Learning objectives

The general goal of the course is that of being able to apply physiological and psychological knowledge, acquired during the course, to medical activity. Therefore, the student, at the end of the course, will have to know physiological functions of the different body systems and apparatuses, both from a biological and psychological point of view.
Module of Physiology
The goal of the course is to form students in relation to the following topics: - The role of the kidney in ensuring balance of the body for water and solutes, as well as acid-base balance; - Basal metabolism and activity metabolism, and the body requirements in terms of calories and specific nutrients, including the regulatory role of the nervous system and of various hormones; - The physiology of the digestive tract, including motility, secretion, digestion, and absorption; - The endocrine glands and their control by the hypothalamus-hypophysis; - The structure and function of the sensory and motor systems and their centers in the brain; - The structure and mechanisms underlying the sleep-wake cycle; - The cellular and molecular mechanisms of neuronal plasticity;
Module of Psychology
The goal of the course is to form students in relation to the following topics: - The psychological and neuropsychological bases of learning and memory, perception, attention, motivation and emotion, intelligence and language; - Hemispheric specialization and interaction, and the biological bases of perceptual awareness.

Examination Methods

The exam for the Psychology module will be written, with multiple choice questions, and will regard the various topics of the module, including: perception, attention, learning and memory, intelligence, motivation, emotions, language, as well as hemispheric specialization. The exam for the physiology module will be oral. The student will be evaluated by 2-3 examiners, with at least 4 questions in total. Questions will pertain to the various topics of the module, including the neurophysiology of sensory and motor systems, the urinary system, the digestive system, the endocrine system. Each examiner will express his/her evaluation in a score between 0-30 and the final vote will be a weighted average of the individual votes

Evaluation criteria

The student will be asked to illustrate the main concepts related to the topics detailed in the program. Exposure skills and clarity of exposure will be evaluated, as well as the ability to quantitatively illustrate the mechanisms that regulate the physiological homeostasis of organs and systems as well as psychological functions. In particular, the student's ability to reason in an integrative way and, therefore, to illustrate the integrated physiological adaptations in response to perturbations will be appreciated.