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Colloquium Series

The CIMeC Colloquium Series is an annual set of invited talks given by leading researchers in the mind/brain sciences, both from Italy and abroad, aimed principally at our PhD Students. Given the multi-disciplinary backgrounds of the CIMeC students and researchers, the colloquia are aimed at a general scientific level rather than at a more specialized audience. For school credit, all first, second and third year students attend the Colloquia. First and second year students prepare an essay based on one of the Colloquia of their choice summarizing the Colloquium, critically assessing the claims made and discussing the Colloquium in a broader context.

Find out who’s speaking at the next CIMeC Colloquium

Seminars 2021

Title: The networked brain: interactions between emotion, motivation, and cognition
When: 11th March 2021
Speaker: Dr. Luiz Pessoa , University of Maryland

 

Seminars 2020

Title: Egocentric, allocentric and object-centred reference frames in perception and memory
When: 9th July 2020 
Speaker: Andrej Bicanski, UCL 

Title: Value perception and cognition in ants
When: 19th February 2020 
Speaker: Tomer Czaczkes, University of Regensburg

Title: Investigating the function of pallial to basal ganglia projecting neurons in vocal learning and maintenance in songbirds
When: 13th February 2020
Speaker: Miguel Sánchez Valpuesta 

Title: Dynamics in the infant brain: the case of word memories and numerical representations
When: 29th January 2020 
Speaker: Silvia Elena Benavides-Varela - University of Padua 

Seminars 2019

CIMeC Talk

Title: Motion correction in MRI
When: 22th November 2019, 2:30 PM
Where: Conference Room (basement), LNIF, via delle Regole, 101, Mattarello (Trento)
Speaker: Giulio Ferrazzi, PhD - Kings College London, UK | Host: Jorge Jovicich
Summaries:
Topic1: Motion corrected MRI with DISORDER: Distributed and Incoherent Sample Order for Reconstruction Deblurring using Encoding Redundancy. Tolerance against head motion is a desirable property in MRI. Rigid-body MRI motion correction can be tackled via prospective or retrospective techniques. However, prospective methods require additional hardware and/or scanner modifications. In contrast, retrospective techniques may facilitate the removal of motion induced artefacts without the use of external sensors, but they often rely on image navigation. In this work, we introduce a data-driven reconstruction method for retrospective multishot rigid-body motion correction based on Distributed and Incoherent Sample Orders for Reconstruction Deblurring using Encoding Redundancy (DISORDER). DISORDER is novel acquisition/reconstruction framework correct for head motion on a variety of spatio-temporal scales and imaging contrasts without the explicit use of image navigation. The technique is tested on controlled 3D motion scans including (MP-RAGE), fast spin echo (FSE), fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), spoiled gradient echo (SPGR), and balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) sequences as well as applied on a cohort of clinical paediatric patients.
Topic2: Fetal fMRI Processing Pipeline: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or fMRI, is today a well established tool used to assess both resting state connectivity and task activation in neuroscience. It has also been used for the study of brain development in neonates and there are a small number of pilot studies that seek to use fMRI in utero. However, there are formidable challenges in this application as the fetus lies within the mother and is moved by her respiration as well as performing its own sporadic and unpredictable motion. Thus motion is a core issue for any fetal fMRI study. This work discusses a pipeline that was developed to analyse fetal fMRI data acquired with standard sequences. The approach addresses motion correction as a primary requirement, both to stabilise anatomical content for each voxel in a fMRI time series, but also to correct the data from other sources of image artefacts that can be modulated by movement, such as bias field, spin history and distortions. From the results of this study, it emerges that functional MRI is feasible in the developing fetus.

