Background & Reasearch
My research interests encompass the visual as well as the cognitive and motor neurosciences. In particular, my main area of research fills a valuable niche in Perception and Action by investigating their relationship with other forms of cognition, such as Motor Imagery, and by putting emphasis on the Top-down aspects of processing. The importance of studying actions lies on the fact that they are essential to satisfy our basic needs, and they are also the only way we have to affect the world around us. My most recent work aims to determine how action goals, plans, and multisensory information are fed back to the primary visual cortex (V1). Indeed, it is well known that V1 provides detailed retinotopic representations and sends input to higher-order areas for perception and action. Importantly, the less known aspect of V1 is related to the fact that it also receives feedback from higher-order areas that are necessary for contextualizing our goals, building associations between vision and other senses, and ultimately, planning actions. Another venue of my research work focuses on examining the neural processing of Touch in perceiving our surroundings and guiding object-directed actions. Touch is indispensable in situations when vision is not available, like in case of darkness or in blind individuals, not only to perceive shapes but also for actions and hand use. Although hundreds of studies in sighted individuals have investigated how the brain recognizes objects using vision, far less is known about how the brain uses touch for perception and to guide movements.
My research interests encompass the visual as well as the cognitive and motor neurosciences. In particular, my main area of research fills a valuable niche in Perception and Action by investigating their relationship with other forms of cognition, such as Motor Imagery, and by putting emphasis on the Top-down aspects of processing. The importance of studying actions lies on the fact that they are essential to satisfy our basic needs, and they are also the only way we have to affect the world around us. My most recent work aims to determine how action goals, plans, and multisensory information are fed back to the primary visual cortex (V1). Indeed, it is well known that V1 provides detailed retinotopic representations and sends input to higher-order areas for perception and action. Importantly, the less known aspect of V1 is related to the fact that it also receives feedback from higher-order areas that are necessary for contextualizing our goals, building associations between vision and other senses, and ultimately, planning actions. Another venue of my research work focuses on examining the neural processing of Touch in perceiving our surroundings and guiding object-directed actions. Touch is indispensable in situations when vision is not available, like in case of darkness or in blind individuals, not only to perceive shapes but also for actions and hand use. Although hundreds of studies in sighted individuals have investigated how the brain recognizes objects using vision, far less is known about how the brain uses touch for perception and to guide movements.
I graduated with an MSc in Pharmacy from the University of Bologna where I did neurophysiological research on a macaque parietal area (PEc) with visual, somatosensory, and bimodal responses. During my PhD I became interested in how humans integrate the senses of vision, proprioception and touch for the plan and execution of reaching and grasping movements. I worked in the Department of Human and General Physiology at the University of Bologna, as well as at the Brain and Mind Institute at the University of Western Ontario. After receiving my PhD in 2009 from the University of Bologna, I joined the Center for Vision Research as a post-doc at York University, Toronto, Canada. In 2015, I have received a Marie Curie fellowship from the European Union under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Thanks to this fellowship, I have realized the project BraInAction at the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences at the University of Trento. This research programme was aimed to examine the role of the Early Visual Cortex in action, even when visual information is not available.
I graduated with an MSc in Pharmacy from the University of Bologna where I did neurophysiological research on a macaque parietal area (PEc) with visual, somatosensory, and bimodal responses. During my PhD I became interested in how humans integrate the senses of vision, proprioception and touch for the plan and execution of reaching and grasping movements. I worked in the Department of Human and General Physiology at the University of Bologna, as well as at the Brain and Mind Institute at the University of Western Ontario. After receiving my PhD in 2009 from the University of Bologna, I joined the Center for Vision Research as a post-doc at York University, Toronto, Canada. In 2015, I have received a Marie Curie fellowship from the European Union under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Thanks to this fellowship, I have realized the project BraInAction at the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences at the University of Trento. This research programme was aimed to examine the role of the Early Visual Cortex in action, even when visual information is not available.