I'm a Cognitive Neuroscientist and I'm pursuing my interests in
the neural correlates of social cognition and intersubjectivity. My
research is mainly focused on the understanding of how the brain
represents the pain of others (empathy for pain) and ones' own and
other's action (motor imagery and action observation). Moreover,
I'm currently investigating the neural mechanisms underlying the
perception and recognition of others' intentions and emotions.
These issues are approached by using behavioral, neurophysiological
(transcranial magnetic stimulation, TMS; somatosensory evoked
potentials, SEPs; laser evoked potentials, LEPs) and
neuroimaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI) methods
in healthy subjects and neurological and psychiatric patients.
Recently I've started studies investigating the plasticity of the
motor system and testing the efficacy of non-invasive brain
stimulation (TMS, transcranial direct current stimulation, tDCS) in
the rehabilitation of stroke patients with motor and cognitive
deficit.
My research is funded by national (Ministero della Salute,
Ministero Istruzione Universita' e Ricerca, Istituto Italiano di
Tecnologia, Consorzio Inter-Universitario Italia-Argentina, Cassa
di Risparmio di Cesena) and international (Cogito Foundation, CEI
Campus Atlantico Tricontinental) funding agencies.
TOPICS:
1) Empathy, emotions and bodily sensation;
2) Action perception and motor imagery;
3) Non-invasive brain stimulation and plasticity
TOPICS:
1) Empathy, emotions and bodily sensations;
2) Action perception and motor imagery;
3) Non-invasive brain stimulation and plasticity;
1) Empathy, emotions and bodily sensations.
In a series of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS),
somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs), laser-evoked potentials
(LEPs) and functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) studies (Avenanti
et al., 2005 Nat Neurosci; Avenanti et al., 2006 NeuroImage;
Avenanti et al., 2009 Neuroimage; Avenanti et al., 2009
Cortex; Avenanti et al., 2010 Curr Biol; Azevedo et al., 2012
Hum Brain Mapp; Borgomaneri et al, in prep; Bufalari et al., 2007
Cerebr Cortex; Minio- Paluello et al., 2006 Soc Neurosci;
Minio-Paluello et al., 2009 Biol Psychiatry; Valeriani et al., 2008
Neuroimage) I explored sensorimotor neural response to the
observation of bodily sensation in others. These studies show that
observing others' touch or pain induces the "resonant" activation
of sensorimotor systems involved in the personal experience of
touch and pain. Currently I'm particularly interested in exploring
top-down and bottom-up factors purportedly able to modulate
"resonant" neural responses induced by the observation of others'
bodily sensations (stimulus- specific or instruction-specific
factors, social group membership and race bias, personality,
psychopatology, brain lesions, neuromodulation induced by TMS and
drugs). Recently, we have started exploring the neural correlates
of emotional body perception. We are investigating how the
observers' sensorimotor system implements not only "resonant"
activations but also motor reactions that are appropriate to the
observed emotion (Borgomaneri et al., 2012 Brain Stimulation;
Borgomaneri et al., 2014 Brain Structure and Function; Borgomaneri
et al., in prep.).
This line of research is funded by grants from Ministero
Istruzione Universita' e Ricerca (Futuro in Ricerca 2012, protocol
number: RBFR12F0BD) and Cogito Foundation (Project 2014, research
grant, protocol number: 14-139-R)
2) Action perception and motor imagery.
By means of novel "perturb and measure" neurophysiological paradigm
combining single-pulse TMS (spTMS) and repetitive TMS (rTMS) I have
investigated the response of somatomotor systems during the
observation of others' actions (Avenanti et al., 2007 Curr Biol;
Avenanti et al., 2012 Cereb Cortex). This way I explored the role
of premotor, somatosensory and temporal areas in the internal
simulation of observed actions (see also Avenanti et al., 2013 Hum
Front Neurosci; Urgesi et al., 2010 Cereb Cortex). We have recently
applied a combined TMS/tDCS "perturb-and-measure" paradigm also for
investigating action processing within the peripersonal space
(Avenanti et al., 2012 Neuroimage; see also Serino et al. 2009 PLoS
ONE; Serino et al., 2011 J Cogn Neurosci). I used the "rubber hand
illusion" and perspective-taking manipulations to explore how
attribution of actions to ourselves or others affects motor reponse
to the observation or imagination of those actions (Fourkas et al.,
2006 Exp Brain Res; Fourkas et al 2008 Cereb Cortex; Schutz-Bosbach
et al., 2009 J Cogn Neurosci). Another recent line of research
investigates the role of premotor, parietal and temporal areas in
the recognition of action goals and kinematics (Jacquet and
Avenanti, 2013 Cereb Cortex), and deceptive actions and intentions
(Tidoni et al., 2013 J Neurosci). Moreover, we are investigating
the role of motor system in the perception of natural emotional
scenes (Borgomaneri et al., 2012 Brain Stimulation; Borgomaneri et
al., 2013 Soc Cogn Aff Neurosci; Borgomaneri et al., 2014 under
review).
These lines of research are funded by the Istituto Italiano di
Tecnologia (SEED 2009, protocol number: 21538) and Cogito
foundation (Project 2013, research grant, protocol number:
R-117/13).
3) Non-invasive brain stimulation and plasticity.
In a series of studies I'm evaluating the effectiveness of
rehabilitation protocols in patients with brain lesions and motor
deficits (Avenanti et al., 2012 Neurology; Avenanti et al., in
prep). Behavioural and neurophysiological effects of single or
multiple session of TMS and tDCS are evaluated. Moreover, I'm
exploring the long-term effects of multiple session of treatments
combining standard rehabilitation techniques with non-invasive
stimulation of the cerebral cortex (TMS, tDCS) and novel
stimulation paradigms to induce plastic changes of brain
connectivity in healthy subjects and brain damage patients.
This line of research is funded by the Ministero della Salute
(Bando giovani ricercatori 2010, protocol number:
GR-2010-2319335) and Fondazione dal Monte di Bologna e Ravenna (reseach call 2017, protocol number: 299bis/17)
Key words:
Empathy; Perspective Taking; Simulation Theory; Personality; Race
bias; Action understanding and action prediction; Motor
Imagery; Agency and Body Ownership; Rubber hand illusion; Body
Schema; Pain and tactile perception; Sensorimotor integration;
Multisensory integration; Transcranial Magnetic
Stimulation (TMS) and Transcranial Direct Current
Stimulation (tDCS) in Cognitive Neuroscience; Application of TMS
and tDCS in the rehabilitation of stroke patients.
References:
Avenanti A, Annella L, Candidi M, Urgesi C, Aglioti SM (2013).
Compensatory plasticity in the action observation network: virtual
lesions of STS enhance anticipatory simulation of seen actions.
Cerebral Cortex 23, 570-80.
Avenanti A, Aglioti SM (2006). The sensorimotor side of empathy.
In: Mancia M. (ed.) Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience. Milan:
Springer-Verlag Italia, 235-256.
Avenanti A, Annella L, Serino A (2012). Suppression of premotor
cortex disrupts motor coding of peripersonal space. Neuroimage 63,
281-288.
Avenanti A, Bolognini N, Maravita A, Aglioti SM (2007). Somatic
and motor components of action simulation. Current Biology 17,
2129-2135.
Avenanti A, Bueti D, Galati G, Aglioti SM (2005). Transcranial
magnetic stimulation highlights the sensorimotor side of empathy
for pain. Nature Neuroscience 8, 955-960.
Avenanti A, Candidi M, Urgesi C (2013). Vicarious motor
activation during action perception: beyond correlational evidence.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 7, 185. doi:
10.3389/fnhum.2013.00185
Avenanti A, Coccia M, Ladavas E, Provinciali L, Ceravolo MG
(2012). Low-frequency rTMS promotes use-dependent motor plasticity
in chronic stroke: a randomized trial. Neurology 78, 256-264.
Avenanti A, Minio-Paluello I, Bufalari I, Aglioti SM (2006).
Stimulus-driven modulation of motor-evoked potentials during
observation of others' pain. Neuroimage 32, 316-324.
Avenanti A, Minio-Paluello I, Bufalari I, Aglioti SM (2009). The
pain of a model in the personality of an onlooker: influence of
state-reactivity and personality traits on embodied empathy for
pain. NeuroImage 44, 275-283.
Avenanti A, Minio-Paluello I, Sforza A, Aglioti SM (2009).
Freezing or escaping? Opposite modulations of empathic reactivity
to the pain of others. Cortex 45, 1072-1077.
