AIP Sperimentale 2025, 31° Congresso annuale

Session

Dissecting the Social Brain with Neurostimulation: Mapping Connectivity, Plasticity, and Individual Differences

Sep 12, 2025, 11:00 AM

Conveners

Dissecting the Social Brain with Neurostimulation: Mapping Connectivity, Plasticity, and Individual Differences

• Alessio Avenanti (Università di Bologna)

979. Dissecting the Social Brain with Neurostimulation: Mapping Connectivity, Plasticity, and Individual Differences

Alessio Avenanti (Università di Bologna), Giacomo Guidali (Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca), SIMONA MASSIMINO (Università di Messina), Zaira Cattaneo

9/12/25, 11:00 AM

Abstract complessivo di un simposio

This symposium explores the neural foundations of the social brain, highlighting how social perception emerges from the dynamic interplay between brain networks supporting perception, action, and cognition. Through a set of complementary studies, we will present how visual, motor, and cerebellar networks support the encoding of social signals, adapt through experience, and vary across...

1042. Introduction

Alessio Avenanti (Università di Bologna)

9/12/25, 11:00 AM

981. Motor Cortex Excitability and Vaccine Hesitancy: A TMS Approach to Sensorimotor Responses

SIMONA MASSIMINO (Università di Messina)

9/12/25, 11:05 AM

Talk in simposio

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2024–2025 season, emphasizing their importance in preventing severe illness and hospitalization. Nonetheless, vaccine hesitancy continues to represent a critical barrier, undermining the success of immunization efforts and contributing to the ongoing circulation of the virus. To better understand the...

972. Mirror, mirror on the screen: Influencing motor cortex excitability through action observation and Hebbian associative plasticity

Giacomo Guidali (Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca)

9/12/25, 11:23 AM

Talk in simposio

Introduction. Hebbian plasticity has been implicated in the formation of associations between sensory and motor representations of actions, contributing to the emergence of the motor resonance phenomenon (i.e., activation of the motor system at the sight of other people’s actions, driven by the action observation network, and underlying different facets of social cognition).
Methods....

969. TMS reveals the time course of the cerebellum and cerebellum-social brain causal connectivity during emotion discrimination

Zaira Cattaneo

9/12/25, 11:41 AM

Talk in simposio

Introduction
The posterior cerebellum has emerged as a pivotal component of the social brain, contributing to various socio-affective processes. Despite accumulating evidence of its involvement in social cognition, the temporal dynamics and causal interactions with cortical regions, such as the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), remain underexplored.
Methods
In a series of different...

977. Driving Hebbian plasticity in temporo-occipital back-projections improves visual perception of emotions

Alessio Avenanti (Università di Bologna)

9/12/25, 11:59 AM

Talk in simposio

Introduction: The posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) and early visual cortices (V1/V2) form a reciprocal network crucial for decoding emotional facial expressions. While recursive processing models underscore the significance of feedback connections, the causal impact of pSTS-to-V1/V2 back-projections on emotion perception remains underexplored. This study investigates whether tailoring...

1043. Discussion

9/12/25, 12:17 PM