CIMeC CLIC Seminar

Title: Bridging the image and text spaces with neural network methods for multimodal representation learning and spatial understanding
When: 21th November 2019, 3.15 - 4.15 p.m.
Where: Conference room, 1st floor, Palazzo Fedrigotti, Corso Bettini 31, Rovereto
Speaker: Guillem Collell,Language Intelligence and Information Retrieval group (LIIR) at KU Leuven
Abstract: Images and text often co-occur together in real world data. To perform real-world tasks, it is therefore crucial to learn good, actionable, distributed representations for each modality separately, as well as multimodal representations that concisely encode information from both modalities. In recent years, the emergence of Neural Networks and Deep Learning has eased this process and boosted performance in real-world tasks to a large extent. In this presentation, I discuss the use of feed-forward neural networks to map distributed distributed representations of one modality to the other, and in particular, I illustrate their use as a method to learn multimodal representations. Furthermore, I pinpoint some limitations of the feed-forward networks often employed to bridge modalities in applications such as cross-modal retrieval or zero-shot learning.
Spatial information is present in virtually every conceivable visual task, in one form or another. As such, spatial understanding has evolved as one of the main animal cognitive skills, being key to orientation, visual recognition and scene understanding tasks. As a result, human language is often grounded in spatial knowledge, being the spatial relationships between objects either explicitly specified with a spatial preposition (e.g., ``on" or ``below") or only implicitly implied through actions (e.g., ``riding"). Here, I approach the question of grounding spatial relations in text as a cross-modal mapping problem, and further illustrate the use of neural nets as a means of mapping the textual to the spatial (visual) domain, and vice versa. This enables visualizing and making explicit spatial relations otherwise only implicitly implied in text.

CIMeC Talk

Title: Development of Intersensory Perception
When: 11th November 2019, 11AM – 12PM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n. 14
Speaker: David J. Lewkowicz - Northeastern University Boston | Host: Giorgio Vallortigara
Abstract: By default, the infant's everyday world is multisensory in nature. This creates both problems and opportunities for developing infants. On the one hand, the apparent “blooming, buzzing confusion” that is normally created by concurrent multisensory attributes might prevent infants from perceiving a unitary and psychologically meaningful world. On the other hand, multisensory perceptual attributes provide highly redundant and thus perceptually more salient information about objects and events than unisensory attributes and can, as a result, bootstrap and facilitate infants’ discovery of a coherent and psychologically meaningful world. In this talk, I will review evidence indicating that multisensory processing is initially relatively primitive early in infancy and that it gradually improves as infants grow. In addition, I will show that everyday experience plays a critical role in the development of multisensory processing and the emergence of perceptual expertise for native, as opposed to non-native, multisensory inputs. I will conclude by arguing that the development of multisensory processing is a fundamental aspect of perceptual and cognitive development and that a full understanding of its development is key to gaining insights into the acquisition of knowledge across all domains of psychological functioning.

CIMeC Talk

Title: Non-Linguistic Grammar Learning by 12-month-old Infants: Evidence for Constraints on Learning
When:  4th November 2019, 11AM – 12PM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n. 14
Speaker: Chiara Santolin - Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona | Host: Giorgio Vallortigara
Abstract: Infants acquiring their native language are adept at discovering grammatical patterns. However, it remains unknown whether these learning abilities are limited to language, or available more generally for sequenced input. The current study was designed to ask whether infants can track phrase structure-like patterns from nonlinguistic auditory materials (sequences of computer alert sounds). One group of 12-month-olds was familiarized with an artificial grammar including predictive dependencies between sounds concatenated into strings, simulating the basic structure of phrases in natural languages. A second group of infants was familiarized with a grammar that lacked predictive dependencies. All infants were tested on the same set of familiar strings vs. novel (grammar-inconsistent) strings. Only infants exposed to the materials containing predictive dependencies showed successful discrimination between the test sentences, replicating the results from linguistic materials, and suggesting that predictive dependencies facilitate learning from nonlinguistic input.

