Ascolta

The Laboratory of Neuropsychology focuses on investigating physiological and neural correlates of cognitive processes. To this end, non-invasive neuromodulation techniques are combined with physiological measures and experimental tasks. Studies are conducted on healthy individuals as well as in patients (such as dementia and Autism spectrum disorder).

Current research topics specifically include

-          Prism adaptation as a neuromodulation and therapeutic tool; 

-          Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) rehabilitation protocols in neurodegenerative diseases and brain damage;

-          rTMS modulation in eating disorders;

-          Transcranial Electric Stimulation (tDCS and tACS) to modulate implicit procedural learning;

-          Motor control and spatial attention processes in healthy subjects and brain-injured patients;

-          Episodic memory processes in healthy subjects and in amnesic disorders;

-          Cognitive control processes in typical and atypical development;

-          Effects of prism adaptation on motor control, memory, language, and reading skills.

The Lab is equipped with

-          1 Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator (TMS Magstim Rapid 2; Magstim Company Limited, Whitland, UK) for single and repetitive pulse protocols;

-          1 Videocamera (Optical Tracking Systems Polaris; NDI, Waterloo, Canada) integrated with a Neuronavigator system (Softaxic Optic; E.M.S. s.r.l., Bologna, Italy ) for TMS coil positioning;

-          1 Low intensity transcranial electric stimulator (E.M.S. s.r.l., Bologna, Italy) for tDCS, tACS, and tRNS protocols;

-          1 Amplifier and multiple sensors for Electromyography (EMG), Electrocardiography (ECG) and Skin Conductance (BIOPAC Systems Inc., Goleta, CA USA) recordings;

-          1 Eyetracker system (Gazepoint Research Inc., Vancouver, Canada);

-          1 Prismatic adaptation box;

-          E-prime 2.0 software and Serial Response Box (Psychology Software Tools, Sharpsburg, PA USA).