Psychology. All permits for SCAN students are submitted at the end of the application period. At that time, you receive notification that you can register for the course.

Please e-mail us if you have any questions about prerequisites and course registration.

SCAN faculty

The Graduate Certificate in Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience certificate was developed by the faculty of Penn’s Center for Neuroscience & Society and is offered by the School of Arts & Sciences.

Program Director
Martha J. Farah, PhD (Psychology, Director, Center for Neuroscience & Society)

Advisory Board
Geoffrey K. Aguirre, MD, PhD (Neurology, Associate Director, Center for Neuroscience & Society)
Russell A. Epstein, PhD (Psychology)
Joe Kable, PhD (Psychology)
Stephen J. Morse, JD, PhD (Law, Associate Director, Center for Neuroscience & Society)

Associate Director of Programs & Operations

Natalie Larkin-Gilmore (Center for Neuroscience & Society)