Neurobiology, human behaviour and clinical neuroscience

The course integrates different disciplines to address the approach to the patient with symptoms of neurological impairment including those pointing to an involvement of brain, spinal cord, nerve and muscle. These include symptoms of cognitive, motor, sensory and autonomic impairment. The course, organized in 7 blocks starts recalling the basic sciences providing the structural and physiological fundamentals to understand functions and pathologies of brain and spinal cord. A section dedicated to neurological, neuropsychological and neuroimaging examination introduces the students to the correct approach to the symptoms of the patient and how the physician should investigate these symptoms and assess the neurological functions of the patient. The symptoms, the assessment and the pharmacological treatment of the main neurological, neurosurgical and psychiatric diseases will be examined according to their clinical presentation and progression. Two special blocks will address the main topics in neurological rehabilitation and in infant neurology/neuropsychiatry.

At the end of the course students are expected to have knowledge of: - the anatomo-functional substrates of neurological functions - how to perform a neurological examination - how to approach and treat the acute neurological patient - how to approach and treat the "progressive" neurological patient - the rehabilitation of the neurological patient - the development and the neurology in infants - how to approach mental diseases in adults - how to approach mental disorders in adults in particular Addiction/Alcoholism, Eating and Mood Disorders and their related treatments - How to approach to Schizophrenia and psychotic spectrum: clinical features, classification and related disorders.