NEUROPHYSIOLOGY

General Module

Course Sheet

Course code:

M4019A

Academic Year of enrolment:

2020

Year of supply:

2021/2022

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of Single Cycle Degree 6 years in MEDICINE AND SURGERY

Disciplinary Sector:

PHYSIOLOGY

Is part of:

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

MARIGGIO' Maria Addolorata

Cycle:

Second semester

Obligatory attendance:

Yes

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

37.5

Prerequisites:

Prerequisites to take the Human Physiology exam: the student must have taken the exam of Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Human Anatomy.

Objectives

The objectives are represented by the acquisition of knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the functioning of the nervous system and the principles by which the nervous system controls the homeostasis of the organism and interactions with the external environment.

In particular, the Human Physiology course aims to lead the student to be able to critically analyze the development of physiology starting from the experimental method. Through the knowledge of methodological approaches ranging from electrophysiology to the most common methods and measures typical of cell physiology and human neurophysiology laboratories, also experimented in internships, the student will make his/her own the processes underlying sensitivity and perception, as well as those of management of motor control and higher functions. This will also be possible thanks to the knowledge of the biophysical properties of excitable membranes and of the processes that characterize them, and to the ability to relate the functional stimulus to the response mechanisms in skeletal muscle tissue.
The specific objectives aim to complete the indispensable basic notions allowing the maturation of the ability to interpret the knowledge acquired and, with elective insights of more specifically clinical interest, provide the basis for subsequent courses in pathology and of a clinical nature.

Contents

Nervous system and its components. Somatic sensitivity: central and peripheral mechanisms; tactile-pressure sensitivity; pain sensitivity; thermal sensitivity; proprioceptive sensitivity. Specific sense organs: chemical senses; acoustic sensitivity; visual sensitivity. Description of the processes underlying motility control: from reflexes to voluntary movement.

Extended Syllabus

1- The nervous system and its components. General characteristics and functional organization of the nervous system: somatic and visceral, central and peripheral systems. Central organization of the nervous system: functional anatomy of the brain, medulla oblongata and spinal cord.
2- Somatic sensitivity. Peripheral mechanisms: sensory receptors (classification and functional properties), stimulus decoding, propagation of sensory information along nerves, ganglia and dorsal neurons. Central mechanisms of sensitivity: role of the thalamus, cortical somatotopic representation, sensation and perception, laws of sensitivity. Sensitivity classification.
Tactile-pressure sensitivity: sensory receptors, central integration of information, tactile acuity.
Pain sensitivity: classification, nociceptive pain (somatic and visceral), neuropathic (peripheral and central); peripheral and central control of pain.
Thermal sensitivity: peripheral tonic and phasic receptors, central receptors, role of the hypothalamus.
Proprioceptive sensitivity: from the receptors to the perception of the body image.
3- Specific sense organs. The chemical senses: taste and smell, receptors, sensory transduction, conduction pathways, central integration.
Acoustic sensitivity: organization of the auditory system, organ of Corti, physical characteristics of sound, discrimination of sounds, auditory pathways. Vestibular apparatus: structure, sensory receptors and functional mechanisms.
Visual sensitivity: principles of physiological optics, the lens system and physiological control, image formation on the retina. Cones and rods: retinal and subretinal organization, signal transduction, retinal receptive fields, photopic and scotopic vision, visual adaptations, visual information conduction, visual cortex.
4- Motor Control. Movement organization: reflex movement, rhythmic movement, voluntary movements.
Spinal reflexes: tonic and phasic stretch reflex, flexion reflex, cross extension reflex. Spinal integration and superior reflex control.
Voluntary movement: primary, supplementary and premotor motor areas of the cerebral cortex; motor programs. Nuclei of the base: circuit of the putamen and circuit of the pallidus, role of the substanzia nigra.
The cerebellum: functional anatomy, cerebellar control of voluntary movement, motor automatisms.
Rhythmic movement: walking. Posture control: muscle tone, proprioceptive reflexes, statotonic and state kinetic reflexes, vestibular influences, eye movements associated with gravity control and movement (nystagmus).

Recommended Bibliography

The following texts are recommended to be consulted:
- Conti: Fisiologia Medica. Edi-Ermes, Milano.
- Kandel, Schwartz, Jessell: Principi di Neuroscienze. Casa Editrice Ambrosiana.
- Brodal. Il sistema nervoso. Piccin Editore.
- Purves D. et al., Neuroscienze. Zanichelli.
- Grassi, Negrini, Porro: Fisiologia Umana. Poletto Editore.
- Pape, Kurtz, Sinbernagl: Fisiologia Umana. EdiSES.

Teaching Methods

Lessons. When necessary, the activities will also be carried out remotely on the Teams platform.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

ORAL EXAMINATION.
The exam method is an oral test designed to verify the results of the expected learning, in accordance with the educational and specific objectives of the course. The oral examination is placed at the end of the course, after having achieved the attendance to the same, according to a schedule established and published on the personal page of the student at the beginning of the academic year, which provides two (2) exam sessions for canonical session exam. For the off-course courses, additional ad hoc appeals are planned.
The outcome of the test is evaluated as the result of learning the specific and training objectives, such as knowledge and understanding, capacity for logical integration and application. At the end of the test each teacher will form an opinion expressed in bands of vote and thirty:

A) Excellent knowledge and understanding of the subjects, ability to reason and logical integration of the acquired knowledge and insertion in the context of an application in the pathophysiology. Rating: 30/30.
If the student, who has achieved this evaluation, demonstrates autonomy of judgment, high communication skills and autonomous learning skills, degree with honors will be proposed.

B) Good knowledge and understanding of the topics with some non-serious inaccuracies and with a good capacity for logical integration and judgment. Rating: 27-29/30.

C) Discrete knowledge and understanding of the topics and, despite some gaps in the ability to integrate and apply knowledge. Rating: 24-26/30.

D) Knowledge and understanding of the arguments fully sufficient, although there are clear gaps, which are reflected in a reduced capacity for integration, logic and application. Rating 21-23/30.

E) Knowledge and understanding of the topics with serious and evident gaps, with limited integrative and applicative skills, but which also allow the passing of the exam. Rating 18-20/30.

Contacts/More Information

Ask for appointments:
by telephone to 0871 3554048 or 0871/541399
or by email to: maria.mariggio@unich.it

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Aree