Mariagrazia Ranzini

Mariagrazia Ranzini graduated in Psychology in 2004 and obtained a PhD in Psychology from the University of Pavia in 2010. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bologna, University of Padua, and Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). From 2020 to 2023, she was a Marie Curie Fellow (Individual Fellowship) at the University of Padua. Since 2025 she has been serving as Associate Professor at the Department of General Psychology (DPG) at the University of Padova.

 

Mariagrazia Ranzini’s scientific research focuses primarily on the field of cognitive psychology. Her main research area is numerical cognition, specifically investigating how attention, memory and action processes contribute to the mental representation and processing of numerical, spatial and temporal quantities. She also studies synesthesia, embodied cognition, attention deficits and calculation deficits. She conducts her research using behavioural investigation methods, such as analysing accuracy, reaction times and eye movements, as well as the effects of prismatic adaptation and optokinetic stimulation, and hand kinematics. She also employs neuroimaging techniques (EEG, MEG, fNIRS): in particular, she has recently initiated a series of studies on the neural correlates common to quantity processing and manual actions (e.g. pointing, grasping objects) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Simone Messerotti Benvenuti

Simone Messerotti Benvenuti, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Department of General Psychology, University of Padua.

 

He received his Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology and Cognitive-Behavioural Neuroscience (110/110 cum laude) in 2008 at the University of Padua. He earned a Ph.D. in Psychobiology in 2012 (University of Padua). He spent a period abroad in 2011 as a visiting Ph.D. student at the University of Birmingham, UK.

 

His research relies on an integration of subjective, behavioral and electrophysiological (e.g., EEG/ERPs, heart rate variability, startle reflex) approaches to study the association between depression and cardiovascular diseases as well as the psychophysiological correlates of emotional processing in individuals at risk of mood disorders.

 

He published about 40 peer-reviewed articles in international journals, with an h-index of 13. His research activity received the “Young Investigators Grant for Innovative and Excellent Research” (2014) and the “STARS Starting Grant (STARS-StG)” (2019) by the University of Padua as well as several national and international awards.

 

Main research interests

– Psychosomatic medicine. The role of depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, and autonomic dysregulation in cardiovascular risk.

– Psychophysiology of emotion and mood disorders. The neural, electrophysiological and autonomic correlates of emotion dysregulation in individuals at risk of mood disorders.

– Biofeedback and Neurofeedback. Biofeedback-assisted rehabilitation of autonomic dysfunctions associated with mood disorders; EEG-Neurofeedback for depression, emotion regulation, attention deficits and impulsive symptoms.

Marco Zorzi

Marco Zorzi is Full Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Psychology at the University of Padova, and Senior Researcher at IRCCS San Camillo Neurorehabilitation Hospital in Venice-Lido.

 

Trained in cognitive psychology, computational modelling, computational and cognitive neuroscience during doctoral and postdoctoral studies in Trieste (University of Trieste and SISSA), London (UCL) and Padova, he joined San Raffaele University-Milan in 2000 as Assistant Professor and the University of Padova in 2001 as Associate Professor (Full Professor since 2006).

 

In 2001 he set up the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, an interdisciplinary research laboratory at the frontiers between cognitive science, computer science and neuroscience, focused on the computational bases of human cognition.  Computational modeling based on artificial neural networks is complemented by empirical studies on adults (both healthy and neurologically impaired) and children (both typically and atypically developing) using behavioral and cognitive neuroscience methods.

 

Recent computational work was supported by the European Research Council and exploits deep learning and probabilistic graphical models to produce realistic simulations of human neurocognitive functions. State-of-the-art machine learning methods are also applied to neuroinformatics (neuroimaging data) and industrial applications.

 

Major past grants include Italian Ministry of Education and University (PRIN 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008), Italian Ministry of Health (RF 2013), University of Padova (Strategic Grants), Cariparo Foundation (Excellence Grants), Compagnia di San Paolo (Neuroscience Program), European Commission (FP5 and FP6, Marie Curie RTN), European Research Council.

 

Full list of publications at: http://scholar.google.it/citations?user=MgF3uIMAAAAJ&hl=it

Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini

Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini is a Researcher (RTDa) at the Department of General Psychology of the University of Padova.

