Neuroanatomy and cognition

The subject provides a foundation for the study of clinical neuropsychology. The overall aim is to assist you in understanding current views of cognition and the neural systems in which cognition is implemented. The emphasis is on understanding how the nervous system processes inputs from the environment, and how the motor system is then influenced by the processed information to enact outcomes. As preparation for training in clinical neuropsychology, the subject considers conceptual frameworks for understanding neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric, and motor features of neurocognitive disorders, and for approaching clinical assessment and rehabilitation.

Students learn:

1. The overall structure of the nervous system at the systems neuroscience level, i.e., learning to identify the major structures in the brain and spinal cord, how structures are arranged into systems or circuits, and how these systems provide the basis for processing information from action;
2. The major topics in cognition as typically assessed in by neuropsychologists, including the conceptual frameworks the neural systems or circuits in which that aspect of cognition is implemented, including attention, visuospatial functioning, language, memory, emotion processing, psychomotor function, and executive function.