Article
Behavioral Sciences
Irene Ronga, Mattia Galigani, Valentina Bruno, Nicolo Castellani, Alice Rossi Sebastiano, Elia Valentini, Carlotta Fossataro, Marco Neppi-Modona, Francesca Garbarini
Summary: The study explores the role of peripersonal space in integrating touch and audio-visual stimuli, finding that tool-use can expand peripersonal space and result in response enhancement under spatial congruency conditions.
Article
Neurosciences
Martina Fanghella, Vanessa Era, Matteo Candidi
Summary: This perspective review focuses on the role of predictive multisensory integration in individuals' peripersonal space, supporting efficient interaction with others through integrating sensorimotor signals from interacting partners to form a shared representation of the peripersonal space. The article introduces the features of body and peripersonal space representations, discusses the impact of action planning and execution on the dynamic expansion of the peripersonal space, and presents evidence of peripersonal space modulations after tool use through Bayesian sensory filtering via predictive coding.
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Michele Geronazzo, Roberto Barumerli, Paola Cesari
Summary: Immersive audio technologies require personalized binaural synthesis through headphones to provide perceptually plausible virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) simulations. The premotor reaction time (pmRT) is introduced and applied for the first time in VR contexts to characterize sonic interactions between humans and the technology. By asking listeners to react to virtual sounds approaching from different directions, the methodology centered around pmRT can provide insights into individual behaviors and performances.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Manuel Bayer, Sophie Betka, Bruno Herbelin, Olaf Blanke, Eckart Zimmermann
Summary: This study investigates the impact of experimentally induced changes in perceived self-location on space perception. The full-body illusion is used to differentiate real and apparent body positions. The results show that the illusion-induced forward drift in self-location affects our perception of objects in depth. It is found that task performance significantly improves for the right visual field, indicating enhanced depth perception.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Irene Ronga, Mattia Galigani, Valentina Bruno, Jean-Paul Noel, Andrea Gazzin, Cristina Perathoner, Andrea Serino, Francesca Garbarini
Summary: The ability to identify one's own body boundaries is crucial for survival, with even newborns being able to distinguish their own bodies from the environment within hours of birth. Research indicates that both adults and newborns exhibit a spatial modulation of multisensory integration, emphasizing the importance of body position in space.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Mehrdad Bahadori, Paola Cesari
Summary: This study investigated how approaching sounds with emotional content at different distances within the peripersonal space modulate action preparation. The results showed that closer sounds elicited faster premotor reactions, with the fastest reactions observed for neutral sounds. Interestingly, at close distances, no difference was found between positive and negative emotional stimuli, while at far distances, faster reactions were present for negative sounds, suggesting that arousal level influences emotional discrimination.
Article
Psychology, Mathematical
Antonio Zafarana, Alessandro Farne, Luigi Tame
Summary: Visual shape discrimination is faster for objects close to the body in the peripersonal space (PPS). This advantage also applies to visually perceived depth based on 2D pictorial cues. While multisensory association also displays similar advantages, the influence of PPS on visual perceptual learning is still uncertain.
PSYCHONOMIC BULLETIN & REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Giulia Ellena, Tommaso Bertoni, Manon Durand-Ruel, John Thoresen, Carmen Sandi, Andrea Serino
Summary: This study investigated the effect of experimentally induced stress response on peripersonal space (PPS) representation and compared it to a control group. The results showed that participants with a stronger cortisol stress response demonstrated enhanced visuotactile integration for stimuli close to the body, while participants with a weaker stress response did not show this difference.
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Axel D. Vitters, Monika Halicka, Gavin Buckingham, Michael J. Proulx, Janet H. Bultitude
Summary: Harris proposed that pain can occur without tissue damage, leading to incongruences between motor intention and sensory feedback. This theory has been the basis for novel treatments for pathological pain. In this article, we review the evidence of changes in sensorimotor function in people with pathological pain and suggest that the theory is more suitable for understanding why pain persists rather than how it arises.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Mathematical
A. Zanini, I. Patane, E. Blini, R. Salemme, E. Koun, A. Farne, C. Brozzoli
Summary: Research shows that peripersonal space (PPS) and arm-reaching space (ARS) are distinct spatial representations, with PPS being smaller than ARS and exhibiting different spatial patterns, indicating hand-centered coding similar to that of monkeys' multisensory neurons.
PSYCHONOMIC BULLETIN & REVIEW
(2021)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Olena Bogdanova, Volodymyr B. Bogdanov, Audrey Dureux, Alessandro Farne, Fadila Hadj-Bouziane
Summary: The review explores the relationship between PeriPersonal Space (PPS) and Personal Space (PS), highlighting the impact of social factors on PPS representation. Social factors have been found to intricately modulate PPS representation, leading to divergent results and interpretations at behavioral and physiological levels.