Avenanti A, Sirigu A, Aglioti SM (2010). Racial bias reduces
empathic sensorimotor resonance with other-race pain. Current
Biology 20, 1018-1022.
Avenanti A, Urgesi C (2011). Understanding
“what†others do: mirror mechanisms play a
crucial role in action perception. Social Cognitive and Affective
Neuroscience 6, 257-259.
Azevedo RT, Macaluso E, Avenanti A, Santangelo V, Cazzato V,
Aglioti SM (2012). Their pain is not Our pain: Brain and autonomic
correlates of empathic resonance with the pain of same and
different race individuals. Human Brain Mapping, in press.
Bertini, C, Leo F, Avenanti A, Ladavas E (2010). Independent
mechanisms for ventriloquism and multisensory integration as
revealed by theta-burst stimulation. European Journal of
Neuroscience 31 1791-1799.
Borgomaneri S, Gazzola V, Avenanti A (2012). Motor mapping of
implied actions during perception of emotional body language. Brain
Stimulation 5, 70-76.
Borgomaneri S, Gazzola V, Avenanti A (2013). Temporal dynamics
of motor cortex excitability during perception of natural emotional
scenes. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. Advance
Access published September 12, 2013. doi: 10.1093/scan/nst139
Bufalari I, Aprile T, Avenanti A, Di Russo F, Aglioti SM (2007).
Empathy for pain and touch in the human somatosensory cortex.
Cerebral Cortex 17, 2553-2561.
Fourkas AD, Avenanti A, Urgesi C, Aglioti SM (2006).
Corticospinal facilitation during first and third person imagery.
Experimental Brain Research 168, 143-151.
Fourkas AD, BonavolontÃÆ' V, Avenanti A, Aglioti SM
(2008). Kinaesthetic imagery and tool-specific modulation of
corticospinal representations in expert tennis players. Cerebral
Cortex 18, 2382-2390.
Jacquet PO, Avenanti A (2013). Perturbing the action
observation network during perception and categorization of
actions' goals and grips: state-dependency and virtual lesion TMS
effects. Cereb Cortex. Advance Access published October 1, 2013.
doi: 10.1093/cercor/bht242
Minio-Paluello I, Avenanti A, Aglioti SM (2006). Left hemisphere
dominance in reading the sensory qualities of others' pain? Social
Neuroscience 1, 320-333.
Minio-Paluello I, Baron-Cohen S, Avenanti A, Walsh V, Aglioti SM
(2009). Absence of embodied empathy during pain observation in
Asperger Syndrome. Biological Psychiatry 65, 55-62.
SchÃÆ'¼tz-Bosbach S, Avenanti A, Aglioti SM, Haggard P
(2009). Don't do it! Cortical inhibition and self-attribution
during action observation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 21,
1215-1227.
Serino A, Annella L, Avenanti A (2009). Motor properties of
peripersonal space in humans. PLoS One 4, e6582.
Serino A, Canzoneri E, Avenanti A (2011). Fronto-parietal areas
necessary for a multisensory representation of peripersonal space
in humans: an rTMS study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience23,
2956-2967.
Tidoni E, Borgomaneri S, di Pellegrino G, Avenanti A (2013).
Action simulation plays a critical role in deceptive action
recognition. Journal of Neuroscience 33, 611-623.
Urgesi C, Avenanti A (2011). Functional and epiphenomenal
modulation of neural activity in body selective visual areas.
Cognitive Neuroscience 2, 212-214.
Urgesi C, Maieron M, Avenanti A, Fabbro F, Aglioti SM (2008).
Anticipatory simulation of implied actions in the human motor
system. Brain Stimulation 1, 253-254.
Urgesi C, Maieron M, Avenanti A, Tidoni E, Fabbro F, Aglioti SM
(2010). Simulating the future of actions in the human corticospinal
system. Cerebral Cortex, 20, 2511-2521.
Valeriani M, Betti V, Le Pera D, De Armas L, Miliucci R,
Restuccia D, Avenanti A, Aglioti SM (2008). Seeing the pain of
others while being in pain: a laser evoked potentials study.
NeuroImage 40, 1419-1428.
Vicario CM, Kritikos A, Avenanti A, Rafal R (2013). Reward and
punishment: investigating cortico-bulbar excitability to disclose
the value of goods. Frontiers in Psychology 4:39. doi:
10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00039