 

She received from M.I.U.R (Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research) the National Scientific Habilitation as Associate Professor in General Psychology, Psychobiology and Psychometrics (11/E1).

 

She got a Master degree in Evolution of Animal and Human Behaviour (cum laude) at the University of Torino in 2009. She obtained a Ph.D in Psychological Sciences at the University of Padova (2014) working on the mechanisms underlying non-verbal numerical abilities using fish as model species. She worked as post-doctoral fellow at the Department of General Psychology, University of Padova (2014-2018) and then she moved to London where she worked as Marie Curie research fellow at Queen Mary University of London (2018-2020). From 2020 to 2021 she was a Stars-Grant post-doctoral fellow at the University of Padova (Department of Biomedical Science).

 

Her research interest focuses on the evolution of cognitive abilities in animals, with specific reference to the non-verbal numerical systems, visual perception and the impact of brain lateralization on cognitive functions, by combining behaviour with in vivo imaging.

 

She attracted more than 300k  of research grants by successfully participating in competitive calls at national and international level. In 2017 she won a Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship and in 2019 she was granted by the University of Padua with the STARS Starting Grant.

 

She has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed articles in international scientific journals and 5 book chapters. She has organized 2 symposia and she has been invited as a speaker in national and international conferences and research institutes.

 

She regularly acts as a reviewer for international peer-review journals in the field of comparative psychology and she is Guest Editors of special issues in peer-review scientific journals.

 

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=it&user=pSBUG4QAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Mario Bonato

Mario Bonato is Associate Professor at the Department of General Psychology in Padova.

 

He is a neuropsychologist holding a Master Degree in Experimental Psychology, PhD in Cognitive Science). He has specific clinical expertise in post-stroke cognitive assessment. Among young researchers, dr Bonato is considered a leading expert in the assessment of visuo-spatial disorders. He devised a very sensitive computer-based dual-task method for the diagnosis of hemispatial neglect following unilateral brain damage. This approach mimics everyday demands and might become the gold standard for the diagnosis of hemispatial neglect in the chronic phase (Bonato, 2015).

 

He published mostly as leading author (first and corresponding), several scientific articles, in the most widely read and better-ranked peer-reviewed international journals for neuropsychology and experimental psychology.

 

He attracted more than 300k of research grants by successfully participating in competitive calls at national (Belgium and Italy) and European level. His international profile is very strong and includes 4+ years in Ghent (Belgium). He regularly acts as reviewer for all the best international journals within the domains of experimental psychology, neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience (about 35 journals).

 

Research interests: Visuo-spatial attention, spatial cognition and spatial awareness, particularly in brain-damaged patients (e.g. hemispatial neglect following stroke). Clinical neuropsychology: computer-based diagnosis and rehabilitation. Numerical cognition: number/time-space interactions.

 

Publications: Google Scholar, ResearchGate

Nicola Cellini

Nicola Cellini is Associate Professor at the Department of General Psychology of the University of Padova.

 

He authored about 50 papers in international journals on sleep psychophysiology. His main research interests are the beneficial role of sleep in cognitive functions in healthy and clinical populations and the validation of wearable devices for physiological assessment in ecological conditions. He recently started to work on the development and use of non-invasive techniques to stimulate the sleeping brain to improve memory consolidation and sleep quality in humans.

He has a network of national and international collaborators including researchers from Stanford Research International and University of California Irvine.

He attracted more than 200k  of research grants by successfully participating in competitive calls and grants from industry. He is an ad-hoc reviewer for more than 30 important international journals within the domains of psychophysiology and experimental psychology and served as invited speaker to several international scientific conferences.
He has supervised numerous trainees and master students and a post-doc.

 

He currently teaches Neurophysiology and he received from M.I.U.R (Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research) the National Scientific Habilitation as Associate Professor in General Psychology, Psychobiology and Psychometrics (11/E1).

 

For a list of peer-reviewed international publications, see:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=18hEiyoAAAAJ&hl=en

Luisa Sartori

Luisa Sartori is Associate Professor, University of Padova, Department of General Psychology.

 

Academic Background

Doctor of Philosophy  in Perception and Psychophysics

Visiting Scholar at University of Edinburgh (GB) in 2003, University College of London (UK) in 2007, Melbourne University (Australia) in 2010, McMaster University (Canada) in 2015.

