PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PSYCHOSOMATICS
Academic year2016/17
CourseSCIENCES AND TECHNIQUES IN CLINICAL AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
Code134MM
Credits12
PeriodSemester 2
LanguageItalian
| Modules | Area | Type | Hours | Teacher(s) |
| ELEMENTI DI PSICOSOMATICA | M-PSI/08 | LEZIONI | 42 | |
| PSICOFISIOLOGIA DELLE ATTIVITÀ MENTALI E DEL COMPORTAMENTO | M-PSI/02 | LEZIONI | 42 | |
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Knowledge
The student who successfully completes the course will be required to demonstrate a solid knowledge of the main physiological processes underlying behavioral outputs (i.e. memory, emotional reactions, sleep and consciousness) as well as of psychosomatic disorders including diagnosis and alternative taxonomies.
He or she will be able to look critically at psychophysiological experiments, and will have the ability to define a psychophysiological problem, approach it and present the results in a structured way.
Finally, students will be able to demonstrate advanced knowledge in the bio-psychosocial model of health and of disease and will be aware of the fact that psychological factors can contribute to the onset, the maintenance and the worsening of several physical illnesses
Assessment criteria of knowledge
- The student will be assessed on his/her demonstrated ability to discuss the main course contents using the appropriate terminology.
- During the oral exam the student must be able to demonstrate his/her knowledge of the course material and be able to discuss the reading matter thoughtfully and with propriety of expression.
- The student's ability to explain correctly the main topics presented during the course will be assessed.
Methods:
Teaching methods
Delivery: face to face
Learning activities:
- attending lectures
- participation in seminar
- participation in discussions
- group work
- Bibliography search
- Practical
Attendance: Advised
Teaching methods:
- Lectures
- Seminar
- laboratory
Syllabus
The course provides notions on the main physiological mechanisms subtending different behavioral outputs:
1) Memory: Long Term Potentiation/Depression, synaptic plasticity, Hebbian learning, cortical mapping of short and long term memory, hippocampal functions (e.g. neurogenesis). Examples of experiments.
2) Emotions: anatomy and networks, Pavlovian conditioning, fear, anxiety, emotional intelligence. Examples of experiments.
3) Sleep and consciousness: neural mechanisms of Slow Wave Sleep (including less than 1Hz oscillations) and REM sleep; sleep functions, functional connectivity, information integration theory of consciousness, thalamo-cortical networks. Examples of experiments.
The didactic unit of principles of psychosomatics is centered on the bio-psychosocial model of health and of disease. In particular stress and its mechanisms of action will be diffusely assessed. Copying strategies and mechanisms are also a central part of the course.
Bibliography
The Neurology of Consciousness: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropathology. Steven Laureys and Giulio Tononi (Editors)
Psicofisiologia. Dalla genetica comportamentale alle attività cognitive Stegagno a cura di L. Stegagno (Zanichelli)
NEUROSCIENZE COGNITIVE. Purves D, Brannon EM, Cabeza R, Huettel SA, LaBar KS, Platt ML, Woldorff MG (Zanichelli)
Medicina psicosomatica e psicologia clinica. Modelli teorici, diagnosi, trattamento è un libro di Porcelli Piero – Raffaello Cortina
Further bibliography will be indicated
Updated: 14/11/2016 17:27
