Cognitive neuroscience

Educational Objectives. The general purpose of the course is to provide a thorough understanding of the methods of clinical evaluation, diagnostic classification, and anatomical correlates of cognitive function disorders resulting from localized or degenerative brain injury. The course will guide the student in the study of the clinical, anatomo-functional and theoretical problems addressed by Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology and to illustrate how these problems are now being revisited through methods and paradigms developed more recently in the broader field of Cognitive Neuroscience. The student who has taken the course with profit will have acquired all the knowledge fundamental to understanding neuropsychological issues that arise in both clinical and experimental settings. The knowledge of clinical and experimental neuropsychological issues gained by taking the course will therefore have relevant translational value. The course consists of a series of lectures (6 credits). Upon completion of the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following specific learning objectives (Dublin indicators): - Knowledge and understanding. Through lectures and course study, students are expected to show thorough knowledge and understanding of: a) methods of clinical and experimental investigation of cognitive function in patients with acquired brain injury; b) methods of classification and clinical evaluation of neuropsychological disorders; c) methods and principles of differential clinical diagnosis; d) methods for studying neural correlates of neuropsychological disorders - Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. Students will be able to contextualize and use the knowledge acquired to: a) understand and assimilate theoretical and empirical developments offered by new studies in the field of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience; b) interpret the results obtained from clinical-neuropsychological assessments and screenings; c) know how to interpret the results of anatomical/radiological investigations and reports - Autonomy of judgment. The student will be able to use the acquired knowledge for an effective understanding of the neural basis of cognitive functions in brain-injured and healthy subjects. In addition, the student will have developed the ability to identify and make suggestions for improving the assessment and study of cognitive function in neuropsychological patients and healthy subjects - Communication skills. The student will be able to report in written and oral form the content conveyed by lectures and reading of study and further study texts in Italian and/or English. He/she should also demonstrate ability to communicate in a non-specialized form the course content and ability to summarize the neuropsychological-clinical picture of patients with appropriate language. - Learning skills. Students should be able to show: a) good educational continuation in clinical and experimental neuropsychology; b) independently acquire and develop new diagnostic or experimental tools.