93505 - COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND BRAIN PLASTICITY

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

By the end of the course, students know the brain processes underlying maturation, plasticity and aging and the associated changes in cognitive and emotional functions across the life span.

Contenuti

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 2 modules, whose specific contents are the following:

Avenanti's Module (2 credits, 15 hours)

• Methods in Cognitive Neuroscience

Borgomaneri's Module (6 credits, 45 hours)

• Brain maturation
• Processing emotional and social information: Theories of emotions, perceptions of emotions, fear conditioning and empathy
• Healthy aging: changes in behavioral and neuroanatomical substrates

Testi/Bibliografia

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.

 

Suggested bibliography:

• Banich, M.T. & Compton R.J. (2018) Cognitive Neuroscience, 4th Edition. Cambridge University Press.

 

Metodi didattici

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

 

Students will also be able to take lessons online via Teams software.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Written exam with 4 open-ended questions (1 question for module 1 and 3 questions for module 2) to complete in 80 minutes (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 4 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 tested topic (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.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Slides (PowerPoint) and video clips

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Sara Borgomaneri

Consulta il sito web di Alessio Avenanti