Mariella Pazzaglia

Sapienza University of Rome | la sapienza · Department of Psychology

Background Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) stimulating the auricular branch of the vagus nerve along a well-defined neuroanatomical pathway, has promising therapeutic efficacy. Potentially, taVNS can modulate autonomic responses. Specifically, taVNS can induce more consistent parasympathetic activation and may lead to incre...

On the slow path to improving the life expectancy and quality of life of patients post spinal cord injury (SCI), recovery remains controversial. The potential role of the regenerative capacity of the nervous system has led to numerous attempts to stimulate the SCI to re-establish the interrupted sensorimotor loop and to understand its potential in...

Under many conditions, emotional information is processed with priority and it may lead to cognitive conflict when it competes with task-relevant information. Accordingly, being able to ignore emotional information relies on cognitive control. The present perspective offers an integrative account of the mechanism that may underlie emotional conflic...

To get a concrete representation of its intangible flow, humans frame time in space. How this conceptual superimposition of space over time takes place remains unclear. Here we exploited the STEARC effect (Spatial-Temporal Association of Response Codes), which consists of faster coding of “short“ durations with motor responses in the left side of s...

Experimental and theoretical studies have tried to gain insights into the involvement of the Temporal Parietal Junction (TPJ) in a broad range of cognitive functions like memory, attention, language, self-agency and theory of mind. Recent investigations have demonstrated the partition of the TPJ in discrete subsectors. Nonetheless, whether these su...

Neuropathic pain (NP) is a common chronic condition that severely affects patients with spinal cord injuries (SCI). It impairs the overall quality of life and is considered difficult to treat. Currently, clinical management of NP is often limited to drug therapy, primarily with opioid analgesics that have limited therapeutic efficacy. The persisten...

Experimental and theoretical studies have tried to gain insights into the involvement of the Temporal Parietal Junction (TPJ) in a broad range of cognitive functions like memory, attention, language, self-agency and theory of mind. Recent investigations have demonstrated the partition of the TPJ in discrete subsectors. Nonetheless, whether these su...

Comorbidity between cardiometabolic risk factors and major mental health disorders is a public health concern. The close interconnection between the mental and physical aspects of health precludes considering each condition separately. Accordingly, this study sought to explore the interrelationships between psychological factors, overweight, and bl...

A growing body of evidence highlights that the COVID-19 pandemic affected oneiric activity. However, only a few studies have assessed the longitudinal changes in dream phenomenology during different phases of the pandemic, often focused on a limited number of dream variables. The aim of the present study was to provide an exhaustive assessment of d...

Endowed with inherent flexibility, wearable robotic technologies are powerful devices that are known to extend bodily functionality to assist people with spinal cord injuries (SCIs). However, rather than considering the specific psychological and other physiological needs of their users, these devices are specifically designed to compensate for mot...

Our bodily experience arises primarily from the integration of sensory, interoceptive, and motor signals and is mapped directly into the sensorimotor cortices [...]

Background and objective: Heart rate variability (HRV) as an index of the autonomic nervous system appears to be related to reactivity to experimental pain stimuli. HRV could better explain the contributions of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity response to nociceptive stimulation. The aim of this study was to systematically review and synth...

Evidence indicates an association between executive functioning and increased weight, with different patterns ascribed to individual differences (sex, age, lifestyles). This study reports on the relationship between high-level executive functions and body weight. Sixty-five young adults participated in the study: 29 participants (14 males, 15 femal...

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) are disruptive neurological events that severly affect the body leading to the interruption of sensorimotor and autonomic pathways. Recent research highlighted SCI-related alterations extend beyond than the expected network, involving most of the central nervous system and goes far beyond primary sensorimotor cortices. Th...

The pandemic period which has characterized the last two years has been associated with increasingly worsening psychological conditions, and previous studies have reported severe levels of anxiety, mood disorder, and psychopathological alteration in the general population. In particular, worldwide populations have appeared to present post-traumatic...

