Nicola De Pisapia

Curriculum Vitae
Nicola De Pisapia
Address: Dipartimento di Psicologia e Sceinze Cognitive, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068 Rovereto (TN) – ITALY. Tel. ++39 0461 88 3087 Cell.
++39 0346 5437734 - email: [email protected] (or [email protected])
RESEARCH INTERESTS IN BRIEF
General interests: Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, Computational Neuroscience,
Connectionist models, Theory of Computation, Philosophy of Mind.
Specific interests: Executive versus default-mode activity, cognitive neuroscience of parenting, conscious
and unconscious cognition, executive control, cognitive training, visual masking, transaccadic
perception.
Investigative Methods: Psychophysics, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Transcranial
Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), Electroencephalography (EEG), Eye-tracking, Connectionist Networks.
JOB POSITIONS
July 2012 – today Founder and Chief Scientific Office, Neocogita s.r.l.
Aug 2011 – today Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science and
ODFLab (Laboratorio di Osservazione Diagnosi e Formazione - directed by Prof. Paola Venuti), both at
the University of Trento
Aug 2007- Jul 2011 Postdoctoral Researcher, CIMeC (Center for Mind/ Brain Sciences) University of
Trento, Italy (Directed by Prof. Alfonso Caramazza).
2005-2007 Postdoctoral Researcher, Cognitive control and psychopathology laboratory, Department of
Psychology, Washington University - St. Louis, Missouri (MO), U.S.A. (Directors: Todd Braver,
Deanna Barch).
EDUCATION
2000-2005 Ph.D. in Cognitive and Computational Neuropsychology, Institute for Adaptive and Neural
Computation, University of Edinburgh, UK. Interdisciplinary focus on cognitive and
neurocomputational models of the human prefrontal cortex.
1997-1999 Master of Science in Logic, Computation and Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
1992-1996 Laurea in Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence cum laude (Equivalent
Undergraduate+Master), Department of Philosophy and Physics, Universita’ di Napoli – Italy.
to
a
SUMMER SCHOOLS
July, 30th 2001 - August, 24th 2001 EU Advanced Course in Computational Neuroscience. An IBRO
Neuroscience School, SISSA, Trieste, Italy
MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION

Lin P., De Pisapia N., Hasson U., Robinson S., Jovicich J. (in preparation): Default Mode Network
interactions during Resting and a Cognitive Task.
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De Pisapia N., Bacci F., Melcher D.: (in preparation) A functional neuroimaging study on activity
differences during visual creativity between artists and non-artists.
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS IN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
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De Pisapia N., Barchiesi G., Jovicich J., Cattaneo L. (submitted): Shaping self-other referential
emotional processes with neuromodulation: an rTMS/fMRI study.
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Cattaneo L., Messina I., De Pisapia N., Esposito G., Bornstein M. H:, Venuti P. (submitted): Wired
for parenting: sex-specific automatic motor responses to baby cries.
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Bornstein, M., Putnick DL, Suwalsky JTD, De Pisapia N., Esposito G, Cote L, Venuti P (submitted)
Cultural Universals and Neurological Underpinnings of Maternal Responsiveness to Infant Vocal
Distress.
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De Pisapia N., Mauro S., Rigo P., Jager J., Papinutto N., Esposito G., Venuti P., Bornstein M. H.
(accepted): Interpersonal Competence in Young Adulthood and Right Laterality in White Matter.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
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De Pisapia N. (2013): Unconscious information processing in executive control (Editorial). Frontiers
in Human Neuroscience.7
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De Pisapia N., Bornstein M. H., Rigo P., Esposito G., De Falco S., Venuti P. (2013): Sex Differences
in Directional Brain Responses to Infant Hunger Cries. NeuroReport. 24(3), 142-146.
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De Pisapia N., Sandrini M., Braver T., Cattaneo L. (2012): Integration in working memory: A
magnetic stimulation study on the role of left anterior prefrontal cortex. PLoS ONE 7(8): e4373.