 

Present Position

Associate Professor, University of Padova, Department of General Psychology. Principal Investigator of S.I.R. project (Scientific Independence of young Researchers) granted by Italian Ministry of Instruction, University and Research (amount € 260.000,00). Italian Professorship Qualification in 2014, scientific sector: M-PSI/02 – Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology. Professor of Psycobiology since 2016

 

Main Research Interests

  • Neural basis of motor control, with a strong focus on interpersonal synchronization
  • Attention and social interactions: Neurophysiological and functional neuroimaging studies (TMS, EMG, fMRI and 3-D motion tracking)
  • Neurorehabilitative protocols for patients with localized impairment on cortical motor areas
  • Comparative approach to monkeys’ grasping behaviors in naturalistic settings
  • Robotics applications aimed at increasing artificial agents’ skills in human environment

Giorgia Cona

Giorgia Cona, PhD, is Associate Professor at the University of Padova, Department of General Psychology.

 

She received a Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Behavioural Neuroscience (110/110 cum laude) in 2008 at the University of Padova. She earned a PhD. in Psychobiology in 2012. She spent a period abroad in 2011 working at the University of Toronto, in the Morris Moscovitch’s Lab.

From 2012 to 2016, she had post-doc positions at the Department of Neuroscience and the Department of General Psychology (University of Padova). In 2017, she become lecturer (RTDa) at the Department of General Psychology.

In 2012, she received the Young Researcher Award from the AIP (Associazione Italiana di Psicologia). In 2019, she won a grant from the University of Padua, the STARS Starting Grant, with a project titled: “Trade-offs in human Behaviour and Brain: a (r)Evolutionary approach” and a grant from the Italian Ministry of Health (Bando Ricerca Finalizzata) with a project focused on the Effectiveness of attention/executive functions training on prospective memory abilities of Parkinson’s disease with a combined immersive Virtual Reality and Telemedicine approach.

 

She teaches Neuropsychology of Aging, Human Electrophysiology and Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation techniques at University of Padua.

 

She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles in international scientific journals, 4 book chapters, organized various symposia and international workshops, and has been invited as a speaker in several national and international conferences and research institutes.

 

She is expert in EEG and TMS techniques; her research interests involve:

  • Neural mechanisms of cognitive processes (i.e., prospective memory, spatial processing, temporal processing; reward-related processes, cognitive control).
  • Commonalities and differences in brain and behavior across individuals
  • Cognitive neuroscience and sport 

 

Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=cT-WHyIAAAAJ&hl=en

Research gate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Giorgia_Cona

 

Giovanni Mento

Giovanni Mento is Associate Professor in Developmental Neuropsychology and  EEG recording and Analysis at the Department of General Psychology of the University of Padua.

 

He received his master degree in Psychology (2005) and his PhD in Psychobiology (2009) at the University of Padua.  During his PhD, He visited the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at the INSERM-CEA “Cognitive Neuroimaging unit” CEA/SAC/DSV/DRM/NeuroSpin, Saclay (Paris). He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of General Psychology of the University of Padua (2009-2016).

 

His research interests are in the field of Cognitive Neurosciences, Developmental Cognitive Neurosciences and Developmental Neuropsychology. His main research topic is the investigation of the brain predictive and anticipatory activity in a developmental neuroconstructivist perspective, with a special interest about how top-down and bottom-up temporal expectancy interplay to shape multiple cognitive domains, including attention, motor preparation, working memory and inhibitory control.

 

His scientific interests span over both typical and atypical developmental population, including Down syndrome, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder, Learning Disabilities, Neurological Syndromes (i.e., epilepsy).

 

His methodological expertise focuses on the use of both low and high-spatial resolution electroencephalography (Geodesic system) to uncover the spatiotemporal brain dynamics underlying the interaction between predictive mechanisms and stimulus processing. He specifically works on both temporal and oscillatory EEG domains to understand the relationship between resting state/event-related functional connectivity at the source-level and behavioural performance in a developmental perspective.

