B020880 - PSYCHOPHYSICAL ASSESSMENT IN SENSORIAL AND ATTENTIVE DYSFUNCTION

Italian

This course examines the theory and techniques of modern methods of evaluating sensory, cognitive and motor function in human adults and children. Much of the course will be devoted to critical discussion of chosen examples of research in perception and cognition. Another important section involves practical training in performing psychophysical research, from the generation of stimuli to the analysis and presentation of results.

There is no specific textbook. Reading material, including original research articles in English as well as book chapters, will be provided throughout the course.

The aim of the course is to familiarize students with current theory and techniques of evaluation of perceptual function and dysfunction in adult and children populations.

None

About half of the course will be taught in the traditional form of structured lectures, with plenty of opportunity for student participation and interaction. The other half will comprise laboratory work, including use of computers for generation of stimuli, running experiments, analyzing results and writing up reports. Students will be encouraged to perform their own research, and to participate in departmental research activities.

Written assignment plus an oral exam

The course assumes a firm knowledge of the fundamental principles of sensation and perception, and aims to consolidate and build on this knowledge. The course will be largely built around discussion of recently published work on selected topics, and critical discussion of techniques and methodologies, articulated through three lines:

1) A formal series of lectures explaining the function and dysfunction of many aspects of perceptual, cognitive and motor research, with particular emphasis on the following topics:
a. Physiological optics
b. Contrast sensitivity
c. Perception of motion
d. Perception of color
e. Eye movements and their consequences to perception
f. Perception of time
g. Perception of numerosity
h. Neural plasticity
2) Laboratory classes, involving:
a. Basic programming in MATLAB (a high-level general purpose language)
b. Use of psychtoolbox in the generation of visual and auditory stimuli
c. Participation in perceptual and motor experiments, with specific exercises involving supervised analysis of data
d. Exercises in literature research and writing of scientific reports
3) Seminars – during the semester there will be several seminars given by professionals from institutions such as the Stella Maris Hospital working in the area of neuropsychological assessment on various topics related to the content of the course.
At the conclusion of the course the student should have obtained an advanced understanding of the function and dysfunction of human perceptual and cognitive systems. The student should be familiar with the current literature on these issues, and be capable of monitoring and analyzing critically published research. He or she should also be able to design and execute a simple experiment designed to evaluate sensory, cognitive or motor function.