PhD in Neuroscience

Contacts

Supervisor

Curriculum vitae

Phd thesis

Research project: Pragmatic abilities in children with Acquired Brain Injuries

Children with Acquired Brain Injuries (ABIs) often show deficits in pragmatic abilities that usually persist over years. Pragmatic abilities, in addition to social problem-solving are predictors of social interaction. Considering the fundamental role of social function and its huge impact on quality of life, it is of primary importance to address pragmatic difficulties in children with ABI. However, the lack of validated assessment tools for this population is described in literature.

The research project has the following main aims:

• investigate whether the test "ABaCo" could be useful to detect pragmatic abilities in children with ABI (study 1: children with TBI; Study 2: children with Brain Neoplasms).
• improve the undererstanding of pragmatic skills, analysing eventual relationships with other cognitive and linguistic abilities (e.g. lexicon, narrative abilities, memory, attention and theory of mind).

Research activities

• Other Research Activities

Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder (SPCD) - systematic review

The term Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder (SPCD)  was introduced in 2013, in the 5^th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The validity of SPCD diagnostic criteria and their strengths and limits in making differential diagnosis from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Specific Language Impairment (SLI) has been debated in the scientific community. However, an agreement has not yet been reached. The current review, aims to sistematically and critically review the literature, focusing on the assessment tools available for the diagnosis and the possible confounding variables. 

 

 

Assessment Battery for Communication (ABaCo): searching for Social (pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SPCD) in the complex world of Special Needs

Difficulties in making a specific clinical differential diagnosis and the variability of Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder (SPCD), could lead to challenges in its detection and treatment. In the academic setting, students who show special educational needs, even if only for specific periods of time, could be identified as "Bisogni Educativi Speciali" (BES). These special needs can be accredited for physical, biological, physiological, psychological or social reasons, as described in the Direttiva Ministeriale del 27.12.2012. Different disorders could be included in the pedagogic category of BES. This study aims to investigate if, within children with BES, is it possible to identified children with an undiagnosed SPCD. 15 subject were recruited for the preliminary study and we aim to increase the number of participants.

• Workshops and Conferences

Conferences

• XPRAG.it 2020(21) - InTo Brain - July 8th & 9th 2021
• XPRAG.it 2020(21)- InTo Brain - Pre-Conference workshops: 
  • "Mixed Effect Models using R" - G. Arcara - July 6th 2021
  • "Eye-movements in the visual context" - F. Foppolo - July 7th 2021
• XPRAG 2022 - University of Genoa - Pre-Conference workshops - 20th September 2022
• XPRAG 2022 - University School for Advanced Studies IUSS Pavia - Semptember 22nd & 23rd + Poster presentation
• BCCCD 2023 - Central European University, Budapest - Pre-conference workshop - 5th Janary 2023 
• BCCCD 2023 - Central European University, Budapest - Conference - 5th, 6th and 7th January 2023 + Poster Presentation (5th January in presence + 12th January online)
• PhD Student National Meeting in Neuroscience - SINS - Shaping Neuroscience Horizons: Connecting PhD students Nationwide" -  14th September 2023
• XPRAGX 2023 - Univeristè Paris Citè, Paris - Conference - 20th, 21st, 22nd September 2023 + Poster Presentation

• Doctoral Educational Activities

 

Toolbox courses:

• "Workshop: Public engagement and outreach" - A. Buffo - November 18th and 19th 2022.
• "How we reason"- M. Bucciarelli - May 18th and 25th 2022.
• "Brain stimulation for neurological diseases" - L. Lopiano, M. Bozzali, M.G. Rizzone - March 17th, April 7th 2022.
• "In vitro and ex vivo approaches to study neural cells: from primary cultures to human organoids" - A. Buffo, E. Boda, G. Pallavicini, S. Gribaudo, V. Cerrato - June 11th, 14th, 21st, 28th 2021.
• "Ethics of research and Responsible research: an introduction" - D. Ovadia - May 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th 2021.
• "From neural cell excitability to brain circuit recording, visualization and manipulation" - F. Ferrini, B. Sacchetti, S. Bovetti, E. Hoxha. - February 1st, 4th, 8th, 11th 2021.
• "Basic Concepts of Statistics" - A. Ricotti - January 25th & 26th 2021.
• "Introduction to Research methodology" - D. Romano - December 4th, 11th, 18th 2020.
• "Clinical, methodological and theoretical aspects of translational and cognitive neuroscience" - A. Berti, A. Chiò, M. Giustetto - November 27th 2020.
• "Introduction to the PhD Program" - M.Sassoè - October 21 st 2020.