Study Objectives Sleep talking (ST) has been rarely studied as an isolated phenomenon. Late investigations over the psycholinguistic features of vocal production in ST pointed to coherence with wake language formal features. Therefore, we investigated the EEG correlates of Verbal ST as the overt manifestation of sleep-related language processing, w...

The onset of Takotsubo syndrome (TTS), also known as stress cardiomyopathy, is thought to be associated with some life events. This study focuses on clarifying life event characteristics and the role of triggers in the onset of TTS. Participants with TTS (n = 54) were compared to those with acute myocardial infarction (AMI; n = 52) and healthy indi...

Importance: The association of fast backward-rotating shift work (ie, anticlockwise sequence of afternoon, morning, and night shifts) with subjective and objective measures of sleep-wake quality, daytime attention, and tiredness of health care workers has not yet been established. Objective: To investigate the association of shift rotation directi...

Neuropathic pain (NP) is a chronic, debilitating, and resistant form of pain. The onset rate of NP following spinal cord injuries (SCI) is high and may reduce the quality of life more than the sensorimotor loss itself. The long-term ineffectiveness of current treatments in managing symptoms and counteracting maladaptive plasticity highlights the ne...

Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) exert devastating effects on body awareness, leading to the disruption of the transmission of sensory and motor inputs. Researchers have attempted to improve perceived body awareness post-SCI by intervening at the multisensory level, with the integration of somatic sensory and motor signals. However, the contributions of...

The AB refers to the performance impairment that occurs when visual selective attention is overloaded through the very rapid succession of two targets (T1 and T2) among distractors by using the rapid serial visual presentation task (RSVP). Under these conditions, performance is typically impaired when T2 is presented within 200–500 ms from T1 (AB)....

Lacunae are the voids left by missing or damaged pieces of artwork, and their presence constitutes a central problem in the aesthetic experience of viewing artwork. However, we hypothesize that experience and knowledge of art might differentially modify viewer reactions to degraded artwork. Here, we investigated the implicit and explicit attitudes...

Rotating shifts (mostly 8- or 12-h) are common among nurses to ensure continuity of care. This scheduling system encompasses several adverse health and performance consequences. One of the most injurious effects of night-time shift work is the deterioration of sleep patterns due to both circadian rhythm disruption and increased sleep homeostatic pr...

Increasingly, refined virtual reality (VR) techniques allow for the simultaneous and coherent stimulation of multiple sensory and motor domains. In some clinical interventions, such as those related to spinal cord injuries (SCIs), the impact of VR on people′s multisensory perception, movements, attitudes, and even modulations of socio-cognitive asp...

Purpose: In adolescence, physiological (circadian and homeostatic regulation of sleep) and social habits contribute to delayed sleep onset, while social obligations impose early sleep offset. The effects of delayed school start time on the subjective/objective measures of sleep-wake patterns and academic achievement have not been established. Met...

In Europe, 40% of health-care employees are involved in shift work. The altered sleep/wake rhythm of night-shift nurses is also associated with deteriorated cognitive efficiency. In this study, we examine the effects of the night shift on psychomotor performance, sleepiness, and tiredness in a large sample of shift-working nurses and evaluated if p...

In view of current scientific knowledge, it seems premature to hypothesize a qualitative distinction between processes, networks, and structures involved in abstract processes from those based on perception, episodic, or procedural memories. Predictive thought and mental travel strongly rely, at different levels of consciousness, on past and ongoin...

The multisensory regions in frontoparietal cortices play a crucial role in the sense of body and self. Disrupting this sense may lead to a feeling of disembodiment, or more generally, a sense of disownership. Experimentally, this altered consciousness disappears during illusory own-body perceptions, increasing the intensity of perceived ownership f...

Neuroplastic changes in somatotopic organization within the motor and somatosensory systems have long been observed. The interruption of afferent and efferent brain–body pathways promotes extensive cortical reorganization. Changes are majorly related to the typical homuncular organization of sensorimotor areas and specific “somatotopic interference...