Article
Neurosciences
Naoki Kuroda, Wataru Teramoto
Summary: The study investigated the construction of peripersonal space (PPS) and the response to dynamic cues using a pedaling bike experiment. The results suggest that motor cues may influence the representation of PPS, but the dynamic information in these cues may have little impact.
EXPERIMENTAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Giulia Ellena, Francesca Starita, Patrick Haggard, Vincenzo Romei, Elisabetta Ladavas
Summary: Fearful faces intruding into peripersonal space can increase the redirection of sensory resources towards the periphery, while this effect is almost absent in neutral faces. Electrophysiological results also suggest that the fear-induced effect of fearful faces in near space enhances the expectation of peripheral visual events.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Aimee Martin, Stefanie I. Becker, Alan J. Pegna
Summary: Threatening/fearful stimuli capture attention more efficiently; brain activity in fear-relevant areas is enhanced more by stimuli situated close to viewers; personal distance significantly affects neural responses to emotional stimuli, with increased attention towards fearful faces in close distance.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Monica Biggio, Daniele Caligiore, Federico D'Antoni, Marco Bove, Mario Merone
Summary: This study explores the application of machine learning techniques in detecting brainstem functionality in Multiple Sclerosis. The results indicate that machine learning techniques can accurately identify MS patients, even better than clinicians, and Hand Blink Reflex (HBR) shows promise as an additional indicator for early diagnosis in clinical practice.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Carmelo M. Vicario, Robert D. Rafal, Giuseppe di Pellegrino, Chiara Lucifora, Mohammad A. Salehinejad, Michael A. Nitsche, Alessio Avenanti
Summary: This study investigates the connection between moral violations and disgust using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The findings suggest that highly disapproved moral transgressions can indeed reduce the excitability in the tongue primary motor area.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Francesca Vitale, Ilaria Monti, Ivan Padron, Alessio Avenanti, Manuel de Vega
Summary: Applying negation in action contexts reduces motor system activation. The right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), a key area of the inhibitory control system, was found to contribute to the processing of negated action-sentences in the primary motor cortex (M1). Modulating rIFG suppressed the inhibitory effect of negation, resulting in equal motor excitability for negative and affirmative action sentences.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Francesco Di Gregorio, Jelena Trajkovic, Cristina Roperti, Eleonora Marcantoni, Paolo Di Luzio, Alessio Avenanti, Gregor Thut, Vincenzo Romei
Summary: This study reveals the role of alpha oscillations in human conscious experience. Controlling alpha frequency with rTMS can influence perceptual accuracy, while controlling alpha amplitude can affect the ability to distinguish between correct and incorrect decisions in subjective confidence judgments.
Review
Psychology, Biological
Francisco Ahumada-Mendez, Boris Lucero, Alessio Avenanti, Chiara Saracini, Maria Teresa Munoz-Quezada, Cristian Cortes-Rivera, Andres Canales-Johnson
Summary: In recent years, research into the relationship between emotion and cognition has provided unique insights into fundamental questions about the human mind and mental disease. This systematic analysis of EEG research found that emotional states alter neural markers of cognitive control, with affective induction having a strong influence on attentional processes and response inhibition. Future research should explore different methodologies to better understand the brain's areas and dynamic response during affective induction activities.
PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
(2022)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Paola Pennisi, Mohammad A. Salehinejad, Aurora M. Corso, Emanuele M. Merlo, Alessio Avenanti, Carmelo M. Vicario
Summary: This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on delay discounting (DD) in Parkinson's Disease (PD), and found that patients with PD have steeper delay discounting compared to healthy controls, both on and off dopaminergic medication. These results confirm the altered delay discounting in PD and suggest the independent influence of dopaminergic medication and the clinical condition itself.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Chiara Spaccasassi, Kamela Cenka, Stella Petkovic, Alessio Avenanti
Summary: Sense of Agency (SoA) refers to the awareness of being the agent of our own actions. A key feature of SoA relies on the perceived temporal compression between our own actions and their sensory consequences, a phenomenon known as Intentional Binding. Prior studies have linked SoA to the sense of responsibility for our own actions. However, it is unclear whether SoA predicts the way we judge the actions of others - including judgments of morally wrong actions like harming others.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Jelena Trajkovic, Francesco Di Gregorio, Alessio Avenanti, Gregor Thut, Vincenzo Romei
Summary: The study investigated the effects of visuospatial attention on behavior and neural mechanisms. It was found that informative cues improved visual perception, while noninformative cues did not. Recent studies challenged the idea that lateralized a amplitude modulation accounted for the perceptual gain, suggesting instead that prestimulus a amplitude and frequency influenced subjective appreciation and objective accuracy, respectively. The study further explored the role of predictive cues in attention control and found that they not only modulated preparatory a amplitude but also a frequency in a retinotopic manner. The cues had significant impacts on subjective and objective performance measures.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Sonia Turrini, Francesca Fiori, Emilio Chiappini, Boris Lucero, Emiliano Santarnecchi, Alessio Avenanti
Summary: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have shown that cortico-cortical paired associative stimulation (ccPAS) can strengthen connectivity between the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) and the primary motor cortex (M1) by modulating convergent input over M1 via Hebbian spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). The authors tested 60 right-handed young healthy humans using dual coil TMS and ccPAS over the left PMv and M1 to probe and manipulate PMv-to-M1 connectivity, and found that ccPAS acts locally over M1 by gradually increasing motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) induced by paired PMv-M1 stimulation. Moreover, ccPAS reduced the magnitude of short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) without affecting intracortical facilitation (ICF), highlighting the physiological basis of ccPAS.
