AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

  TRAINING GOALS (DETAIL) 
The teaching of sets the goal of:
- Introduce students to developmental neuropsychology;                                                                                                               - provide students with the basics of the neurobiological maturation processes underlying language development;     
- to have students acquire language development in different components with a focus on the pragmatic-contextual component;  
- develop in students the basics of understanding and language production, the relationship between the development of oral language and learning of reading and writing;

- develop in students knowledge of the functional profiles and evaluation tools of different neuropsychological functions (p.es. attention/executive functions, memory, perception, etc.) and specific modules for each individual neuropsychological function. 
- develop in students the knowledge about the neuropsychological functioning of the subject (functional mapping) in physiological development and in relation to the different pathologies specific to the evolutionary age.
- develop in students the knowledge of the differences between nosographic and functional/neuropsychological assessment.

EXPECTED LEARNING RESULTS 
At the end of the teaching, the student will be able to:
- Know the different functions and modules specific to each individual neuropsychological function;
- Describe the development, organization and pathology of language functions and their relationship with other neuropsychological functions (e.g. perception, memory, attention) and with written language learning;
- Explain the salient deficits/features and assessment in different specific and non-evolutionary age disorders (with a focus on specific language and learning disorders and autism spectrum disorders).
- Know and apply multiple assessment tools;
- Emphasize the positive effects in terms of the delineation of the neuropsychological profile, recognizing in the functional neuropsychological profile of the individual the strengths and weaknesses, the acquired functions, the emerging and those not acquired.

TEACHING METHODS

The lessons are carried out in the front with interactive and participatory modality by the students so that the experiences made in the theory can be correlated. You use for this purpose the personal narration, the comparison in the class.

The program is summarized by slides and complemented by relevant videos.  

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Neuropsichology of the development age 
      Introduction Methodology 
Language Neuropsychology 
- Neurobiological maturation processes underlying language development     
- Language development in different components with a focus on the pragmatic-contextual component. 
- The evaluation of communication and language  
- Specific or primitive disorders of language development: DSM 5 nosographic classification; ICD-10; Neuropsychological classification (Rapin and Allen) and clinic; 
Attention Neuropsychology:
- Selectivity and Intensity Dimensions 
- Executive Functions 
Neuropsychology of Memory                                                                                                                                                      - Memory development                                                                                                                                                                  - Memory models
Introduction to Specific Learning Disorders 
- Dyslexia/ Dys spelling/ Dysgraphia/ Discalculia
- Nosographic Classification (DSM 5; ICD-10) 
- Evaluation (clinical and functional diagnosis) 
Neuropsychology and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
- neuropsychological theories: theory of mind, theory of weak central coherence, theory of deficit executive functions. 
- neuropsychology of emotions. 
- Sensory perception: tools for evaluating/creating sensory-perceptual profiles.
- Cognitive, neuropsychological and behavioural evaluation 

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The examination will mainly focus on handouts, documents and articles provided by the teacher.

Recommended Texts:

Vicari S., Caselli MC. (a cura di), “Neuropsicologia dello sviluppo”, Il Mulino, Bologna,2010.

Recommended Reading

- Vicari S., Valeri G., Fava L., “L’autismo. Dalla diagnosi al trattamento, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2012.

- Cornoldi C. “Difficoltà e disturbi dell’apprendimento”, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2007.