SCNL-Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab

Casa
Italia
Rome
SCNL-Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab

🧠 Mente&Corpo
👥 Neuroscienze Cognitive e Sociali
📍 La Sapienza - Fondazione Santa Lucia - IIT (RM)

The Social and Cognitive Neuroscience laboratory was founded in 2003. Originally, the main research interest revolved around the neural representation of body image in healthy and brain damaged patients. In the last ten years several new research lines, all related to the emerging field of social neuroscience, were opened and integrated with the original one under the assumption that the body is t

he psychic object par excellence, at the core of many higher order cognitive and social processes. Among the new lines the most prominent are those concerning:

- Normal and abnormal functioning of social interactions, empathy and personality;
- Neural basis of corporeal awareness in healthy and brain damaged patients;
- Sensorimotor processing in expert brains including elite athletes and musicians;
- Voluntary action and bodily sensations in healthy humans and brain damaged and spinal cord injured patients. The new research lines benefit from the use of a variety of state-of-the-art techniques like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, EEG, Laser Evoked potentials, thermal imaging and autonomic recording responses, high-sensitivity infrared eye-movement recording, kinematics analysis of movements, immersive virtual reality for investigating social brain and behaviour. Thanks to collaborations with other research groups magnetoencephalography and fMRI studies can also be performed. This variety of themes, models and techniques makes the laboratory a kind of unique environment that, also thanks to its link with the International PhD Program in Cognitive, Social and affective Neuroscience, is populated by scholars with different historical and geographical background. Principal Investigator:
Salvatore Maria Aglioti, MD
Behavioural Neurologist,
Full professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychological Physiology,
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy and
IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia Roma, Rome, Italy

07/09/2026

🎉📣❗️NEW PAPER OUT!
Monti, A. and Aglioti, S. M. (2026) The Mind From Within: Visceral Roots of Human Cognition. Advanced Science, e24184. (https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202524184)

The physiological activity of visceral organs, such as the heart, the lungs, and the gut, is surprisingly linked to many sophisticated mental operations: remembering the past, being aware of ourselves, making choices, forging social bond…

This review details the evidence supporting the idea that human mental functions may be deeply embodied. The diverse influence of visceral organs on higher cognition can be summarized in three main pathways.
1) A first-order influence occurs when visceral activity shapes specific cognitive functions by tuning neural activity. (e.g. cardiac rhythms can set the pace of brain activity related to self-consciousness)
2) A second-order influence takes place if a visceral organ impacts on another organ, which, in turn, affects cognition. (e.g. kidneys improve the performance of the cardiocirculatory system, which in turn shapes cognitive performance.)
3) A third-order influence happens when the viscera indirectly steer cognition by influencing the general state of brain and body, (e.g. the respiratory system carries atmospheric gases that can facilitate or hinder our reasoning.)
📈Different frequencies of respiratory, cardiac, and gastrointestinal signals impact on cognitive functions, so that states of high visceral activity and high interoception generally promote cognition.
💡 This is what we call deep embodiment: the activity of visceral organs is effectively implicated in higher cognitive functions like memory, willed action, consciousness, and social cognition. Visceral activity isn’t noise - it’s a cognitive signal.
👉Deep embodiment can account for a body of evidence that cannot be easily explained neither by brain reductionism, nor by classical, “shallow” embodied approaches focusing just on the outer body.

31/08/2026

📣📣New paper out!!!

Lisi, M. P., Giometti, A., Fusaro, M., & Aglioti, S. M. (2026). Surrogate bias: Behavioral and physiological effects of seeing ingroup and outgroup virtual agents touching one’s embodied avatar. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 101273.

🥽 In our new study published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports, we used immersive virtual reality to investigate how group membership and individual differences shape responses to social touch.
🧐Across two experiments with heterosexual Caucasian participants (48 men and 48 women), participants observed Caucasian or African, male or female virtual agents touching intimate, neutral, and social areas of their gender-matched embodied avatar. 📏We measured subjective ratings, skin conductance, heart rate, and interpersonal distance.
🔎In men, outgroup male touch to intimate and social areas elicited stronger skin conductance responses. In women, implicit racial bias indirectly reduced the pleasantness of outgroup touch through its effect on perceived attractiveness. More broadly, touch evaluations were also shaped by attractiveness, intergroup disgust, ideological attitudes, and interpersonal distance.
🧠Overall, the findings show how IVR combined with psychophysiology can reveal both explicit and implicit components of intergroup social interaction.

