510336 - CELLULAR AND ADVANCED SYSTEMIC NEUROPHYSIOLOGY

This course is intended to analyze the phenomenological and biophysical aspects as well as the molecular mechanisms of the physiological processes which, by taking place in the cell membrane or in the cytoplasm, underlie, at the cellular level, the communication and information processing of neurons and other cell types of neurophysiological interest. Students will also learn how these neural processes contribute to sensitivity, perception, and movement. At the end of the course, the student will acquire detailed knowledge about the neurophysiological mechanisms with which information is processed with an increasing degree of complexity, from the single neuron, to the neural network up to the brain areas as a whole. The expected learning outcomes will include the following skills: analyzing biophysical properties of neurons to identify functional properties of specific neuronal populations; remember and identify the different structures of sensory receptors and the related modes of signal transduction; critically understand the distinction between sensation and perception as well as the ways by which brain structures interact synergistically to guide motor integration.