CIMeC Talk

Title: The Mind-Object Identity theory (the spread mind): a physical basis for consciousness.
When: 22th October 2019, 10:30AM – 11:30AM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n. 14
Speakers: Riccardo Manzotti and Tim Parks - IULM University of Milan | Hosts: Giorgio Vallortigara e Lucia Rodler
Abstract: Based on the premise that the CNS is sufficient for generating consciousness, neuroscientists have tried to locate phenomenal experience inside the CNS. However, there is no conclusive evidence that consciousness is inside the head. Discrepancies between the properties of neural activity and those of consciousness have led many scholars to suspiciously define phenomenal experience as something special in the physical world (Tononi, Koch, Seth, Chalmers, Libet) therefore leading to the so-called hard problem. So far, this approach has not succeeded because the brain is not like consciousness. But returning to the initial premise - what if the premise is the culprit? What if consciousness, albeit physical, is outside the CNS? In this spirit, I defend a radical hypothesis that conscious experience is identical with the objects themselves. Based on the notion of relative objects, subjectivity will be explained in terms of relative existence, as is the case with relative velocity. I will then consider the traditional objections - dreams, illusions, and hallucinations - and propose a realist solution: a relative object is a physical object (external to the nervous system) identical to one’s experience. Its existence is relative to one’s body. By adopting such an identity, I claim that it is indeed possible to solve the puzzles that have plagued traditional identity theories for years. In particular, I will show that in all cases of experience (dreams, illusions, hallucinations) it is possible to locate a physical object similar to what happens in standard perception.

CeRiN Seminar

Title: Progressive primary Aphasias: differential diagnosis and treatment
When: 10th October 2019, 2PM – 4PM
Where: via Matteo del Ben 5 Rovereto
Speaker: dott. Miozzo, expert speech therapist - University of Brescia

CIMeC Talk

Title: Inside out: the influence of the body upon cognition
When: 4th October 2019, 11AM – 12PM
Where: Palazzo Fedrigotti, Corso Angelo, Corso Bettini, 31, 38068 Rovereto TN, Italy 1st floor conference room
Speaker: Alejandro Galvez-Pol | Host: Luca Turella e Luigi Tamè
Abstract: The following talk focuses on two different frameworks: how we perceive and remember others’ bodies (exteroceptive processing) and the influence of physiological systems within the body upon cognition (interoceptive processing). Specifically, first I examine the temporary maintenance of task-relevant information in working memory (WM). In three studies we combined different conditions including motor, somatosensory, and visual-evoked potentials in a WM task for body and control non-body-related images. Then, we assessed the presence of persistent activity (an EEG index of memory encoding) in the subsequent cortices. This design allowed us to isolate visually driven neural activity in areas other than visual. Our results showed that throughout the retention interval of the WM paradigm, motor and somatosensory cortices exhibited persistent activity that increased with the number of body stimuli to-be-remembered, whereas visual/posterior regions’ persistent activity increased steadily when maintaining the control non-body-related stimuli. These results bridge together the action observation and WM frameworks, supporting a dynamic WM course in which the nature of the information summons specific cortical resources. In the second part of the talk, I focus on how recent research has demonstrated that perception and reasoning vary according to the phase of internal bodily signals such as heartbeat. If the phase of the cardiac cycle is an important modulator of perception and cognition, as previously proposed, then the way in which we actively sample the world should be similarly modulated by the phase of the cardiac cycle. Here we tested this by coregistration of eye movements and heartbeat signals while participants freely compared differences between two visual arrays. Across three different analyses, we found a significant coupling of saccades, subsequent fixations, and blinks with the cardiac cycle. More eye movements were generated during the systolic phase of the cardiac cycle, which has been reported as the period of maximal effect of the baroreceptors' activity upon cognition. Conversely, more fixations were found during the diastole phase (quiescent baroreceptors). Lastly, more blinks were generated in the later period of the cardiac cycle. These results suggest that interoceptive and exteroceptive processing do adjust to each other; in our case, by sampling the outer environment during quiescent periods of the inner organism.

CIMeC Talk

Title: Neurobiology of Social Bonding: Implications for Autism
When: 1st October 2019, 11:30AM – 1:30PM
Where: Palazzo Fedrigotti - Conference Room, I floor, Corso Bettini, 31 - Rovereto 
Speaker: Larry J. Young | Host: Paola Sgadò
Abstract: This lecture will present current theories of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying social attachment (e.g. pair bonding), empathy, and the consequences of social loss based on studies in monogamous prairie voles. Oxytocin receptor (OXTR) signaling coordinates neural activity in a social salience network to link the neural encoding of partner cues with the rewarding aspects of social affiliation. Diversity in expression patterns of OXTR in the brain contribute to diversity in social behaviors across and within species. The effects of early social neglect on adult social relationships will be discussed. Bonded prairie voles display empathy-like consoling behavior toward their partner when they are distressed. This consoling response is abolished by blocking OXTR in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region involved in human empathy. Loss of a bonded partner results in the development of depressive-like “grieving” behavior, which is alleviated by oxytocin replacement. Studies in humans suggest that the role of oxytocin on social relationships are conserved from rodents to man. The implications of oxytocin on potential therapies for improving social functioning in psychiatric disorders such as autism will be discussed.