Background: Pain is a marker of bodily status, that despite being aversive under most conditions, may also be perceived as a positive experience. However, how bodily states represent, define, and interpret pain signals, and how these processes might be reflected in common language, remains unclear. Methods: Qualitative and quantitative methods were...

Neurorehabilitation and brain stimulation studies of post-stroke patients suggest that action-observation effects can lead to rapid improvements in the recovery of motor functions and long-term motor cortical reorganization. Apraxia is a clinically important disorder characterized by marked impairment in representing and performing skillful movemen...

Although several outcome measures are used to assess various areas of interest regarding spinal cord injuries (SCIs), little is known about the frequency of their use, and the ways in which they transform shared knowledge into implemented practices. Herein, 800 professionals from the International Spinal Cord Society, especially trained for caring...

Many neuropsychological theories agree that the brain maintains a relatively persistent representation of one’s own body, as indicated by vivid “phantom” experiences. It remains unclear how the loss of sensory and motor information contributes to the presence of this representation. Here, we focus on new empirical and theoretical evidence of phanto...

Corporeal awareness of body unity, continuity, and integrity is hardwired in the brain, even following massive deafferentation. Following peripheral limb injury, referred phantom sensations are reported frequently on the cheek and, rarely, on the ear. Here, we explore how brain plasticity mechanisms induced by multisensory stimulation of different...

Many neuropsychological theories agree that the brain maintains a relatively persistent representation of one’s own body, as indicated by vivid “phantom” experiences. It remains unclear how the loss of sensory and motor information contributes to the presence of this representation. Here, we focus on new empirical and theoretical evidence of phanto...

Growing evidence indicates that perceptual-motor codes may be associated with and influenced by actual bodily states. Following a spinal cord injury (SCI), for example, individuals exhibit reduced visual sensitivity to biological motion. However, a dearth of direct evidence exists about whether profound alterations in sensorimotor traffic between t...

Referred phantom sensations are frequently reported following a peripheral injury. However, very few cases describe such sensations of the ear, and it remains unclear how the aural nerve territory can be remapped to one specific peripheral nerve region. We report on a patient with brachial plexus avulsion who underwent sensory testing and was asked...

«Embodiment» is a term that highlights how our sense of the body is plastic and can be extended beyond the biological self to incorporate a salient tool. Theoretical bases are grounded in the widely discussed concepts of embodiment, tool use, and body representation. To support these claims, we will first explore highlight a pathway in the confusin...

Knowledge of the body is filtered by perceptual information, recalibrated through predominantly innate stored information, and neurally mediated by direct sensory motor information. Despite multiple sources, the immediate prediction, construction, and evaluation of one’s body are distorted. The origins of such distortions are unclear. In this revie...

Purpose: Spinal cord injury (SCI), a profound impairment of sensorimotor functions, is often associated with pain related phenomena, including mechanical allodynia, a condition in which non-painful tactile sensation is perceived as pain. Pain and somatic sensation are undeniable markers of normal bodily awareness. However, the mechanism by which t...

ContextScientific research has consistently shown that prejudicial behaviour may contribute to discrimination and disparities in social groups. However, little is known about whether and how implicit assumptions and direct contact modulate the interaction and quality of professional interventions in education and health contexts. Objectives This st...

The bidirectional flow of perceptual and motor information has recently proven useful as rehabilitative tool for rebuilding motor memories. We analyzed how the visual-motor approach has been successfully applied in neurorehabilitation, leading to surprisingly rapid and effective improvements in action execution. We proposed that the contribution of...

Interpersonal interactions are primarily mediated through vision. However, crucial information concerning other individuals is also captured through different senses. New evidence suggests that body odors can implicitly initiate, filter, and guide the integrated perceptions that characterize real human impressions. Human body-odor processing helps...

Under normal circumstances, different inner- and outer-body sources are integrated to form coherent and accurate mental experiences of the state of the body, leading to the phenomenon of corporeal awareness. How these processes are affected by changes in inner and outer inputs to the body remains unclear. Here, we aim to present empirical evidence...