29/07/2026

🧠 Come si manifestano nel corpo le nostre sensazioni?
Stiamo conducendo uno studio di ricerca per capire come diverse sensazioni ed esperienze vengono percepite a livello corporeo.
La partecipazione consiste nella compilazione di alcuni brevi questionari e in un’attività interattiva in cui ti verrà chiesto di colorare delle silhouettes per indicare dove percepisci diverse sensazioni.
Il tuo contributo ci aiuterà a comprendere meglio il legame tra corpo ed emozioni!
⏱ Durata: circa 30-40 minuti 
📱Puoi partecipare da computer, tablet o smartphone 
🔒Partecipazione anonima e dati trattati nel rispetto della privacy
🔞Requisito: avere almeno 18 anni
⚠️ È importante completare tutte le sezioni dello studio: i dati vengono salvati solo se il questionario viene compilato fino alla fine.
Partecipa qui 👉 https://www.psytoolkit.org/c/3.7.0/survey?s=VjsUy
Grazie per il tuo supporto!

13/07/2026

🎯 Partecipa a uno studio unico e affascinante che collega cervello, cuore, respiro e stomaco.
Stiamo cercando donne tra i 18 e i 40 anni ♀️, in buona salute, normopeso, madrelingua o con livello C1 di italiano🗣️

🔬 misureremo attività cerebrale, cardiaca, gastrica, respiratoria e ti chiederemo un campione salivare.

📍 Dove: Fondazione Santa Lucia (Roma)
💰 Rimborso spese totale: 250€
🕒 Durata: Circa 12 ore per sessione, ripetute 3 volte in giorni diversi a una distanza massima di 10 giorni l’una dall’altra.

⚠️A seconda della sessione, potrebbe sperimentare una deprivazione di contatto sociale o di cibo per 8 ore.

👉 Se sei interessata, compila il questionario di screening qui:
https://psicologiagenerale.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9XBmhUXLOrPNLHo
Ti ricontatteremo noi se sei idonea a partecipare!!🙏🧠

08/07/2026

🚨 New Paper Alert!🚨

We are excited to share our latest publication:

“Virtual proxemics ‘in the wild’: a cross-cultural comparison between Japanese and Italian adults recruited at public fairs” - published in Computers in Human Behavior as part of the Special Issue “Immersive Technologies and Intergroup Relations: Advances, Challenges, and Future Directions.”🎉

In this study, we explored how Japanese and Italian participants regulate interpersonal distance in immersive virtual reality, bringing VR research beyond the laboratory and into real-world public settings. 🌍🥽

📍 Using a portable VR setup, we collected data from 184 participants during Expo Osaka 2025 and Maker Faire Rome 2025.

🔍 findings:
• Japanese participants preferred larger interpersonal distances than Italian participants.
• Across both groups, virtual agents perceived as more trustworthy or attractive were positioned closer.
• Stronger implicit pro-Caucasian bias was associated with greater distance from Asian than from Caucasian virtual agents.

These findings highlight the potential of immersive VR as a powerful tool for studying social behavior in controlled yet ecologically valid environments, offering new insights into how interpersonal space, first impressions, and implicit attitudes shape our interactions.

👏 Congratulations to the entire research team:
Matteo P. Lisi, Althea Frisanco, Anna Giometti, Giuseppe Perrone, Donato Ferri, and Salvatore Maria Aglioti.

🤝 This work was carried out through a collaboration between Sapienza University of Rome, the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), EY, and IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia.

🔗 Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2026.109089

Psychology

30/06/2026

Join our Study on Social Neuroscience! 🧠✨

Hi everyone!
We are currently looking for participants for a new experiment exploring behavior, social interactions, and bodily sensations.

