NEUROSCIENZE COGNITIVE DELLO SVILUPPO

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

PSI0260

Academic Year of enrolment:

2018

Year of supply:

2018/2019

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 2nd Cycle Degree in PSYCHOLOGY

Disciplinary Sector:

Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology

Language:

Italian

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

SESTIERI CARLO

Cycle:

Second semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

102

Prerequisites:

Logical and reasoning abilities; knowledge of the anatomy and the physiology of the nervous system and of the mechanisms of the generation and transmission of neuronal signals, knowledge of the main theories of psychological development; knowledge of experimental methodology; ability to understand texts in English

Objectives

The course provides advanced knowledge on the nature of the relationship between mind and brain and aims to provide advanced knowledge on the functional maturation of the nervous system that allows the development of the main cognitive functions, and on the role of the environment and the experience, in the framework of cognitive neuroscience.
The student must demonstrate that he has acquired:
1) The understanding of the fundamental mechanisms that regulate the maturation of the nervous system and the development of the main cognitive functions, with particular attention to the complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors
2) The understanding of the consequences of serious alterations of the typical development trajectory and the ability to compare and differentiate the main neurological / neuropsychological syndromes affecting in the developmental age
3) The ability to refer to the experimental evidence, and to the relative research hypotheses and methodologies, which support or contrast with the main general theoretical formulations on the relationship between neural and psychological development
4) the ability to organize and communicate the acquired knowledge in a clear, effective, coherent narrative, using an appropriate scientific language
5) The ability to express one's own point of view and to deepen autonomously the topics, the experimental studies and the methodologies of interest

Contents

> Introduction and Functional Anatomy of the nervous system
> Development of the nervous system
> Methodology
> Visual system
> Orienting and attention
> Face recognition and social cognition
> Auditory system
> Crossmodal plasticity
> Memory and Learning
> Decision Making
> Language
> Attachment

Extended Syllabus

Intro
1. Phylogenesis and ontogenesis
2. Nature and culture
3. Constructivism
4. Theoretical perspectives
5. Overview of macroanatomy and functional anatomy

Development of the nervous system
1. Neurulation
2. Neurogenesis
3. Formation of the cerebral cortex
4. Programmed cell death
5. Differentiation of cortical areas
6. Lengthening of the axons
7. Synaptogenesis
8. Myelination
9. Post-natal development

Methodology
1. Behavioral techniques
2. Physiological indexes
3. Techniques for measuring brain activity
4. Animal and genetic studies
5. Studies on developmental disorders

Development of the visual system
1. Overview of the adult visual system
2. Development of visual acuity
3. Development of stereopsis
4. Development of accommodation and color perception
5. Development of the recognition of forms
6. Role of experience and critical periods
7. Effects of strabism, monocular and binocular deprivation
8. Instructional or permissive role of electrical activity

Orientation, Attention, Recognition and Action
1. Development of visual orienting
2. Maturational approach and marker tasks
3. Saccadic planning
4. Development of implicit attention
5. Development of the ventral and dorsal visual processing pathways

Recognition of faces and social cognition
1. Specificity of face recognition
2. Preference for faces at birth
3. Ethological studies on imprinting
4. Conspec and conlearn mechanisms
5. Hemispheric lateralization
6. Critical periods
7. Perception of the gaze and biological movement
8. Theory of mind
9. Disorders of social cognition
Auditory system and intermodal plasticity
1. Notes on the adult auditory system
2. Development of sensitivity to the intensity of the sound
3. Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABR)
4. Development of frequency selectivity
5. Development of sound localization
6. Experience and critical periods for localization and discrimination of sounds
7. Intermodal and intramodal plasticity

Long-term memory
1. Notes on memory systems
2. Development of implicit memory
3. Development of explicit memory and hippocampus
4. Development of relational, spatial and source memory

Prefrontal cortex: executive functions, working memory, decision-making
1. Prolonged development of the prefrontal cortex
2. Maintenance in memory and inhibition
3. A-non-B test and Wisconsin Card Sorting test
4. Theories on the development of executive functions
5. Phenylketonuria
6. Social decision-making

Language
1. Circuit of language
2. Universal steps in the development of language
3. Categorical perception and development of prototypes
4. Decline of universal discrimination
5. Language segmentation
6. Language directed to children
7. Sensitive and second language periods
8. Development of lateralization
9. Effects of early lesions
10. Model of Skeide and Friederici

Attachment
1. Parental care strategies
2. Recognition of mother and offspring
3. Responses to separation and hidden regulators
4. Long-term effects of the lack of parental care
5. Transmission of behavior between generations
6. Attachment and response to stress
7. Epigenetic mechanisms

Recommended Bibliography

1. Psicobiologia dello sviluppo. Authors: Nicoletta Berardi e Tommaso Pizzorusso. Laterza.
E-book.
Only Chapter 2-17
2. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. An introduction. Authors: Mark H. Johnson, Michelle de Haan.
Wiley Blackwell. Text in english.
Only chapters 1,4-10.

Methods of Provision

Conventional

Teaching Methods

Taught class, lectures

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

Oral examination.
Results will get 30/30 points at the maximum

Contacts/More Information

Full frequency to lessons is highly recommended.

Office hours:
wednesday, 10-12AM,
Room 321, third floor, ITAB

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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