Neurobiology

Specific skills The course aims to make students able to describe the brain functions using group of single cells and neural circuits organized in systems as a reference scale. After a first part dedicated to the analysis of the tools and methods available, the course deals from the Neurophysiologist's point of view the relationships between behavior and the main controlled functions, such as Vision, Representation of space and objects, Decision, Attention, Movement, Learning, Memory, Sleep. A) Knowledge and understanding this course allows the student to acquire a specific knowledge of the relationships between behavior and functions of neuronal populations and neuronal circuits in the brain. Taking the course and passing the exam the student will become familiar with the normal functioning of the neural circuits and with the methods available, reaching the critical capacity sufficient to understand the limits and advantages of the methods commonly used both in the human subjects and in the animal models. B) Applying knowledge and understanding the knowledge on the functioning of the neural circuits in this course integrates the training that the student receives in the master's degree course in Neurobiology. Taking the course and passing the exam, the student will have acquired a series of fundamental knowledge for subsequent professional experience and a solid basis for post-graduate training, in particular in the field of research, whenever it is necessary to approach the relationship between neural activity and behavior and / or the analysis of complex data. C) Making judgments the course topics are discussed with reference to the most recent acquisitions of scientific literature, which uses various experimental models and strategies. Upon completion of the course the student will be able to critically analyze the validity and the limits of the studies that describe the relationships between behavior and neuronal circuits by putting new evidence in an integrative frame supported by multidisciplinary experimental evidence. D) Communication skills the continuous association to the progresses in scientific literature makes the student familiar with the communication style of the Systems Neuroscience. By the end of the course, the students will have thus enriched their presentation skills with the terminology and style typical of scientific communication. E) Learning skills Taking the course and passing the exam would imply that the student has learnt a number of approaches and methodologies to study in the field of Systems Neuroscience. These abilities are attained during traditional lessons that address and critically discuss each specific topic, in light of the most updated findings of studies reported by the scientific literature with an interdisciplinary approach.