CROSSMODAL  PERCEPTION AND PLASTICITY LAB CIMeC Lab Fair 3rd Oct. 2017

The general goal of our research is to investigate the limits and potentials of brain plasticity and clarify the role of sensorimotor experience in language and though.

PI

Oliver Collignon

PostDocs

Lab Manager

Roberto Bottini

Stefania Benetti

Lorenzo Vignali

Valeria Occelli

Virginie Crollen

Kaela Ann Venuto

PhD Students

Ceren Battal

Stefania Mattioni

Mohamed Razek

Francesca Barbero

Jyothirmayi Vadlamudi

Federica Falagiarda

Jessica Calzà

Stephanie Cattoir

Marco Barilari

Master Students Research Assistant

Research

•  Cross-modal plasticity in sensory-deprived

individuals (blind or deaf). •  Cognitive processing of time, number and

abstract concepts and their relationship with sensorimotor experience.

•  The neural basis of language processing, with a special interest for semantics, brain plasticity and the role of sensorimotor experience.

Topics

In our lab we use several different techniques: •  fMRI •  EEG/MEG •  TMS

Methods

In this project we use blindness as a model to investigate to what extent functional specialization in visual cortices is contingent on visual experience. Specifically our current research focuses on: •  The organization of conceptual knowledge/language •  The processing of auditory spatial information/ motion in the

blind visual cortex

MADVIS: Mapping the deprived occipital cortex

This project investigates the sensorimotor and semantic system in sighted and blind. We use MEG and fMRI to investigate: •  The topography and timecourse of language processing •  The role of sensory experience in understanding word

meaning

PRIN: How do words mean?

This project aims at assessing the oscillatory characteristics of the neuronal activity within the occipital cortex of the blind. We use MEG to investigate the predictive role of occipital oscillatory activity on: •  Experience sensory (auditory and tactile) illusions •  Perception of near-threshold auditory stimuli

COcOAB: Characterizing the Occipital Oscillatory activity in Blindness

This project aims at investigating whether the blind’s representation of numbers is supported by specific reorganization of the brain. We work with children: •  Develop new multisensory mathematics teaching program

for sighted children and children presenting numerical disabilities

NonVisNumCog: The role vision plays in shaping the representation of numbers

This project investigates the functional anatomy of face and visual motion processing in deaf individuals with the aim to characterize the cross-modal reorganization potentially associated with the early auditory deprivation. It also addresses the relationship between macro-structural changes induced by auditory deprivation and the preceptual and language outcomes after cochlear implantation in pre-lingually deaf children.

Info and contacts

Ongoing Projects

olivier.collignon@unitn.it

Cecità e plasticità cerebrale al CIMeC Sordità e plasticità cerebrale al CIMeC CHECK US OUT

The CPP Lab is always looking for new members! Write us an email if you want to collaborate in an ongoing project or for your independent studies/internship/thesis.

BPaD: Brain plasticity and Deafness

Camilla Endrizzi

Jacopo Turini