Cognitive Neurosciences and Psychological Rehabilitation

We spend about a third of our lives sleeping. Despite the several hypotheses proposed and the enormous progress made over the past 50 years in understanding the basic mechanisms of sleep, its ultimate functions remain still unclear. The specific topics of the course include: - phenomenology of human sleep and wake-sleep-wake transitions (0.5 CFU) - neurophysiology of sleep and wakefulness (0.5 CFU) - mechanisms of sleep regulation (0.5 CFU) - sleep as a local use-dependent process (1 CFU) - relationships between sleep, memory, learning and brain plasticity (0.5 CFU) - effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive and emotional processes and on brain function (0.5 CFU) - mental activity during sleep both from a psychological and neurobiological point of view (0.5 CFU) - classification of sleep disorders (1 CFU) - Insomnia (0.5) - psychological tretament of sleep disorders, with special focus on CBT-I (0.5 CFU)

A good preparation in Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology is required, in particular with regard to the neuroanatomophysiological mechanisms underlying the wake-sleep cycle and the phenomenology of sleep stages.

During the course, the teacher will provide articles in English and other teaching materials. The goal is to define an exam program for students who will attend the course, centered on the content covered during the lessons. Essentially, a program based on the content of the lessons is strongly encouraged. The material presented in class will be, from time to time, made available in the teacher's files/attachments space and in videos on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ8qkx16a4n_p1_4ZBNMsBQ Those who will not attend the Course can have access to the same recorded lessons The institutional program for those who will not choose to take the exam on the content of the lessons: 1) Carlson N.R., Birkett M.A. - Physiology of Behavior Edition, Chapter 9: Sleep and Biological Rhythms. Pearson Education 2) Gianluca Ficca e Marco Fabbri (a cura di). Psicologia del Sonno. Maggioli Editore 3) Michael Perlis, M. Aloia, B. Kuhn (eds.) Behavioral Treatments for Sleep Disorders: A Comprehensive Primer of Behavioral Sleep Medicine Interventions 2011 Elsevier Inc Optional reading: Casagrande M., De Gennaro L. Psicofisiologia del sonno. Metodi e tecniche di ricerca. Raffaello Cortina (Capitoli: 1-3-4-6-10-12-13-14-15-16) 4.

Attendance is strongly recommended, although not formally mandatory. In any case, all lessons will also be available in recorded mode.

1. PRE-ASSESSMENT: there is no formal pre-assessment, but the fulfillment of the prescribed pre-requisites will be verified by the formative and summative assessment. 2. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: The formative assessment is performed via interaction between teacher and students during the lectures. Students are encouraged to report and discuss the difficulties encountered in class or during the study. The teacher is also available to answer questions and clarify the doubts of the students via email. 3. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT: the final exam consists of a formal oral examination. The discussion will be based on at least 4 questions, for a total duration of the test of at least 20 minutes. The first question is always of a general nature and concerns the basic neurophysiological mechanisms of sleep and wakefulness. In case of significant deficiencies in fundamental notions, the exam may be interrupted even after a single question. The subsequent questions can focus on all the topics of the exam program. Particular importance will be given to the student's ability to connect different topics of the program, thus showing an integrated view of the field. The assignment of the grade for the final exam will reflect the following levels of preparation: Excellent (30, 30 cum laude) The student: - demonstrates complete and detailed knowledge of the subject: knows the relevant contents, uses correct terminology, identifies and explains the main concepts, integrates personal insights into their synthesis; - demonstrates an excellent understanding of the subject: clearly distinguishes between main and supporting ideas, knows how to frame key points, reinforces arguments with references to supplementary material or individual insights, develops interdisciplinary links; - demonstrates well-established ability to apply knowledge and analyze results; - exposes the matter in a clear and structured way: his/her speech is organized, logical, mature and concise. Very good (28-29) The student: - demonstrates in-depth knowledge of the subject: knows the relevant contents, uses correct terminology, identifies and explains most of the main concepts; - demonstrates a solid understanding of the subject: frames most of the key points although not always distinguishing main topics from less important ones, discusses topics with references to supplementary material or individual insights; - demonstrates very good ability to apply knowledge and analyze results; - exposes the matter in a clear and articulated way: her/his speech is organized, logical, mature and essential, while admitting some inaccuracies. Good (25-27) The student: - demonstrates extensive knowledge of the subject: s/he knows, even if does not fully explain, the relevant contents; uses terminology, but not always precisely; identifies key concepts, but fails to explain them completely or accurately; - shows an adequate understanding of the subject: distinguishes important key points, but fails to frame them completely; - demonstrates good ability to apply knowledge; - explains clearly, but not always completely, with a schematic organization and sometimes fragmented and repetitive thoughts. Fair (22-24) The student: - demonstrates an acceptable knowledge of the subject: s/he knows the majority of the contents but manifest gaps, shows some confusion in some important even if not essential concepts; - shows an essential understanding of the subject: s/he is not always able to frame all the topics or sometimes does it imprecisely; - demonstrates a good ability to apply the fundamental concepts of the subject; - explains correctly, but without a completely clear and coherent structure, inserting irrelevant material in some points of the argumentation. Sufficient (18-21) The student: - demonstrates limited knowledge of the subject: s/he knows the most relevant contents but manifests numerous gaps, identifies a good part of the key concepts but is unable to illustrate them with completeness and precision; - demonstrates a basic understanding of the subject: s/he has some difficulty distinguishing the key points and is not always able to frame them properly due to incompleteness or imprecision; - manifests uncertainties in applying the fundamental concepts of the subject; - explains in an unclear and confused way, uses language in a poorly organized way, with fragmented and repetitive thoughts, does not always use terminology with precision. Insufficient The student: - demonstrates a poor and fragmentary knowledge of the subject: s/he does not know the essential contents, showing extensive gaps, and does not identify the key concepts; - manifests serious errors of understanding, does not answer many questions; - manifests errors in applying the fundamental concepts of the subject; - does not reach an acceptable level of articulation of thought related to the subject.

The lessons will be face-to-face, but participation in distance learning lessons will also be permitted through the availability of video recordings of the face-to-face lessons, for those who cannot attend lessons