CIMeC Talk

Title: Individual brains, collective task: social regulation of stinging behaviour in honeybees
When: 11th September 2019, 9:30AM – 10:30AM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n. 14
Speaker: Morgane Nouvian – University of Konstanz in Germany | Host: Amelie Cabirol
Abstract: Honeybees defend their nest against large predators thanks to a collective effort to harass and sting the intruder. The stinger apparatus has evolved to detach upon stinging elastic skin (such as ours) to maximize venom delivery, but the drawback is that the mutilated bee will then die within a few hours. Thus, the honeybee colony under threat has to achieve a delicate balance: enough bees need to respond that the intruder is successfully deterred, but without unnecessarily depleting the colony of its workforce. What are the mechanisms regulating the decision of each individual to engage or not into this collective response, so that this balance is reached? I propose that honeybees integrate information about the behaviour of their nestmates (social feedback) to fine tune their own response. The aim of my project is to study both the behavioural and the neurobiological bases of this regulatory mechanism. Thanks to the behavioural experiments, I will characterize the postulated social feedback and identify the sensory channels involved. In order to study the neurobiological mechanism underlying this regulation, the role of known and putative neuromodulators of honeybee aggression will be investigated. Characterization of the neurons involved will provide a starting point to unravel the neuronal circuitry mediating the stinging response of honeybees.

ACN Talk

Title: Probability intuitions in human children and nonhuman animals
When: Tuesday, 30 July 2019, 9:30AM – 10:30AM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n. 14
Speaker: Sarah Placì –- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, Göttingen | Host: Giorgio Vallortigara

Train (Trentino Autism Initiative) Seminar

The seminar is co-organized by CIBIO and CIMeC
Title: Aging of immune system: causes, consequences and possible interventions
When: 17th July 2019 11.00 a.m.- 1.00 p.m.
Where: Aula B103 - Povo 2 (map)
Speaker: Luca Pangrazzi,  Institute for Biomedical Aging Research, University of Innsbruck
Abstract: Aging leads to a decline of immune function, a process known as immunosenescence, which contributes to higher incidence and severity of infectious diseases and decreased efficacy of vaccines in the elderly. Due to the involution of the thymus, the numbers of antigen-inexperienced (naïve) T cells are low in old age. For this reason, finding new strategies to support the maintenance of antigen-experienced adaptive immune cells generated during life is of utmost importance. In particular, the bone marrow (BM) has been shown to play the major role in the survival of memory cells.With our work, we first assessed how aging affects the maintenance of immunological memory in the human BM. A link was found between inflammation and oxidative stress, typical hallmarks of aging, and impaired survival of “healthy” adaptive immune cells. In the elderly, highly differentiated, senescent-like T cells, which migrate to the BM from the periphery, may compete for space with memory T cells. In addition, senescent-like T cells support BM inflammation through the production of pro-inflammatory molecules IFNγ and TNF. Because of their fundamental role played in this process, the phenotype of senescent T cell candidates was studied in details using microarrays. In parallel, strategies to specifically induce apoptosis in senescent T cells in vitro and to reduce BM inflammation and oxidative stress in vivo were identified. In summary, our work suggests that the maintenance of immunological memory in the elderly may be supported targeting directly the side effects of aging.

