32035 - Cognitive and Social Neurosciences

Academic Year 2018/2019

  • Moduli: Giuseppe Di Pellegrino (Modulo 1) Francesca Frassinetti (Modulo 2)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
  • Campus: Cesena
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Psychological sciences and techniques (cod. 8774)

Learning outcomes

A the end of the course, students will know a) the main techniques involved in Cognitive Neuroscience; b) the neural bases of cognitive and affective processes; c) neural basis of social interaction. 

Course contents

Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience

 

Module 1 (prof. Frassinetti):

Methods in Cognitive Neuroscience

Cerebral Plasticity

Visual Object Recognition

Visual Space Representation

 

Module 2 (prof. di Pellegrino):

Selective Attention

Learning and Memory

The Control of Action

Emotion and Social Emotion

Motivation and regulation of food intake

Empathy and Theory of Mind

Prefrontal cortex and executive functions

Sleep and Cerebral Rhythms

 

The course will take place during the first cycle of lectures  (from September to December 2018) at the Cesena Campus of the School of Psychology and Education (address: piazza A. Moro, 90, Cesena).

Readings/Bibliography

GAZZANIGA Michael S, IVRY Richard B, MANGUN George R

Neuroscienze Cognitive

Zanichelli (2015)

(particularly, Chapter 2, 3, 5-10, 12-13)

 

In addition, the slides presented durning the lecture, and some articles in English will be made available to students.

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures, presentation and discussion of clinical cases and experiments, brief video clips projections, analysis of scientific articles. 

Assessment methods

Verification of the learning outcomes takes place through the final exam that ensures the acquisition of the expected outcomes by conducting a written test of 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The test consists of:

a) 20 multiple-choice questions on the topics covered in Module 1 Prof Frassinetti); each correct question allows you to get 0.5 points for a total of 10 points;

and

b) 3 open questions on the topics covered in Module 2 (Prof. di Pellegrino); Each correct question allows you to get 6.7 points for a total of 20 points.

Students attending the lessons can take the exam test through 2 partial tests.

The first partial exam, lasting 25 minutes, with 20 multiple choice questions on the topics covered in Module 1 (prof. Frassinetti), will take place in October 2017 (date will be communicated to students during the 1 lesson and published as a notice on the portal of the two teachers of the course).

The 2nd partial exam, 50 min, with 3 open questions on the topics covered in Module 2 (prof. di Pellegrino), can take place during the 2019 winter session. To be eligible for the 2nd partial test, it is necessary to obtain a minimum score of 5 points at the 1st partial test.

The final vote is calculated as the sum of the scores of the two partial tests.

However, a full exam will be made available to students in each session.

Note: Students who have passed the 1st but have not passed or taken the 2nd partial exam in the 2019 winter session will have to take the exam in its entirety.

During the exam students are not allowed to consult any materials, such as textbooks, notes, electronic devices.

It is necessary to sign up for the examination through the dedicated website, and within the deadline. Any problem in registering through the website should be promptly communicated to the administrative staff.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint slides, video clips

 

Office hours

See the website of Giuseppe Di Pellegrino

See the website of Francesca Frassinetti