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Venuti P., Caria A., Esposito G., De Pisapia N., Bornstein M. H., De Falco S. (2012): Differential
Brain Responses to Cries of Infants with Autistic Disorder and Typical Development: an fMRI Study.
Research in Developmental Disabilities. 33(6):2255-64.
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De Pisapia N., Turatto M., Lin P., Jovicich J., Caramazza A. (2012) Unconscious priming instructions
modulate activity in default and executive networks of the human brain. Cerebral Cortex. 22(3):63949.
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Crescentini C., Seyed-Allaei S., De Pisapia N., Jovicich J., Amati D., Shallice T. (2011) Rule
Acquisition in Inductive Reasoning. Journal of Neuroscience. 31(21), 7763-7774.
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De Pisapia N., Kaunitz L., Melcher D. (2010): Backward masking and unmasking across saccadic
eye movements. Current Biology 20 (7), 613-617.
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De Pisapia N. (2010): Spontaneous brain activity and the self. Proceedings of the Italian Association
for Cognitive Science (AISC) 2010, 256-260.
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De Pisapia N., Braver T. (2008): Anticipatory integration of working memory information in anterior
prefrontal cortex. NeuroReport 19 (1), 15-19.
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De Pisapia N., Repovs G., Braver T. (2008) Models of attention, automaticity, and multi-tasking.
Chapter 15 of the Cambridge Handbook on Computational Cognitive Modeling edited by Ron Sun,
422-450.
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De Pisapia N., Slomski J. A., Braver T. (2007): Functional specializations in lateral prefrontal cortex
associated with the integration and segregation of information in working memory. Cerebral Cortex
17 (5) , 993-1006.
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De Pisapia N., Braver T. (2006): A model of dual control mechanisms through anterior cingulate and
prefrontal cortex interactions. Neurocomputing 10-12 (69), 1322-1326.
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De Pisapia N., Braver T (2005): A unitary model of short versus long term conflict monitoring and
cognitive control in the Stroop test. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Suppl S., 121-121.
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De Pisapia N., Goddard N. (2003) A neural model of frontostriatal interactions for behavioral
planning and action chunking. Neurocomputing, 52-54, 489-495.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS IN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
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De Pisapia N. (2011) Neuroscienze e processi decisionali: nuove direzioni di ricerca. In Marketing
Emozionale e Neuroscienze, a cura di F. Gallucci, EGEA (Università Bocconi) (full chapter in Italian),
94-98.
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Bacci F., De Pisapia N. (2009) Occhi che pensano, cervelli che guardano: l’arte del gruppo San
Lorenzo come esperienza sensoriale. In Italia Contemporanea. Officina San Lorenzo, a cura di D.
Lancioni, Aracne Editrice (full chapter in Italian), 55-57.
EDITED BOOKS
De Pisapia N. (Eds.) Unconscious information processing in executive control. A Research Topic of
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013.
PHD, MASTER AND LAUREA THESIS
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De Pisapia N. (2005): A framework for implicit planning: towards a cognitive/computational
neuroscience theory of prefrontal cortex function. PhD thesis. The University of Edinburgh, UK.
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De Pisapia N. (2000) Gandy machines: an abstract model of parallel computations for Turing
Machines, the Game of Life and Artificial Neural Networks. Master thesis. Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh, USA.
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De Pisapia N. (1996) La semantica dei nomi propri: filosofia analitica, logica e intelligenza artificiale.
Tesi di Laurea. Università di Napoli, Italy. (in Italian).
ABSTRACTS IN PEER-REVIEWED CONFERENCES
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De Pisapia N., Barchiesi G., Jovicich J., Cattaneo L. 2011: A combined fMRI and TMS study on selfreferential processing, default mode activity and executive functions. Concepts, Actions, and Objects:
Functional and Neural Perspectives, Rovereto, Italy, May 19th – 22nd 2011.
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Lin P., De Pisapia N., Jovicich J. 2011: Intrinsic Resting State Functional Connectivity of Default
Mode Network Predicts Attention Task Performance. The International Society for Magnetic
Resonance in Medicine 2011 - Montreal (Canada).