CIMeC Talk

Title: Foundations of Object Perception and Geometry
When: Tuesday, 9 July 2019, 11AM – 12PM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n. 14
Speaker: Pierre PICA - CNRS Paris (France) & Instituto Do Cérebro, Natal (Brazil) | Host: Giorgio Vallortigara
Abstract: In recent work, (Izard et al., 2011), Izard, Pica and Spelke (Submitted)), we analyse the perceptual foundations of Euclidian geometry in humans. In particular, we examine the evidence for two types of geometries, one dealing with rigid objects, the second concerning non-rigid ones. In this talk, I would like to draw a parallel between the two geometries, and two types of classifiers found in the Mundurucu language, spoken by an indigenous population of the Amazon. We show that it is possible to divide objects into two categories: one dealing with flexible objects, the other dealing with rigid ones. We show that classifiers can be conceived as precursors of geometric entities and this surprising discovery can provide evidence for knowledge of geometry to be derived from knowledge of object.

CIMeC CLIC Seminar

Title: Reasoning over meaning in context
When: 27thJune, 2019  10:00  - 11:30 a.m.
Where: Seminar Room, Third Floor, Palazzo Fedrigotti, Corso Bettini 31, Rovereto
Speaker: Katrin Erk, University of Texas at Austin
Abstract: How does meaning in context come about? Even when only two words are involved, the combination can be complex, as in the case of 'pet fish' (Osherson & Smith, 1981; Hampton 1985; Kamp & Partee, 1995), which is usually not eaten although fish often are, and is not fluffy although pets usually are. In a larger discourse, there are many interacting context influences, including selectional constraints, wider topic, and referents. If we view utterance interpretation as a process that generates a situation description (Fillmore, 1985), and if we view this process as probabilistic, then we can describe the different context influences as  interacting random variables. We take some first steps towards such a framework, and sketch how it could be used to analyze some examples.

CIMeC Talk

Title: Reflections on Piaget, Chomsky, Fodor and the Baldwin Effect
When: Monday, 17 June 2019, 11AM – 12PM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n. 14
Speaker: Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini - Professor of Cognitive Science - University of Arizona | Host: Giorgio Vallortigara
Abstract: Summarizing the main points of the Royaumont debate between Jean Piaget, Noam Chomsky and several other key participants, several issues are highlighted as being still relevant today. The main focus here is the theory of syntax, the fixation of basic concepts and language acquisition, explaining why some suggestions then made by Piaget, Inhelder, Céllerier and Papert do not stand the evidence and the theoretical developments accumulated since the debate. Piaget’s focal interest in epigenetics and the Baldwin effect is critically re-examined in the light of many crucial developments in genetics, epigenetics and the evo-devo revolution. It is stressed that Piaget was right in his critique of canonical neo-Darwinism and that his observations of inherited acquired traits in the mollusk Lymnea stagnalis were correct, in spite of perplexities unjustifiably raised by the biologists then participating in the debate (the present author, alas, included). A plea for a better, future post-Darwinian integration between evolution and psychology is offered.

Train (Trentino Autism Initiative) Seminar

The seminar is co-organized by DiPSCo and TRAIN
Title: Early recognition of autism spectrum disorder: from animal models to human studies
When: 4th June, 2019 3 p.m.
Where: Conference room, Palazzo Fedrigotti, 1st floor (Rovereto)
Speaker: Dr. Maria Luisa Scattoni (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma)

Train (Trentino Autism Initiative) Seminar

The seminar is co-organized by the Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems (CNCS) of IIT-UniTn and TRAIN (Trentino Autism Initiative)
Title: New therapeutic approaches to treat brain disorders characterized by impaired chloride homeostasis
When: 28th May , 2019 11 a.m.
Where: Conference room Palazzo Fedrigotti, 1st floor - corso Bettini 31, Rovereto
Speaker:  Dr. Laura Cancedda (IIT-Genova)