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Sonia Turrini, Naomi Bevacqua, Antonio Cataneo, Emilio Chiappini, Francesca Fiori, Matteo Candidi, Alessio Avenanti
Summary: The effectiveness of ccPAS in enhancing motor functions and connectivity between PMv and M1 was demonstrated in young adults, but the same effect was not observed in elderly individuals.
FRONTIERS IN AGING NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sonia Turrini, Naomi Bevacqua, Antonio Cataneo, Emilio Chiappini, Francesca Fiori, Simone Battaglia, Vincenzo Romei, Alessio Avenanti
Summary: Aging is associated with a decline in motor control and neural plasticity. The plasticity in premotor-motor circuits predicts hand motor abilities in young and elderly humans. Physiological indices of PMv-M1 plasticity could provide a neurophysiological marker of fine motor control across age-groups.
Review
Cell Biology
Sonia Turrini, Bonnie Wong, Mark Eldaief, Daniel Z. Press, David A. Sinclair, Giacomo Koch, Alessio Avenanti, Emiliano Santarnecchi
Summary: As the global population ages, understanding healthy brain aging is vital for preserving cognitive abilities. This review provides a comprehensive look at anatomical changes in the aging brain, as well as modifiable risk factors for healthy aging. It also examines the cognitive profile of healthy older adults, discussing the decline in four cognitive factors and their neural substrate. Different cognitive trajectories in Alzheimer's Disease and successful agers with high cognitive reserve are explored. Effective interventions and strategies to promote cognitive reserve and delay cognitive decline are reviewed and proposed.
AGEING RESEARCH REVIEWS
(2023)
Review
Neurosciences
Gaetano Rizzo, Davide Martino, Laura Avanzino, Alessio Avenanti, Carmelo Mario Vicario
Summary: A systematic review analyzed 50 published studies and found that hyperkinetic movement disorders, including Huntington disease, Tourette syndrome, dystonia, and essential tremor, have a negative impact on social cognition, particularly in theory of mind, social perception, and empathy. Impairments were observed in the recognition of negative emotions, and empathy disorders were found in individuals with Huntington's Disease and Tourette syndrome. These findings suggest the involvement of subcortical structures responsible for movement disorders in deficits related to social cognition.
SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Neurosciences
Francesco Tortora, Abed L. Hadipour, Simone Battaglia, Alessandra Falzone, Alessio Avenanti, Carmelo M. Vicario
Summary: Fear is essential for human survival and is characterized by distinct behavioral and physiological responses. The serotonin system plays a significant role in fear learning and expression, with serotonin 5-HT2A receptors regulating fear response. Understanding the role of this neurochemical messenger in associative aversive learning can provide insights into psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among others.
Article
Neurosciences
Francesca Vitale, Mabel Urrutia, Alessio Avenanti, Manuel de Vega
Summary: Self- and vicarious experience of physical pain can inhibit the motor cortex (M1). This study explored whether social exclusion words modulate embodied sensorimotor networks during the vicarious experience of others' pain. Observing pain tended to inhibit motor-evoked potentials (MEPs), and MEPs recorded during pain movies decreased after the presentation of exclusion words. These findings support the activation of social pain-embodied representations in the M1 corticospinal system.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sonia Turrini, Francesca Fiori, Emilio Chiappini, Emiliano Santarnecchi, Vincenzo Romei, Alessio Avenanti
Summary: Cortico-cortical paired associative stimulation (ccPAS) is an effective method for inducing associative plasticity in the brain. This study investigated the physiological changes during ccPAS administration and found both facilitatory and inhibitory effects. Monitoring motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) online could provide insights into the effectiveness of the protocol.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
