Name and surname of the Coordinator and of the members of the Research Unit

Coordinator: Claudia Repetto

Members: Alessandro Antonietti, Maria Caterina Silveri, Daniela Traficante, Manuela Macedonia, Daniele Di Lernia, Silvia Serino, Silvia Francesca Maria Pizzoli, Alice Cancer, Elisabetta Lombardi, Cosimo Tuena.

Description

The Research Unit “Multisensoriality of Language and Memory” brings together researchers and professors interested in the study of language and memory processes within the theoretical framework of Embodied Cognition. This perspective, in fact, proposes a highly integrated view of mind and body in which mental operations, such as understanding a word or memorizing it, are closely linked to and dependent on our bodies. The idea of a close connection between cognitive processes and the body system implies that the perceptual and motor systems actively participate in mental processes such as concept construction, memorization, and language use.

From this perspective, the study of the mechanisms that link sense-motor processes with cognitive processes is important not only to deepen knowledge about the functioning of the mind, but also to understand how to design innovative and effective empowerment and rehabilitation interventions. To this end, new technologies, and in particular virtual reality, stand out as ideal tools in relation to their multisensoriality: in fact, virtual environments allow one to situate one's body in a digital place, different from the real one, where (s)he can live multisensory experiences and perform actions as if (s)he was in the real world, overcoming logistical and physical constraints in total safety.

The objectives of the research unit are as follows:

• To promote research on the relationship between cognitive processes and the sensorimotor system
• To understand the potential of new technologies for the promotion of language and memory
• Devise and test tools for enhancing foreign language learning through new technologies
• Devise and test protocols for language and memory rehabilitation, including with the use of new technologies
• Promote workshops and seminars

The Unit's main areas of research are:

• Link between semantic processing and the motor system
• Role of gestures in foreign language learning
• Multisensoriality and verbal learning
• Virtual reality as a multisensory tool
• Virtual action and link to language and memory

Main publications:

1. Claudia Repetto, Anna Flavia Di Natale, Daniela Villani, Stefano Triberti, Serena Germagnoli & Giuseppe Riva (2021) The use of immersive 360° videos for foreign language learning: a study on usage and efficacy among high-school students, Interactive Learning Environments, DOI: 10.1080/10494820.2020.1863234
2. Claudia Repetto, Maria Paola Paolillo, Cosimo Tuena, Francesca Bellinzona & Giuseppe Riva (2020) Innovative technology-based interventions in aphasia rehabilitation: a systematic review, Aphasiology, DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2020.1819957
3. Macedonia M., Repetto C., Ischebeck, A., Muller K., (2019), Depth of encoding trough observed gestures in foreign language learning, Frontiers in Psychology, 10:33. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00033
4. Serino S and Repetto C (2018) New Trends in Episodic Memory Assessment: Immersive 360° Ecological Videos. Front. Psychol. 9:1878. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01878
5. Repetto C., Pedroli E., Macedonia M., Enrichment effects of gestures and pictures on abstract words in a second language, Frontiers of Psychology, 2017, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02136
6. Repetto C., Serino S., Macedonia M., Riva G., Virtual Reality as an Embodied Tool to Enhance Episodic Memory in Elderly, Front. Psychol. 7:1839. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01839.
7. Repetto C., Colombo B., Riva G., Is motor simulation involved in foreign language learning? A virtual reality experiment, Sage Open, 2015, DOI: 10.1177/2158244015609964
8. Repetto C., Cipresso P., Riva G., Virtual action and real action have different impacts on comprehension of concrete verbs, Frontiers of Psychology, 2015, DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00176
9. Silveri MC, Contribution of the Cerebellum and the Basal Ganglia to Language Production: Speech, Word Fluency, and Sentence Construction-Evidence from Pathology.Cerebellum. 2020 Oct 29. doi: 10.1007/s12311-020-01207-6.
10. Lo Monaco MR, Di Tella S, Anzuino I, Ciccarelli N, Silveri MC., Writing errors in primary progressive aphasia. Appl Neuropsychol Adult. 2020 Sep 9:1-8. doi: 10.1080/23279095.2020.1811707.
11. Silveri MC, Di Tella S, Magni E, Pepe F, Leone E, Piludu F, Colosimo C, Ciccarelli N.
12. Degenerative and Vascular Fluent Aphasia: Looking for Differences. Cogn Behav Neurol. 2019 Dec;32(4):225-235. doi: 10.1097/WNN.0000000000000207
13. Lupo M, Siciliano L, Olivito G, Masciullo M, Bozzali M, Molinari M, Cercignani M, Silveri MC, Leggio M., Non-linear spelling in writing after a pure cerebellar lesion. Neuropsychologia. 2019 Sep;132:107143. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107143.
14. Aiello M, Vignando M, Foroni F, Pergola G, Rossi P, Silveri MC, Rumiati RI Episodic memory for natural and transformed food. Cortex. 2018 Oct;107:13-20. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.04.013.
15. Baglio, F., Pelizzari, L., Cabinio, M., Nemni, R., Traficante, D., Silveri M.C. (2020). Uncinate Fasciculus and word selection processing in Parkinson's Disease. Neuropsychologia, 146, n. 107504.
16. Di Tella, S., Baglio, F., Cabinio, M., Nemni, R., Traficante, D., Silveri, M. C. (2018). Selection processing in noun and verb production in left- and right-sided Parkinson's Disease patients. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, n. 1241. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01241      
17. Ripamonti, E., Luzzatti, C., Zoccolotti, P., Traficante, D. (2018). Word and pseudoword superiority effects: Evidence from a shallow orthography language. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71, 1911-1920. doi: 10.1080/17470218.2017.1363791
18. