Neuropsychology

Recommended Prerequisites

Good English reading skills, and some basic background in neuroscience

Teaching Methods

Theoretical classes will be based on the expository method. Students are encouraged to intervene in class in response to classroom questions and required reading. Practical classes will require students to do literature research, and to present experimental data for one or more scientific articles.

Learning Outcomes

The main goals of this course is to familiarize students with some of the major cognitive deficits arising from brain injuries, as well as demonstrate how these deficits we can inform how the normal cognitive system works.

In each class (or groups of classes), students will explore one of the major areas of the cognitive system in the light of the performance of patients with different types of injuries.

Another objective of the course is to make students aware of the importance of reading scientific articles in the course of preparing for a career in the psychological sciences (regardless of the field). As such, in the theoretical classes, and especially in the practical classes, students will have to read and prepare the presentation of scientific articles.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Introduction to the course: the program and assessment methods.

Introduction to Neuropsychology: Methodologies and specificities. Cognitive Neuropsychology.

Neuropsychology and Evaluation.

Neuropsychology of Vision I - Visual deficits and theories of perception.

Neuropsychology of Vision II - Visual deficits and theories of perception.

Neuropsychology of Vision III - Category-specific deficits and semantic memory.

Neuropsychology of Language - Aphasias and Lexical acess.

Apraxia and visuomotor Deficits and manipulation of objects.

Neuropsychology of Attention - Hemineglect.

Neuropsychology of Memory - Amnesia and Theories of Memory.

Neuropsychology of Dementia.

Head Lecturer(s)

Jorge Manuel Castelo Branco de Albuquerque Almeida

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Research work: 50.0%
Frequency: 50.0%

Bibliography

B. Rapp (2001). Handbook of cognitive neuropsychology: What deficits reveal about the human mind. New York: Psychology Press

Kolb, B., & Whishaw, I.Q. (2015). Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology. 7ª Ed. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

K.M. Heilman & E. Valenstein (2012). Clinical Neuropsychology (5th Ed.).  New York:  Oxford University Press