ACN Talk

Title: From Torpor to Synthetic Torpor: basic science, space exploration and biomedical applications
When: Tuesday, 14 May 2019, 11:30AM – 12:30PM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n. 14
Speaker: Prof Matteo Cerri M.D., Ph.D. - Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences, University of Bologna | Host: Giorgio Vallortigara
Abstract: In mammals, torpor/hibernation is a state that is characterized by an active reduction in metabolic rate with a progressive decrease in body temperature. At the moment, the neural pathways responsible for the metabolic suppression that characterizes torpor are not known. Mice are facultative heterotherms, and torpor in these rodents can be reliably triggered by changing environmental conditions. This characteristic consents therefore to trigger torpor almost on command and the marker of neuronal activation cfos can be used to identify groups of neurons activated at torpor onset. The metabolic suppression that characterizes torpor requires a reduction in the activity of metabolically active organs. Most of these organs, such as the brown adipose tissue, are controlled by the putative sympathetic premotor neurons located within the Raphe Pallidus. To enter torpor, these neurons have to be necessary inhibited. The inhibition of these neurons in rats induces indeed a state of resembles torpor, called Synthetic Torpor and that can be exploited for many medical applications and for space exploration. Synthetic torpor may in fact provide an enhanced radioprotection towards cosmic rays. In this seminar, we’ll present a quick overview on the state of the art in hibernation research, explore what the future steps will be and discuss possible applications.

Train (Trentino Autism Initiative) Seminar

Title: Train seminar
When: 2nd April , 2019, 5.00 p.m.
Where: Sala Convegni Palazzo Fedrigotti, 1st floor (Rovereto)
Speaker: Prof. Martien Kas (University of Groningen, The Netherlands)
Abstract: Prof. Martien Kas (University of Groningen, The Netherlands) is an internationally known behavioural neuroscientist, with a long experience in genetic and animal model studies of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. He will give a lecture entitled "From Autism Spectrum Disorders to quantitative biology; a neurodevelopmental perspective”. In his lecture, he will give a a comprehensive overview on quantitative and neurodevelopmental studies to address the complexity of autism pectrum Disorders.

IIT Talk

Title: Identifying polygenic influences on on brain structural and functional changes in 16p11.2 hemideletion
When: Wednesday, 20th March 2019, 11AM – 12PM
Where: third floor conference room, Palazzo Fedrigotti, Rovereto
Speaker: Dr Thomas Nickl-Jockschat, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa
Abstract: The genes located in the 16p11.2 region seem to be especially relevant for the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), as hemideletions of this regions is the most frequently associated copy number variation (CNV) with ASD. Of note, CNVs that involve mulitple genes are ideal models to study a polygenic disorders such as ASD. One promising avenue towards identifying genes contributing to changes in brain structure or function is the study of their expression pattern: those genes that spatially overlap in their expression with changes in brain structure and function are likely candidates to contribute to the pathogenesis of these changes. In this talk, we will present methodical approaches to link gene expression patterns to neuroimaging data sets in rodents and human. Our findings, so far, highlight genes related to the MAPK pathway as implicated in structural and functional changes in a rodent model of 16p11.2 hemideletion. We will also introduce a novel probabilistic continous gene expression mapping of the cortical surface in humans.

IIT Talk

Title: Multifuntional Neural Interfaces with Tapered Optical Fibers
When: Monday, 18th March 2019, 11AM – 12PM
Where: third floor conference room, Palazzo Fedrigotti, Rovereto
Speaker: : Dr Ferruccio Pisanello - Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia | Host. Alessandro Gozzi
Abstract: In vivo optical interfaces with in deep structures of the mouse brain are still limited by the use of flat-cleaved optical fibers, whose illumination and light collection performances is restricted to a small and fixed volume close to fiber facet [1,2]. If two- photon microscopy has allowed multipoint stimulation and monitoring of neural activity for almost the whole cortical depth, last 5 years have seen the development of several technological approaches to reach sub-cortical regions with improved spatial resolution, including μLEDs, GRIN lenses, Indium Thin Oxide-based probes and tapered optical fibers [3-10]. After a review of the state-of-the-art in this field, this presentation will focus on the engineering and use of tapered optical fibers to control and monitor neural activity using only one optical waveguide with reduced invasiveness. The technology exploits mode-division demultiplexing operated by a millimeters-long taper that allows to redirect and/or collect light over different brain regions and subregions. Exploting micro and nanotechnologies to structure the highgly curve surface of the fiber taper, it is possible to engineer the stimulation and the collection volume, as well as to realize multiple electrodes for extracellular electrophysiology along the taper. The simplicity of this technique, together with its versatility, reduced invasiveness and compatibility with both laser and LED sources, indicate this approach can greatly complement the set of existing methods for optical neural interfaces with deep brain regions.

