Advanced Cognitive Neuroscience: Spatial Cognition (2025/2026: Semester 2 – Spring)

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Cursusdoel

After completing this course students are able to:
  1. elaborate on issues related to human cognition, research technologies, and experimental facilities while emphasizing the spatial aspect.
  2. examine human cognition from a theoretical perspective.
  3. employ research skills such as setting up, conducting, and interpreting (data from) cognitive neuroscience experiments.
  4. develop relevant experiments and report about them scientifically.
  5. interpret the data from a given examination in terms of functional conclusions.

Vakinhoudelijk

Cognitive neuroscience examines the relation between cognitive functions such as perception, memory, attention, and the neuronal architecture of the brain. Within the last two decades, it has gained a central position within the scientific community due to dramatic new insights about human cognition and new research technologies.
The central theme of this course is the role of space in cognitive neuroscience. Processing of spatial information seems crucial for daily functioning and survival. By establishing where things are, relating them to our own position, and keeping this information available over time in memory, we display many types of behavior in which space is crucial.
The course begins with a general introduction and overview of spatially guided behavior; we distinguish between different types of subspaces and come to recognize the importance of vision for building spatial representations. We also examine the build-up of a representation of space on the basis of verbal descriptions, and the maintenance of spatial relations between objects in spatial memory. Throughout our study, the overlying challenge is to determine what crucial parts of the brain are involved so as to achieve an inclusive model of the neurocognitive basis of space in the human brain.

Format

This course is intended to be a specialized course, focusing on both the contents and methods of current research in a specific domain (i.e. spatial cognition). As such, it emphasizes research techniques and experiment design. To this end, we focus on measurements of the brain’s activity in various forms, by discussing EEG, fMRI, TMS, and neuropsychological patient studies. Moreover, we study psychophysical research techniques used in various papers in great detail.
A number of nationally and internationally leading experts in the field of spatial neurocognition act as instructors, giving lectures on selected topics on cognitive neuroscience with a large practical part aimed at teaching research skills. Intensive self-study of research articles and book chapters, experimentation, and excursions also assist students in acquiring these techniques.

Werkvormen

UCU sci 3 course

Toetsing

participation

Verplicht | Weging 10% | ECTS 0,75

first exam

Verplicht | Weging 20% | ECTS 1,5

second exam

Verplicht | Weging 20% | ECTS 1,5

Paper

Verplicht | Weging 40% | ECTS 3

project presentation

Verplicht | Weging 10% | ECTS 0,75

*midterm FEEDBACK*

Niet verplicht

Ingangseisen en voorkennis

Ingangseisen

Er moet voldaan zijn aan de cursus:

Voorkennis

Er is geen informatie over benodigde voorkennis bekend.

Voertalen

  • Engels

Cursusmomenten

Gerelateerde studies

Tentamens

Er is geen tentamenrooster beschikbaar voor deze cursus

Verplicht materiaal

  • BOEK
    Postma, Albert, & van der Ham, Ineke J. M. (Eds.) (2017). Neuropsychology of Space. Spatial Functions of the human brain. San Diego: Academic Press. isbn-9780128016381

Aanbevolen materiaal

Er is geen informatie over de aanbevolen literatuur bekend

Coördinator

prof. dr. A. Postma A.Postma@uu.nl

Docenten

prof. dr. A. Postma A.Postma@uu.nl

Inschrijving

Let op: deze cursus is niet toegankelijk voor studenten van andere faculteiten, bijvakkers mogen zich dus niet inschrijven.

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