Teaching code

4S00120

Teacher

Elisa Santandrea

Credits

3

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

BIO/09 - PHYSIOLOGY

Period

2 SEMESTRE PROFESSIONI SANITARIE dal Jan 7, 2025 al Sep 30, 2025.

Courses Single

Not Authorized

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

To show the organization of the course that includes this module, follow this link:  Course organization

Program

DETAILED COURSE CONTENT
Principles of human physiology
- Definition of physiology and approach to the study of complex living organisms;
- Structure of the organism (cells, tissues, organs and organ systems);
- Homeostasis;
- Positive and negative feedback control mechanisms;
- Types of cells and tissues;
- General organization of the nervous system;
- Neurons and glial cells;
- The spinal cord;
- The brain;
- The autonomic nervous system;
- The somatic nervous system.
Principles of cellular physiology
- Cell (or plasma) membrane;
- Membrane transport mechanisms;
- Mechanisms of signal transduction;
- Genesis of the resting membrane potential in neurons;
- Neurons and electrical signaling;
- Graded potentials and action potentials;
- Neurotransmission or synaptic signaling (electrical and chemical synapses);
- Integration of neuronal signals (spatial and temporal summation);
- Neurotransmitters.
General physiology of the sensory systems
- Study of perception between psychophysics and neurophysiology of sensory systems;
- Notes on psychophysics: sensory threshold, Stevens Law, differential threshold and Weber-Fechner Law; spatial and temporal discrimination;
- Receptors: classification and receptor adaptation phenomena;
- The law of specific nerve energies and sensory pathways;
- Sensory transduction and nervous coding.
The visual system
- Visual perception: phenomena, illusions and functional organization properties of the visual system; general principles of physiological optics: emmetropia, optical defects, accommodation;
- Neurophysiology of the visual system: photoreceptors and phototrasduction; retinal circuitry (central ON and central OFF ganglion cells, central ON and central OFF bipolar cells, horizontal cells and amacrine cells); retinal mechanisms underlying color vision; secondary retinal projections; primary visual pathway, lateral geniculate body and primary visual cortex (columns of orientation, columns of ocular dominance and functional features of visual neurons); ventral visual pathways (object recognition, functional specializations) and dorsal visual pathway (motion processing, vision for action).
The auditory system
- Auditory perception and elements of psychoacoustics: perceptible sound properties, hearing threshold, sound source localization abilities, tonal discrimination threshold;
- Neurophysiology of the auditory system: organization of the ear (outer, middle and inner), sound amplification mechanisms, the cochlea and the spectral breakdown of sounds, sound signal transduction, subcortical processing circuits and regions, the primary auditory cortex and associative cortices, dorsal auditory pathway and ventral auditory pathway.
The vestibular system
- Neurophysiology of the vestibular system: the receptor organs of the vestibular labyrinth; receptors and mechanisms of sensory transduction; vestibular pathways and cortical processing; nervous mechanisms underlying the vestibulo-ocular reflex.
The somatosensory system
- Perceptual phenomena: tactile, proprioceptive, thermal and pain sensitivity;
- Neurophysiology of the somatosensory system: somatosensory afferents and dorsal root ganglia, medial lemniscus (or dorsal columns) pathway and anterolateral (or spinothalamic) pathway, general properties of somatosensory receptors; tactile receptors of the glabrous and hairy skin and signal transduction, concept of dermatome, absolute and discriminative tactile sensitivity, stereognosis; proprioception receptors (muscle spindle, Golgi tendon organ, joint mechanoreceptors) and transduction; thermoreceptors and signal transduction, thermoregulation; nociceptors and signal transduction; primary somatosensory cortex, parietal association areas; plasticity of the somatosensory cortex following exercise and following injury.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

Lessons will take place in the classroom, with the professor focusing on the presentation of the main topics of the course, while encouraging students towards an active and critical participation.

Learning assessment procedures

Oral Examination

Evaluation criteria

In addition to verifying skills in employing the correct technical-scientific language and to handle critical reasoning onto the themes faced during the course, the evaluation will focus on the specific notions acquired in relation to the specific topics listed in the course programme.

Exam language

Italiano (Inglese su richiesta dello studente). Italian (English upon student request).