CIMeC Talk

Title: The Gordian knot of imprinting: functions of biological motion and thyroid hormone
When: Monday, 4th March 2019, 10:00AM – 11:30AM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n.14
Speaker: Prof Dr Toshiya Matsushima - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University | Host: Giorgio Vallortigara
Abstract: Very early visual experiences do a lot in precocial animals like newly hatched chicks. Since coined as “imprinting” by Konrad Lorenz in 1937, this early process has been understood as a special but simple case of memory formation. This is however not enough, if not very incorrect. The learned colour preference immediately fades and is replaced by gradual and lasting development of predisposed preference to biological motion (BM). The concomitant activation of thyroid hormone (T3) primes the chicks, so that they get secondarily imprinted to any objects with BM features after the so-called critical period is over. The heavily tangled cascade would thus lead to robust formation of social cohesion to the conspecifics. Imprinting is an adaptive process of cognitive awakening.

CIMeC CLIC Seminar

Title: Modeling reference games on real-world images: A common playground  for computational and experimental methods
When: 6th February 2019 2.00 P.M. - 3.30 p.m.
Where: Conference room, First Floor, Palazzo Fedrigotti, Corso Bettini 31, Rovereto
Speaker: Sina Zarrieß, University of Bielefeld
Abstract: For a long time, so-called reference games (cf. Rosenberg and Cohen, 1964) have been a popular experimental paradigm in linguistics, as they put together the basic ingredients of verbal interaction in a controlled microcosm: a speaker, a listener, a visual scene and a common communicative goal (identifying an object). Recently, this setting has been re-discovered in the Vision & Language community, and large-scale data sets that pair referring expressions with objects in real-world images have become available. These now constitute an excellent testbed for analyzing state-of-the-art machine learning models from a linguistic perspective and vice versa, and this is what I will do in this talk. First, I will present a computational study on neural referring expression generation, investigating different decoding strategies and how they relate to theoretical expectations. Second, I will present an ongoing eye-tracking study that leverages real-world images and a data-driven model for experimental hypothesis testing. Finally, I will discuss ideas on how to bring these two approaches even closer together.

ACN Seminar

Title: Functional MRI in actively discriminating pigeons
When: Tuesday, 5th February 2019, 11:00AM – 12:30PM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n. 14
Speaker: Mehdi Behroozi - Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44780, Bochum, Germany | Host: Giorgio Vallortigara
Abstract: Decision based on discrimination is critical for adjusting the behaviour to survive in a dangerous environment. For example, humans and non-human animals must be able to discriminate between different stimuli in their environment in order to decide about food and mate selection. Functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) is a powerful and non-invasive technique, which has been used to investigate such mechanisms in the primate brain by measuring whole brain responses to brief events. In other hand, birds have been shown to possess an impressive repertoire of cognitive abilities with some of them even on par with non-human primates. Birds thus represent important species to broaden our knowledge of the neural basis of cognition. To date, fMRI has never been used to investigate cognitive processes in awake behaving birds because of limitations such as insufficient immobilization, lack of means to measure behavioural responses and difficulties to reward the animals in the scanner. Here, I am going to represents set of studies which enabled us to investigate colour discrimination mechanism in awake behaving pigeons.

