Cognitive Neuroscience: Perception, Attention, Action, and Cognitive Control

Learning objectives: 

The students possess advanced knowledge in neurocognitive psychology in the areas of perception, attention, action, and cognitive control. They are familiar with key theoretical concepts, empirical findings, and practical applications of neurocognitive methods in these areas of cognitive neuroscience. They are able to develop specific research questions based on this knowledge and link them to selected neurocognitive methods (e.g., reaction time measurement, EEG, fMRI, non-invasive neuromodulation techniques/tDCS/TMS) according to the principle of “the methods must fit the questions.” They also have the skills to evaluate and interpret empirical studies. They can present and discuss empirical research results in a scientific manner, both individually and as part of a team.

Content:

Students are provided with an introduction to theoretical foundations and important empirical findings from the field of cognitive neuroscience and other related fundamental subjects (such as general and biological psychology) through selected examples. Students gain an overview of the mutually beneficial use of selected neurocognitive methods in conjunction with algorithmic process models and their practical applications. The sensory physiology of vision, hearing, chemical senses, and the somatosensory system are presented and discussed at a level that focuses on their neurophysiological description, with review articles used to present these in relation to subcortical and cortical information processing. Types of attention and their neural mechanisms, as well as the bases of action, decision-making, and cognitive control mechanisms, are presented and discussed based on current review articles.