78193 - Affective and Cognitive Neurosciences

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student knows state-of-art human and animal research that uses neuroscience techniques to understand the cognitive and emotional aspects of the human mind and behavior. The student should be able to critically read experimental and theoretical studies of cognitive and affective neuroscience, to evaluate their methods and results, and explain their significance.

Course contents

The course is designed to provide advanced knowledge of the neural basis and functional mechanisms of human behaviour, and affective and cognitive processes, and the alteration of these processes in patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders, drawing on both theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions of current literature, and integrating different methodological approaches, including behavioural, neurophysiological, psychopharmacological, computational and neuroimaging.

The course involves 3 modules, whose specific contents are the following:

Avenanti's Module (4 credits, 30 hours)

• Methods in Cognitive and affective
• Understanding others': mirror mechanisms and mentalizing
  

Ciaramelli's Module (4 credits, 30 hours)

• The role of medial temporal lobe in memory
• Non–mnemonic functions of the medial temporal lobe
• Role of the parietal lobe in memory
• Brain default network and spontaneous cognition
• Psychological functions of episodic memory

Borgomaneri's Module (4 credits, 30 hours)

• Processing emotional and social information: Emotions, perceptions of emotions, fear conditioning, empathy, gaze perception, embodiment.

The course will take place during the first cycle of lectures (from October to December 2019) at the Cesena Campus of the School of Psychology and Education (address: piazza A. Moro, 90, Cesena).

Readings/Bibliography

Scientific papers and other course materials for this course will be made available at the course website. These readings are mandatory to pass the final exam.

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures during which the topic of each module will be interactively discussed, group discussions of neuroscientific papers, works in small groups with class presentation, seminars presented by experts

Assessment methods

Written exam with 6 open-ended questions (two questions for each module) to complete in 2 hours (approximately 20 minutes per question).

There will be 5/30 points maximum for correctly answering each of the six open-ended questions. The final mark is calculated as the sum of the points obtained at each of the 6 questions.

The following criteria will be applied for the evaluation of each answer.

An answer which

• demonstrates extensive knowledge and understanding of tested topic (up to 2.5 points);
• reveals critical analysis and ability to integrate different aspects of the literature (up to 1.5 points);
• is well-written, and logically articulated (up to 1 point).

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

Slides (PowerPoint) and video clips

Office hours

See the website of Alessio Avenanti

See the website of Sara Borgomaneri

See the website of Elisa Ciaramelli