NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

General Module

Course Sheet

Course code:

CH009B

Academic Year of enrolment:

2022

Year of supply:

2023/2024

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 2nd Cycle Degree in COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE SCIENCE

Disciplinary Sector:

Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology

Is part of:

CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

BALDASSARRE ANTONELLO

Cycle:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

Prerequisites:

As a prerequisite, the students are required an adequate knowledge in Cognitive psychology and Cognitive neuroscience.

Objectives

The module makes a contribution to the achievement of the educational goals of the Master Degree in Computational Cognitive and Health Science, by providing to the students the tools for understanding the brain-behavior relationship in clinical cohorts of individuals suffering of brain damage.
The student will have to demonstrate the acquisition of:
knowledge and understanding of the theoretical and methodological foundations of neuropsychology, with particular attention to the most recent advances in the field;
knowledge and understanding of the neuropsychological disorders discussed during the course;
ability of linking and integrating knowledge;
ability to develop original ideas on how some neuropsychological disorders could be studied through, for example, the approach focused on connectomal diaschisis;
ability to communicate the acquired knowledge clearly and through the disciplinary lexicon;
ability to investigate the topics of greatest interest critically and independently.

Contents

The course provides knowledge on the fundamentals of neuropsychology, the theoretical principles as well as research methodology applied on the neuropsychology field, with particular emphasis on the neuroimaging techniques and the role of modifications of large-scale brain networks in the main neuropsychological syndromes.
The course provides skills and tools suitable for being part of multidisciplinary research teams in the field of neuropsychology.
The course comprises two parts.
The first part deals with the theoretical and methodological foundations of neuropsychology. In particular, the framework of connectomal diaschisis is presented, with a focus on the changes of the brain systems following structural damage. Furthermore, knowledge about the applications of structural and functional imaging techniques in the neuropsychological field is provided.
The second part of the course is focused on the clinical profiles and theoretical bases of the main neuropsychological disorders as well as their neurofunctional correlates. Finally, the recent findings of ‘network neuropsychology’, i.e., the study of impairments of cognitive functions after brain damage within the framework of graph theory, are discussed.

Extended Syllabus

Part I.
Introduction to neuropsychology: historical excursus and theoretical foundations.
Methods of investigation in neuropsychological research:
Anatomo-clinical correlation
Structural MRI and Voxel-based Lesion-Symptom Mapping
Functional MRI: Resting state functional connectivity
Connectomal Diaschisis: from von Monakov to dys-connectome

Part II.
Main neuropsychological disorders and syndromes:
Neglect
Apraxia
Visual agnosia
Prosopoagnosia
Amnesia
Disturbi esecutivi
Afasia e dislessia
Network Neuropsychology: study of the relationships and associations among neuropsychological disorders by means of graph theoretic tools.

Recommended Bibliography

Part I:
Review article: Vallar and Caputi. 2020. "The History of Human Neuropsychology". Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. 2020 Elsevier.
Review article: Fox and Raichle. 2007. “Spontaneous fluctuations in brain activity observed with functional magnetic resonance imaging”. Nat Rev Neurosci.
Review article: Carrera and Tononi. 2014. “Diaschisis: past, present, future.” Brain 137:2408–2422.
Review article: Baldassarre et al., 2016. “Brain connectivity and neurological disorders after stroke”. Curr Opin Neurol.

Part II:
A Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuropsychology, Ashok Jansari. Edition 1. SAGE Publications. Limited to chapters relating to the course.

Part I & II:
Scientific papers available on the Course e-learning page. Slides of the course.

Teaching Methods

The course has 40-hour duration, and the contents are presented through lessons in lecture hall, taking advantage of power point slides (made available to the students), reading and discussion of scientific articles.
Attendance is not mandatory but strongly recommended

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The exam is composed of two pieces:
Oral exam
Writing a research project
The oral exam allows to verify the acquisition and understanding of knowledge, as well as the ability of critically linking and integrating knowledge (learning objectives 1-5).
The research project consists of writing an experimental protocol on a topic chosen among those of the course (learning objectives 4 and 6).
The weight of each piece will be as following:
80% Oral; 20% Research project.

Contacts/More Information

It is possible to participate to the scientific meetings organized by the Laboratories of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience.
To receive alerts, the students are required to send an e-mail to the address neuropsicolab@gmail.com, asking for signing up to the newsletter.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Aree

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