This Research Area (RA) focuses on the study (and in some cases on the computational simulation) of the Biological Models that refer to cognition and also includes problems of non-invasive Translational Neuroscience, analysis of Neurophysiological Mechanisms as well as specific techniques of investigation of Diseases Neurodegenerative. It concerns five differentiated areas:
A) Biology, Behavior and Cognitive Processes of human and non-human primates.
B) Identification of Neuronal Activity Alterations for contributing to the Personalization of rehabilitation interventions in neurological or Psychiatric Diseases (Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Depression).
C) Neuro-cognitive Disorders, tracked through behavioral genetics, neuro-images, cognitive and developmental neuropsychology, and the physiology of health. Identification of neurobiological and electrophysiological correlates of behavioral dysfunction in neurological and psychiatric patients studied in comparison with healthy subjects.
D) Knowledge of the computational and neurophysiological mechanisms that underlie the ability of spatial navigation, decision and planning in the hippocampus (in particular of mice), with special reference to the phenomenon of "internally generated sequences".
E) Simulations (at a certain level of abstraction) for the study of basic brain and behavioral mechanisms, including embodied simulations, i.e. reproducing organisms that learn and express behaviors based on direct interaction with the environment, when such interaction is particularly important, as in the case of navigation behavior and spatial orientation.