Course catalogue doctoral education - VT24

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Title Early Child Development: Extended Interactions Between Neural Networks, Body and Environment
Course number 5255
Programme Neurovetenskap
Language English
Credits 1.5
Date 2023-03-27 -- 2023-03-31
Responsible KI department Institutionen för kvinnors och barns hälsa
Specific entry requirements Course #3220 Basic Human Neuroscience at KI or corresponding knowledge.
Purpose of the course This 5-module program (one per day) builds on top of the current best research and understanding of neurodevelopment in early childhood as a process that emerges from the interplay between brain networks, body, and environment. As well as the latest advancements in their implications for atypical developmental trajectories, clinical assessment methods, and early intervention strategies.

Understanding neurodevelopment in children during the first years of life requires zooming out and considering how brain functions are built and how experience mediates this process. The main purpose of this course is to provide students with the fundamental concepts of early child neurodevelopment as a process that emerges from the interplay between extended brain-body networks into the world. Besides, the course will focus on the importance of early clinical assessment of neurodevelopment, follow-up, and intervention strategies in high-risk children.

The course will focus on the clinical aspects of child neurodevelopment and not specifically on preclinical models or embryology in detail.
Intended learning outcomes By the end of the course the student should be able to:

• Demonstrate critical understanding of how early child neurodevelopment emerges from the interplay between different modes and different time scales of extended brain-body networks into the world.

• Apply theory to practice demonstrating advanced reasoning skills in the assessment of how brain functions are built and how experience mediates this process.

• Describe how clinical follow-up programs, early interventions, and policies can support children’s development

• Analyze how extended network interactions at one-point influence network interactions at subsequent points and how this knowledge can be translated into educational programs that can improve outcomes in all children.
Contents of the course This course will cover 5 modules over 5 days; 1) The development of brain networks: continuous feedback from the body and the environment; 2) From motor abilities to abstract thinking; 3) Connections between aberrant developmental processes and neurodevelopmental disorders; 4) Early evaluation, follow-up and repair strategies; 5) Future directions: advanced neuroimaging data analytic approaches and integration with biological measures.
Teaching and learning activities Lectures by invited national and international experts on the field, seminars, work in groups, students’ presentations. There will also be time every day for literature review and preparation for the examination seminar.
Compulsory elements All lectures and seminars are compulsory. Absence from a lecture or seminar can be compensated for by a written assignment.
Examination The students should demonstrate their knowledge, skills and critical understanding included in the intended learning outcomes stated above in a concluding examination seminar at the end of the last day and in discussions during the course. They should also reflect on the aspects that are relevant for their own research in discussions.
Literature and other teaching material The course organizers will prepare relevant research papers and reviews that will be distributed in advance of the course.
Number of students 8 - 15
Selection of students Selection will be based on 1) the relevance of the course syllabus for the applicant's doctoral project (according to written motivation), 2) start date of doctoral studies (priority given to earlier start date)
More information The course will be in digital format. All lectures and workshops will be held online using the platform zoom. The zoom link will be published on CANVAS approximately one week prior to the course begins. The course is 40 hours in total and includes lectures, workshops, group discussions and self-studies during one week.
Additional course leader Course responsible: Maria Örtqvist and Nelly Padilla
Latest course evaluation Course evaluation report
Course responsible Maria Örtqvist
Institutionen för kvinnors och barns hälsa

maria.ortqvist@ki.se
Contact person Maria Örtqvist
Institutionen för kvinnors och barns hälsa

maria.ortqvist@ki.se


Ulrika Åden
Institutionen för kvinnors och barns hälsa

ulrika.aden@ki.se


Nelly Padilla
Institutionen för kvinnors och barns hälsa

nelly.padilla@ki.se