CNR - Neuroscience Institute

Director:	Dr. Giancarlo Colombo
Lab Members:	Dr. Pietro Avanzini - Senior research scientist Dr. Fausto Caruana - Senior Research scientist Dr. Maddalena Fabbri Destro - Research scientist Dr. Maria Del Vecchio - Research scientist

Web Site

	Presentation
	The Institute of Neuroscience of Parma is a CNR (National Research Council) institute dedicated to the study of cognitive and social neuroscience. It comprises a diverse group of professionals, including neuroscientists, biomedical engineers, and psychologists, who actively collaborate to study how the motor system is involved in our cognitive functions. Among the main research lines is the study of the Mirror Neuron System in humans.
	Main reserch lines
	The discovery of mirror neurons at the beginning of the 1990s triggered various lines of research investigating the role and functions of neural circuits that, from observing the actions of others, enable humans to understand the intentions and emotions of others (Mirror Mechanism). Among them there are: -Mirror Neuron System in humans -Motor learning -Neurorehabilitation and the mirror system -Enhancement of motor skills in sports -Emotions and facial expressions -Conscious perception -Autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders -Neuroarchitecture http://www.in.cnr.it/index.php/it/neuroni-specchio
	Techniques used
	Non-invasive neurophysiological techniques: electroencephalography (EEG); transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS); functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); tDCS neuromodulation Invasive neurophysiological techniques: intracranial recording and electrical stimulation in patients via stereo-EEG (in collaboration with the Claudio Munari Center, Niguarda, Milan) Behavioral techniques: virtual reality (VR); eye-tracking; kinematics
	Main equipments available
	EEG: EGI 128-channels; BrainProducts 64-channels TMS: Magstim rapid2; Magstim bistim; Nexstim NBS5 VR: HTC vive pro eye; HTC vive; 14 Oculus quest 2. Cinematica: Xsens Motion Capture System
	Publications
	Del Vecchio M, Avanzini P, Gerbella M, Costa S, Zauli F.M, d’Orio P, Focacci E, Sartori I, Caruana F (2024). Anatomo-functional basis of emotional and motor resonance elicited by facial expressions. Brain. In press Presti P., Galasso G.M., Ruzzon D., Avanzini P., Caruana F., Rizzolatti G., Vecchiato G. (2023). Architectural experience influences the processing of others’ body expressions. PNAS. 120 (41) e2302215120. Nuara A, Bazzini MC, Cardellicchio P, Scalona E, De Marco D, Rizzolatti G, Fabbri-Destro M, Avanzini P. (2022). The value of corticospinal excitability and intracortical inhibition in predicting motor skill improvement driven by action observation. Neuroimage. 1:266:119825 Rizzolatti G, Fabbri-Destro M, Nuara A, Gatti R, Avanzini P. (2021). The role of mirror mechanism in the recovery, maintenance, and acquisition of motor abilities. Neurosci Biobehav Rev.127:404-423 De Marco D, Scalona E, Bazzini MC, Nuara A, Taglione E, Lopomo NF, Rizzolatti G, Fabbri-Destro M, Avanzini P. (2021). Observation of others' actions during limb immobilization prevents the subsequent decay of motor performance. PNAS. 118(47): e2025979118 Del Vecchio M., Fossataro C., Zauli F., Sartori I., Pigorini A., d’Orio P., Aberrategui B., Russo S., Mikulan E., Caruana F., Rizzolatti G., Garbarini F., Avanzini P. (2021). Tonic somatosensory responses and deficits of tactile awareness converge in the parietal operculum. Brain. 144(12):3779-3787 Caruana F., Gerbella M., Avanzini P., Gozzo F., Pelliccia V., Mai R., Abdollahi R. O., Cardinale F., Sartori I., Lo Russo G., Rizzolatti G. (2018). Motor and Emotional Behaviors Elicited by Electrical Stimulation of the Human Cingulate Cortex. Brain 141(10):3035-3051