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Melcher D., De Pisapia N., Kaunitz L., Fracasso A. (2010): Perception of spatiotemporal events
across saccades – Society for Neuroscience Meeting 2010 – San Diego (USA).
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De Pisapia N., Kaunitz L., Melcher D. (2010): Backward masking and unmasking across saccadic
eye movements. International Workshop - Neurocognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious
visual perception, Delmenhorst (Germany) 2010.
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De Pisapia N., Sandrini M., Cattaneo L., Braver T. (2010): An online rTMS study on anterior
prefrontal cortex and integration in working memory. Human Brain Mapping, Barcelona (Spain) 2010.
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Lin P., Robinson S., De Pisapia N., Jovicich J. (2010): Default Mode Network interactions during
Resting and a Cognitive Task: Granger Causality Evaluation. Human Brain Mapping, Barcelona
(Spain) 2010.
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Crescentini C., Seyed-Allaei S., De Pisapia N., Jovicich J., Amati D., Shallice T. (2010): fMRI
Investigations of Rule Acquisition in Inductive Reasoning. Human Brain Mapping, Barcelona (Spain)
2010.
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Lin P., Robinson S., De Pisapia N., Jovicich J. (2010) Granger Default Mode Network: Granger
causality characterization of cognitive state changes. International Society for Magnetic Resonance
Medicine 2010.
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De Pisapia N., Kaunitz L., Melcher D. (2009): Masking and unmasking in trans-saccadic perception.
Rovereto Attention Workshop 2009, Italy.
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De Pisapia N., Turatto M., Caramazza A. (2009): Prefrontal mechanisms of unconscious priming in
executive control. Human Brain Mapping 2009, San Francisco (USA).
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Lin P., Robinson S., De Pisapia N., Jovicich J. (2009): A study of default mode brain activity during
task performance and resting state with functional network connectivity method. Human Brain
Mapping, San Francisco USA 2009.
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De Pisapia N., Turatto M., Caramazza A. (2008):
Conscious and unconscious processing of
information in executive control. Society for Neuroscience Meeting 2008, Washington D.C. (USA)-
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De Pisapia N., Turatto M., Caramazza A. (2008): Effects of unconscious versus conscious priming
instructions on motor task execution. Rovereto Attention Workshop 2008, Rovereto (Italy).
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De Pisapia N., Braver (2006) Integration of information in working memory: The functional role of
anterior prefrontal cortex. Human Brain Mapping 2006, Firenze, Italy.
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De Pisapia N., Braver (2005) Model comparisons in proactive and reactive cognitive control.
Dynamical Neuroscience XIII: Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Conference 2005, Washington,
DC - USA.

De Pisapia N., Braver (2005) A model of dual control mechanisms through anterior cingulate and
prefrontal cortex interactions. Computational Neuroscience Meeting CNS 2005 - Madison, WI - USA.

De Pisapia N., Braver T. (2005) A unitary model of short versus long term conflict monitoring and
cognitive control in the Stroop test. Cognitive Neuroscience Society Abstracts 2005.

Braver T., De Pisapia N. (2004): Integration versus segregation of information in working memory:
Functional dissociations in lateral prefrontal cortex. Society for Neuroscience Meeting 2004.
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De Pisapia N., Braver T. (2004): A computational model of dual prefrontal cortex mechanisms in
cognitive control. Society for Neuroscience Meeting 2004.

De Pisapia N., Goddard N. (2003) A neural model of frontostriatal interactions for behavioral
planning and action chunking. Computational Neuroscience Meeting CNS 2003.
TEACHING
2013 Independent Study (Master in Cognitive Sciences): Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation
University of Trento, Italy (60 hours).
2012/13 Tirocinio and (Master and Doctoral) Thesis Supervisor – Working memory training in
children – student in Laurea Specialistica, University of Trento.