The study involves a 1 hour in-person session at the Psychology Department of Sapienza during which you will complete heartbeat counting tasks, observe social interactions, perform finger movement tasks, and ECG recordings using electrodes.

To participate, you should be between 18 and 40 years old, healthy (no heart, psychological or psychiatric problems), right-handed, and either a native English speaker or fluent.

If you are interested, please fill out this quick questionnaire to see if you are eligible: https://psicologiagenerale.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3DejQxLnACp1UmG

If you meet the criteria, we will contact you with further details.
For any questions, feel free to reach out here or via email at: [email protected] or aks

29/06/2026

📣📣NEW PAPER OUT‼️

Placidi, V., Lisi, M. P., Vabba, A., Frisanco, A., & Aglioti, S. M. (2026). Virtual Embodiment of Civic Heroes Preserves the Conflict Associated with Anti-Mafia Intentions and Enhances Physiological Discomfort in Response to Mafia-Related Crime. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2026.2690102

❓We investigated whether the virtual embodiment of civic heroes could affect participants’ anti-mafia attitudes and intentions, as well as their physiological responses toward virtual agents associated with mafia-type crime.

👁️Through immersive virtual reality, participants embodied one out of three avatars (an anti-mafia hero, a firefighter or a generic avatar). We measured participants’ behavioral responses, heart rate and electrodermal activity.

🔎We observed that the virtual embodiment of heroic figures increased the physiological discomfort in response to mafia-type criminals, but it also preserved participants’ conflict about their intention to act against mafia-type organizations.

🧠These results may reflect the discomfort induced by the risks and duties associated with heroic roles, and repeated exposure could potentially strengthen the beneficial effects of the procedure, enhancing anti-mafia attitudes and intentions also at the explicit level.

11/06/2026

📣📣📣Seminar on Focused Ultrasound Stimulation: From Fundamental Mechanisms and Technology Development to Neuroscience Research.

🗓️Monday, 15th of June 2026, from 10:30 am to 1:00 pm.

📍Department of Psychology, AULA 6 / Zoom: https://uniroma1.zoom.us/j/88459306146

🗣️SPEAKERS: Prof. Davide Folloni , Dr. Federico Rossano, Dr. Stella Petkovic

🧠Professor Davide Folloni will provide an overview of the principles and applications of focused ultrasound stimulation (FUS). Building on this foundation, Dr. Federico Rossano will present recent experimental results from measurements performed on ex vivo skull specimens using a 32-element ultrasound transducer. Finally, Dr. Stella Petkovic will place these developments in a broader context by providing an update on recent advances and the current state of the art of low-intensity focused ultrasound in neuroscience research.

05/06/2026

Day 2 - Keynote: Carmen Sandi (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL): The metabolic roots of emotional vulnerability: mitochondria, anxiety and motivation

What if our emotional experiences are shaped not only by neural circuits and cognition, but also by the energy that powers the brain?

Key insights from today's keynote:
🔹 Mitochondria Beyond Energy Production
Often called the cell's "powerhouses," mitochondria may play a much broader role in regulating neural plasticity, stress adaptation, and emotional resilience.
🔹 Anxiety and Brain Metabolism
Persistent high anxiety can overlap with depressive features such as reduced motivation, revealing shared biological mechanisms linked to brain energy regulation.

Key findings:
⚡ Individual differences in mitochondrial function and brain metabolism influence anxiety-related behaviors, motivation, and responses to stress.
🧪 Research across animal models and human studies suggests that metabolic health may be a key factor in emotional vulnerability.
🥽 Innovative translational tools—including magnetic resonance spectroscopy, virtual reality-based behavioral assessments, and metabolism-focused interventions—are helping connect biological mechanisms with real-world emotional experiences.
🔄 Together, these findings highlight brain metabolism as a potentially modifiable pathway for understanding and improving mental health.
📚 A compelling reminder that emotions are not only psychological experiences—they are deeply connected to the biological energy systems that support the brain.

26/05/2026

-7 DAYS TO ESCAN CONFERENCE IN ROMEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you ready???????

Indirizzo

Via Ardeatina 306
Rome
00179

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http://linktr.ee/scn_lab

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