Functional cognitive and restorative neurosciences in normal and dysfunctional brain

The brain's ability to change and adapt in response to different stimuli including normal developmental processes, experience, and injury is a key aspect for both neuroscience and psychology. The fundamental mechanisms supporting this complex process is known as plasticity. The course will focus on basic knowledge of plasticity studied in different systems both at neuronal level and at circuit level. First, we will address the conceptual meaning of plasticity and analyse the cellular and molecular mechanisms sustaining plasticity in the brain.
In a second part, plasticity will be analysed in children and adults (in normal and pathological aging and in response to trauma), in sensory systems, the motor cortex, higher cortical functions, language development, and paying particular attention to the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia.
Finally we will analyse how altered plasticity of given circuits can impact on disease development.
Specific topics covered will be:

· Neural cells and neural circuits
· The tripartite synapse
· Brain areas involved in cognition: the anatomical perspective
· Neuronal development and differentiation MDL
· Neurogenesis in adult
· The excitatory and inhibitory synapse with concepts of molecular dynamics
· Synaptic plasticity,
· Structural plasticity
· Learning and memory
· Place cells and Grid cells, the principle of space perception
· Analysing learning and memory
· How to study learning and memory in humans MDL
· Neural basis of decision making
· The dysfunctional synapse: Synaptopathies
· Abnormal functional and structural plasticity in neurodevelopmental disorders EM
· Concepts of neurodegeneration
· Principles of BMI
· Principles of neuroenhancements
· Principles of brain reserach and addiction disorders
· Physical exercise and brain research