 

Advanced courses:

• "Advances in diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders: studies on biomarkers and drug repurposing" - G. Di Salvo, G. Rosso - May 10th 2024.
• "Motor neuron diseases: understanding the pathogenetic mechanisms to develop therapies" - M. Boido - November 4th and 5th 2022.
• "Bio-behavioural bases of aesthetic appreciation" - M. Neppi - September 16th 2022
• "Advanced analysis techniques for large datasets in neuroimaging" - F. Cauda, J. Manuello - May 10th, 17th, 24th 2022.

 

Complementary training:

• "Storytelling- Be strategic in your Job and your Life" - February 27th 2024, e-learning.
• "Basic of Project Writing" - C. Abrescia - May 9th 2023 - Workshop in presence.
• "Open Science A to Z" - E. Gilglia - April 17th 2023, e-learning.
• "FAIR Data" - E. Giglia - April 4th 2023, e-learning.

 

Seminars:

• “Mechanisms of infant body know-how development through baby humanoid robots” - M. Hoffmann - 14th May 2024

• "Brain structural plasticity: from mice to humans" - L. Bonfanti - 19th April 2024

• “Using fNIRS to investigate the development of functional connectivity and its relationship with social development and early adversity” - C. Bulgarelli - 16th April 2024
• “Designing Biofunctional Nanoparticles” - J. Martìnez de la Fuente - March 14th 2024

 

Journal club (attendance):

• 3/12/2020
• 07/01/2020
• 04/03/2021
• 07/04/2021
• 06/05/2021
• 03/06/2021
• 01/07/2021
• 23/09/2021

Journal club "Ava Malosi" (attendance):

• 25/11/2021
• 09/12/2021
• 07/04/2022
• 26/05/2022
• 09/06/2022
• 23/06/2022
• 21/03/2024
• 18/04/2024

Webinar:

• "Sanità: un'indagine sul futuro delle professioni della sanità. Oltre i White Jobs", M. Tamiatti, March 12th 2024
• "Elevati livelli di istruzione e carriere: dove ci porta il capitale umano", E. Floreda, March26th 2024

 

• Other Educational Activities

Continuning education courses:

• “Valutazione clinica e interpretazione dei disturbi linguistico-comunicativi (pragmatici e discorsivi) in età evolutiva” - A. Marini - Provider INTERMEETING SRL, accreditamento n. 102 - November 28th and 29th 2020. 
• "CaPs-T - Communication and Pragmatic Skill-Training“ – Corso livello base – Associazione Paroleincerchio - Evento ECM n. 7565, Ed. 1, Provider 319 Archè S.r.L. – November 20th and 21st 2021.
• "CaPs-T - Communication and Pragmatic Skill-Training“ – Corso livello avanzato – Associazione Paroleincerchio - Evento ECM, Provider 319 Archè S.r.L. – November 26th and 27th 2022.

 

Training activities:

• Participation to Erasmus+ Project No. 2019-1-RO01-KA202-063184 - “Approaches in Rehabilitation of Children with TBI”

• Publications

• Lowit, A., Marchetti, A., Corson, S., & Kuschmann, A. (2018). Rhythmic performance in hypokinetic dysarthria: Relationship between reading, spontaneous speech and diadochokinetic tasks. Journal of Communication Disorders, 72, 26.

• Gabbatore, I., Marchetti Guerrini, A., & Bosco, F. M. (2023). The fuzzy boundaries of the social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SPCD): Why the picture is still so confusing? Heliyon.