2011/13 Tirocinio and (Master and Doctoral) Thesis Supervisor – FMRI studies of parental
cognition – students in Laurea Specialistica, Master in Cognitive Sciences and PhD program.
2012 Independent Study (Master in Cognitive Sciences): Cognitive neuroscience of mental training
and enhancement. University of Trento, Italy (60 hours)
2010/11 – Master Thesis supervisor - A rTMS study on self-referential processing, default mode
activity and executive functions. University of Trento, Italy.
2010/11 – Independent Study (Master Student in Cognitive Sciences): The neuronal basis of metacognitive components of consciousness during REM sleep. University of Trento, Italy (50 hours)
2010 – Guest Lectures on Executive Functions (Master Program). Fundamentals of Cognitive
Neuroscience. University of Trento, Italy. (6 hours).
2006/07 Postdoctoral Lecturer: Two classes - Introduction to Psychology (Undergraduate and Master
Program) - Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA. (72
hours each class).
2002/03 Temporary Lecturer: Distributed Computation for Cognition (Master and PhD Program)
School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. (60 hours).
2000-2002 Teaching Assistant in: Distributed Computation for Cognition, Neural Computation,
Cognitive Psychology (Master and PhD Program) - School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh,
Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
1998/99 Teaching Assistant in: Language and Thought, Philosophy of Mind, Incompleteness and
Uncomputability. – (Master and Phd program) Department of Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh, USA
OBTAINED RESEARCH FUNDING
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Grant (part of the scientific team) – PRIN 2009 (approved July 2011) – “Neuronal mechanisms for
perception of space, time and numbers”. Grant Coordinator: Prof. Maria Concetta Morrone.
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Grant (part of the scientific team) - Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio Trento e Rovereto – “Capolavori
della mente- creatività, cognizione ed emozione nelle collezioni del MART) – 100,000 € - with David
Melcher and Francesca Bacci. 2011-2012.
Fellowships - Società Scienze Mente Cervello (SMC)/Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e
Rovereto 2007-current.
Fellowships - ONR N00014-04-1-0004 (Office of Naval Research) 2004-2007.
Fellowships - R01 (NIH) MH06607803 (National Institute of Health) 2003-2007.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 1999-2002.
Full Fulbright Fellowship 1997-1999.
EDITORIAL ACTIVITY
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Associate Editor for: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Editor for the Research Topic issue on
“Unconscious information processing in executive control”.
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Review Editor for: Frontiers in Cognition
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Ad hoc reviewer for: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General; Journal of Cognitive
Neuroscience; NeuroImage; Trends in Cognitive Sciences; Journal of Neuroscience; Cortex; Human
Brain Mapping Conference.
SCIENTIFIC TALKS (representative)
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Nov 24, 2012 – Prefrontal mechanisms in unconscious processing of information in executive control.
Lido di Venezia, Ospedale San Camillo (Italy).
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Feb 4, 2011 - Le basi neuronali dell’operazione d’integrazione in memoria di lavoro. Giornata di studio
su caratteri e capacità della memoria di lavoro e la sua interazione con il linguaggio. Organizzato
dalla Fondazione Marica De Vincenzi. Rovereto (TN), Italia.
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Sep 28, 2009 – Nonconscious task priming. Symposium in Cognitive Neuroscience. SINAPSA
Neuroscience Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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May 28, 2008 - Conscious and unconscious processing of information in executive control under high
versus low conflict conditions. CIMeC, University of Trento, Italy.
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Apr 08, 2007 – Working memory and anterior prefrontal cortex. CIMeC, University of Trento, Italy.
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Jun 11, 2007 – The role of anterior prefrontal cortex during integration. CIMeC, University of Trento,
Italy.
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Feb 14, 2007 - Anterior Prefrontal Cortex and the integration of information in working memory.
Brain and Behaviour Colloquia (BBC), Washington University in St. Louis, MO, USA.
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Oct 2, 2006 - Conscious versus unconscious conflict and control: a review. Washington University in
St. Louis, MO, USA.
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July 19, 2005 - A model of dual control mechanisms through anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex
interactions. Computational Neuroscience Meeting CNS 2005 - Madison, WI, USA.