The feeling of acting voluntarily is a fundamental component of human behavior and social life and is usually accompanied by a sense of agency. However, this ability can be impaired in a number of diseases and disorders. An important example is apraxia, a disturbance traditionally defined as a disorder of voluntary skillful movements that often res...

In this article, I will comment on recent advances in the research on the intersection between language and action. On the basis of the argument proposed by Arbib, I will consider an evolutionary scenario according to which language emerged from a basic imitation mechanism devoted to action representation. I will review more appropriate data in pat...

I evaluate the bottlenecks involved in the simulation mechanism underpinning superior predictive abilities for upcoming actions. This perceptual-motor state is characterized by a complex interrelationship designed to make predictions using a highly fine-tuned and constrained motor operation. The extension of such mechanisms to language may occur on...

Background: Bodily sensations are an important component of corporeal awareness. Spinal cord injury can leave affected body parts insentient and unmoving, leading to specific disturbances in the mental representation of one's own body and the sense of self. Objective: Here, we explored how illusions induced by multisensory stimulation influence...

Table S1. Clinical and demographic characteristics of patients with SCI. The neurological levels of the lesion and injury, as determined using the American Impairment Scale (AIS), are indicated. Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) scores were not available for patients No. 12 and 25. Table S2. Scores and communalities on questionnaire statement...

A tool such as a prosthetic device that extends or restores movement may become part of the identity of the person to whom it belongs. For example, some individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) adapt their body and action representation to incorporate their wheelchairs. However, it remains unclear whether the bodily assimilation of a relevant exte...

Background: Following spinal cord injury (SCI) or anaesthesia, people may continue to experience feelings of the size, shape and posture of their body, suggesting that the conscious body image is not fully determined by immediate sensory signals. How this body image is affected by changes in sensory inputs from, and motor outputs to, the body rema...

Increasing evidence suggests that the basic foundations of the self lie in the brain systems that represent the body. Specific sensorimotor stimulation has been shown to alter the bodily self. However, little is known about how disconnection of the brain from the body affects the phenomenological sense of the body and the self. Spinal cord injury (...

Although vision seems to predominate in triggering the simulation of the behaviour and mental states of others, the social perception of actions might rely on auditory and olfactory information not only when vision is lacking (e.g. in congenitally blind individuals), but also in daily life (e.g. hearing footsteps along a dark street prompts an appr...

Since the discovery of 'mirror neurons' in the monkey premotor and parietal cortex, an increasing body of evidence in animals and humans alike has supported the notion of the inextricable link between action execution and action perception. Although research originally focused on the relationship between performed and viewed actions, more recent st...

The issue of the relationship between language and gesture processing and the partial overlap of their neural representations is of fundamental importance to neurology, psychology, and social sciences. Patients suffering from primary progressive aphasia, a clinical syndrome characterized by comparatively isolated language deficits, may provide dire...

Studies in nonhuman and human primates have demonstrated that sound-producing actions are mapped on the same mirror circuits that are activated during the visual recognition and execution of actions [1-12]. However, no causative link between the auditory recognition and execution of actions has been provided thus far. Here, we sought to determine w...

Visual analysis of faces and nonfacial body stimuli brings about neural activity in different cortical areas. Moreover, processing body form and body action relies on distinct neural substrates. Although brain lesion studies show specific face processing deficits, neuropsychological evidence for defective recognition of nonfacial body parts is lack...

Limb apraxia (LA), is a neuropsychological syndrome characterized by difficulty in performing gestures and may therefore be an ideal model for investigating whether action execution deficits are causatively linked to deficits in action understanding. We tested 33 left brain-damaged patients and 8 right brain-damaged patients for the presence of the...

The ability to detect left-sided stimuli (visual or tactile) was studied in visual and tactile extinction (RBD) patients and in healthy (C) subjects. Stimuli were single or double; double stimuli were always cross-modal and could be released across the 2 hemispaces or within the same hemispace. Moreover, the stimuli could be either simultaneous or...