 

He is the scientific responsible of the research agreement between the Department of General Psychology of the University of Padova and the Scientific institute for rehabilitation medicine association “Eugenio Medea/La Nostra Famiglia”, Conegliano Veneto, Treviso, Italy. Research Project “Analisi dei segnali EEG ad alta densita? e del profilo neuropsicologico per la selezione dei pazienti con epilessia invalidante e farmacoresistente per la chirurgia dell’epilessia”.

 

He has active scientific collaborations with the Department of Experimental Psychology (University of Oxford) and with the King’s College (London).

 

He is member of:

  • Scientific Committee of the Interdepartmental (DPG-DPSS) High-density EEG lab, University of Padova;
  • PhD Course in Psychological Science, University of Padova;
  • Ethical Committee of the of the School of Psychology, University of Padova, Italy.

 

He has co-supervised 3 PhD students, 2 post-doctoral fellow and more than 20 trainees and master students.

 

He has authored more than 33 peer-reviewed articles in international scientific journals, 1 book chapter and has been invited as a speaker in several national and international research institutes.

 

He has served as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous international journals including Plos Biology, Brain, Neurosci Biobehav R, Cereb Cortex, Neuroimage, J Cogn Neurosci, Cortex, Neuropsychologia, Developmental Science, etc.

 

In 2017 he was granted by the University of Padua with the STARS CoG (Supporting Talent in ReSearch@University of Padova) grant, edition 2017, Consolidator Section.

Chiara Spironelli

Chiara Spironelli is Associate Professor at the University of Padua.

 

She received her first-class degree at the University of Padova in 2003 (Summa cum laude), her qualification as State Registered Psychologist in 2005, and her PhD in 2007. From 2007 to 2011, she achieved three Research Grants, and from May 2012 she is Assistant Professor (M-PSI/02) at the Department of General Psychology of University of Padova. At present, she is Associate Professor at the University of Padua.

 

In addition to the main techniques for the psychophysiological research, she is skilled in administration and evaluation of a large number of batteries to assess the cognitive functioning, for the neuropsychological assessment and the evaluation of the main psychiatric syndromes. Within the international framework, she collaborates with the Reichenau Psychiatry Center, (Prof. Dr. B. Rockstroh, Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz), where she spent a research period on the EEG correlates of language during the PhD courses, and with the SANE POWIC Warneford Hospital (Prof. Dr. T.J. Crow, Department of Psychiatry, Oxford, UK), in a project on electrophysiological correlates of hemispheric specialization for language and the main psychiatric syndromes.

 

From 2004 she supervises students in the last phase of experimental diploma preparation and writing (both for first degrees and master degrees), postgraduate students and internship postgraduates for their training and research activities in the Psychophysiology group (Chief: Prof. A. Angrilli). From 2015 she holds the “Psychobiology of Psychotic Disorders” class within the Master Degree in Clinical Psychology, and from 2016 she also holds the “Psychophysiology” class within the Bachelor Degree in Psychological Science (University of Padova).

 

She was ad hoc referee for several neuroscience journals (e.g., Biological Psychology, Cortex, International Journal of Psychophysiology, NeuroImage, Psychological Research, Psychophysiology and Schizophrenia Research). She won the Young Researchers’ Award, year 2006, of the Italian Psychology Association (AIP) – Experimental section – and the AIP Award for the best PhD thesis, year 2007.

 

Main Research Interests

  • Study of the correlation between different levels of auditory hallucinations/delusions and hemispheric dominance for language in paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar and depressive patients using electrophysiological measures (evoked potential and EEG band analyses);
  • Study of the (normal and pathological) modulation of attention and spatial awareness by concurrent task demands by means of electrophysiological correlates;
  • Study of body posture effects on EEG cognitive functioning in healthy participants and neurological patients;
  • A new approach for contrasting cognitive decline in elderly: measuring cortical reorganization after working memory training with behavioral and electrophysiological (evoked potential and EEG band) indices (Progetto di Ateneo CPDA152872);
  • Study of cortical plasticity mechanisms in aphasic patients before and after the functional recovery using electrophysiological measures (evoked potential and EEG band analyses).

 

Christian Agrillo

Christian Agrillo is Associate Professor at the Department of General Psychology of the University of Padova.

 

He received from M.I.U.R (Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research) the National Scientific Habilitation as Full Professor in “General Psychology, Psychobiology and Psychometrics” (11/E1).