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Dec 21, 2004 - Controllo cognitivo proattivo e reattivo: un modello connessionista dello Stroop test Department of Physics. Università di Napoli. Italy.
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Apr 6, 2004 - Computational Investigations of Dual Mechanisms in Cognitive Control. Washington
University in St. Louis, MO, USA.
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Sep 29 and Oct 6, 2003 – A framework for neural planning. Washington University in St. Louis, MO,
USA.
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Apr 29, 2003 - Un modello neurocomputazionale dell'interazione tra la corteccia prefrontale e i nuclei
della base - Department of Physics. Università di Napoli. Italy.
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Jul 16, 2002 - The Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex: its role in behavior and a computational model.
University of Edinburgh - UK
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Feb 5 and 21, 2002 - Il cervello che pianifica: un approccio neurocomputazionale alla corteccia
prefrontale. Seminari di Scienza Cognitiva - Università di Salerno - Italy
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Dec 4, 2001 - From SUPERstition to UNDERstanding: what's in between? Experiments and models in
animal conditioning that computational theories of the human Prefrontal Cortex should take into
account. University of Edinburgh - UK
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Jul 15, 1999 - Gandy machines: an abstract model of parallel computations for Turing Machines, the
Game of Life and Artificial Neural Networks. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
PUBLIC LECTURES - NEUROSCIENCE COMMUNICATION TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC
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Nov 17, 2012 – L’allenamento mentale dal pensiero antico alle neuroscience. Le Connessioni Inattese,
Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici. Napoli (Italy).
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Jun 24, 2011 – Processi decisonali e cervello. Marketing Innova 2011 – Confindustria Udine,
Associazione Italiana Marketing e Associazione Italiana Pubblicitari Professionisti. Italy
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Giu 10, 2011 – Cervello, decisioni e creatività. ASSINDUSTRIA (Associazione Italiana Industriali) per
MANTOVA CREATIVA. Italy.
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Dec 02, 2010 – Mente umana e mente artificiale – neuroscienze e intelligenza artificiale a confronto
(con il Prof. Roberto Cordeschi). MART (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), Italy
(Neuroscience Cafè).
Jun 18, 2010 - Pittura americana 1910-1950. Capolavori dalla Phillips Collection di Washington
attraverso gli occhi di un neuroscienziato cognitivo. MART (Museum of Modern and Contemporary
Art), Italy (talk).
May 15, 2010 – Neuroscience and advertisement: new directions (Neuroscienze e Pubblicità: nuove
direzioni). Convention of the Italian Association of Professional Advertisers (Associazione Italiana
Pubblicitari Professionisti). Otranto, Italy (talk).
Nov 12, 2009 – Chi comanda nel cervello? Il processo decisionale: le sue fasi e le aree coinvolte.
MART (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), Italy (Neuroscience Cafè).
May 26, 2009 – Italia Contemporanea: l’opera dell’Officina San Lorenzo attraverso gli occhi di un
neuroscienziato cognitivo. MART (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), Italy (talk).
PUBLIC DISSEMINATION IN MEDIA
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Aug, 2011 – “The unconscious sentinel in the brain” – News in the Italian Edition of Mind & Brain
(Scientific American), p. 13.
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Jun, 2011 – Articles on my research on the effects of unconscious primes on default and executive
brain networks.
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Feb 27, 2011 – Cover image for Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological
Sciences, 366 (1564).
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Dec 7, 2010 - Interviewed for La Repubblica on the cognitive neuroscience of creativity.
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Dec 2, 2010 – Interviewed for L’Adige on consciousness and self-identity.
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Oct 20, 2010 – Interviewed for ANSA on doing scientific research in Italy.
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Oct, 2010 – Cover image for Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22 (10).
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Mar-Apr, 2010 – Articles on my research on conscious versus unconscious vision during saccading
remapping (interviewed for L’Adige, articles on BrainFactor, Le Scienze Web News, etc).
DATE
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