CIMeC Talk

Title: The Hearing body: Body-centred sound technologies for emotional and physical health
When: Wednesday, 23th January 2019, 3:00PM – 4:30PM
Where: Conference Room, Palazzo Fedrigotti, Corso Bettini, 31, 38068 Rovereto TN, Italy
Speaker: Ana Tajadura-Jiménez is a Ramon y Cajal research fellow at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and honorary research associate at the University College London Interaction Centre (UCLIC). She is also part of the H2020 STARTS initiative that funds collaboration of the Arts with Technology. Prior to this she obtained a PhD in Applied Acoustics at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden). She was a post-doctoral researcher in the Lab of Action and Body at Royal Holloway, University of London, and an ESRC Future Research Leader and Principal Investigator of The Hearing Body project at University College London Interaction Centre (UCLIC).
Abstract: People, through their bodily actions, engage in sensorimotor loops that connect them to the surrounding world and to their own bodies. The incoming sensory information is integrated to form perceptions of one’s own body appearance and capabilities. These body perceptions highly impact on people’s self‐esteem, emotional state and behavior. In her talk, Ana will talk about how neuroscientifically grounded insights that body perceptions are continuously updated through sensorimotor information may contribute to the design of novel body-centred technologies to support people’s needs and for behaviour change. Ana will present their work on The Hearing Body project on how sound feedback on one’s actions can be used to alter body perception, and in turn enhance positive emotions and change motor behavior. She will also present their current project MagicShoes aimed to inform the design of wearable technology in which sound-driven changes in body perception may be used to enhance behavioral patterns, confidence and motivation for physical activity. Ana will discuss how apart from the focus on real-life applications, novel technologies for body sensing and sensory feedback may also become a research tool for investigating how emotional and multisensory processes shape body perception. She will conclude by identifying new challenges and opportunities that this line of work presents.

CIMeC Talk

Title: Brain machine interfaces and neurofeedback for motor and cognitive rehabilitation
When: Monday, 21th January 2019, 10AM – 11AM
Where: ACN lab - seminar room, II floor, Piazza della Manifattura 1 - Building n. 14
Speaker: Prof. Piero Paolo Battaglini – Full Professor in Physiology, University of Trieste | Host: Giorgio Vallortigara
Abstract: In order to produce movements, brain must be connected to muscles via spinal cord and nerves. If these pathways are disrupted, there is no way to restore communication through biology or medicine (till now). As a matter of fact, Nerve regeneration is possible in the peripheral nervous system only, while at central level (brain and spinal cord), there is no possibility of healing: a lesion of the spinal cord or brain can cause irreparable damage with loss, even total, of the involved functions. In the case of motor systems, there is often irreversible paralysis. What can it be done? Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) allow to bypass the lesion by creating an alternative pathway. BCI have been proved to be effective in allowing spelling of letters, words and even phrases as well as in moving objects in space. When the application is used to modulate the activity of the brain itself, it takes the name of Neurofeedback. But what if the lesion is at the source of the signal? Nor the physiological pathway or a bypass will work. It is the case of stroke. What it is needed, here, is an alternative source of signal. It is the same in the case of Parkinson’s disease. As a matter of fact, reorganization of the cerebral cortex after de-afferentation and de-efferentation is possible, thanks to, among others, motor imagery, which relies on the same brain systems that are used for actual movement. We believe that MI, sustained by Neurofeedback, can increase rehabilitation gain in patients who have difficulty to move. Neurofeedback can also be used to contrast cognitive decline in elderly people and ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder) children. Evidence from our lab will be presented in support to these assertions.

CIMeC Talk

Title: Dissociating sensorimotor experience from language statistics: insights from the representation of number and time
When: Wednesday, 16th January 2019, 4:30PM – 5:30PM
Where: DIPSCo conference room (Sala riunioni DIPSCo) at the first floor of Palazzo Fedrigotti, in Rovereto
Speaker: Luca Rinaldi - Postdoc at the University of Milano Bicocca | Host: Roberto Bottini
Abstract: Phylogenetic perspectives have suggested that the way we represent number and time is primarily dependent on our sensorimotor experience with the outer world. Yet, humans have been endowed through evolution with the faculty of language. Our grasp of number and time may thus originate as well from how these two domains are expressed in everyday language. In my talk, I will present a series of studies probing the contribution of sensorimotor experience and language statistics onto the representation of number and time. In particular, I will first present evidence showing that prior and contingent visual experience plays a crucial role in the setting of the sagittal mental time line, whereas language statistics do not. Then, a data-driven computational model, which learns to predict one event (a word in a text corpus) from associated events without appeal to perception, will be applied to implicitly characterize the underlying semantics of number words in natural language. Findings from purely linguistic information will unveil that the representation of number words induced by the model reliably depends on numerical ratio - a clear signature of Weber’s law - thus perfectly mirroring the human and non-human psychophysical performance in comparative judgments of numbers. Together, these findings will help clarifying the unique and distinct contribution of sensorimotor experience and language statistics on the way number and time are implemented in our cognitive architecture.