He published more than 70 papers in international journals on human and non-human cognition. In particular, he is interested in the study of numerical abilities of animals. Most of these studies has been covered by important media, such as National Geographic, BBC, CNN and RAI. Recently, he started to use visual illusions as a tool to compare visual perception of vertebrates (e.g., chimpanzees, monkeys, dogs, lions, horses, guppies, zebrafish and bees).

Also, his degree at the conservatory of music of Venice gave him the possibility to teach “Psychology of Music” in several conservatories of music, where he also conducts studies on the impact of prolonged musical training in perceptual/cognitive skills.

 

To date, he is the Associate Editor of one of the most important journals in the field of comparative psychology, “Animal Cognition”. His editorial activity also includes Frontiers in Psychology (Associate Editor), Scientific Reports (member of the Editorial Board), Plos One (Editorial Board) and Animal Behavior and Cognition (Editorial Board).
He attracted more than 300k € of research grants by successfully participating in competitive calls, and served as invited speaker to several international scientific conferences.

 

For a list of peer-reviewed international publications, see: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FZjZpwwAAAAJ&hl=it&oi=ao

Cristina Scarpazza

Cristina Scarpazza is Associate Professor at the Department of General Psychology of the University of Padova.

 

She received from M.I.U.R (Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research) the National Scientific Habilitation as Associate Professor in “General Psychology, Psychobiology and Psychometrics” (11/E1).

 

She published more than 70 papers in international journals on translational psychology and neuroscience, with particular emphasis of early diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, identification of neuroanatomical signature of psychiatric illness, group to individual inferences, forensic psychiatry (with particular focus on insanity evaluation). Cristina is particularly interested in cognitive biases and their impact in the interpretation of scientific findings. Through her long standing collaboration with the King’s College London, she was actively involved in a EU-founded multicentric study (PSYSCAN) aiming to improve the translational impact of neuroimaging findings from research to clinical practice. Furthermore, she is part of the Machine Learning in Mental Health Lab (https://mlmh-lab.github.io/members/) that is working to create a web based tool that, applying deep learning algorithms, automatically detects neuro-anatomical abnormalities in psychiatric populations and provides clinicians with an automated report of the results. As a clinician, Cristina was also involved in clinical and research activities on multiple sclerosis.

 

For her research, she received the “Italy Made M” Award from the Italian Embassy in London in 2018 and a special mention for medicine from the Italian associations of innovators and inventors women.

 

In 2018, she won a grant from the University of Padua, the STARS Starting Grant, with a project titled: “EMOTIGEN: Are we really studying genuine emotions? The problem of genuineness of emotional expression”.

 

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cristina_Scarpazza

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ME6K90gAAAAJ&hl=en

Alessandro Angrilli

Alessandro Angrilli is Full Professor, Psychobiology, Department of General Psychology, University of Padova.

 

Master degree in Biology. PhD in Experimental Psychology with a thesis entitled “Psychophysiology of emotions”. In 1995 spent one year in the Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology of Tübingen directed by Prof. Niels Birbaumer. In 1997-1998, Marie-Curie post-doc grant at the University of Konstanz, laboratories of Prof. Thomas Elbert and Brigitte Rockstroh with a project on cortical plasticity of language in aphasic patients after recovery. In 1998, Assistant Professor of Psychobiology at the Department of General Psychology, University of Padova. In 2001, Associate professor and in 2015, Full professor of Psychobiology. He has been supervisor and tutor of several PhD students, for three of whom he was co-tutor with German Universities (Konstanz and Wuerzburg). In 2011-2015 he was coordinator of the PhD Course in Psychobiology in Padova. Since 2003, head of the Microgravity and Brain Plasticity Lab. Since 2013, head of the Psychophysiology Research Labs of his department. Department delegate for all the laboratories of its institution. Associate Editor of Biological Psychology, BMC Neuroscience, Scientific Reports.

 

Main Research Interests

  • Psychophysiology of emotions and empathy and their alteration in psychiatric, personality and neurological disorders;
  • Hemispheric asymmetry of Language in psychotic disorders and its reorganization in dyslexic children and aphasic patients;
  • Cortical plasticity in healthy population and neurological patients;
  • Influence of body posture on cognition, emotion and pain.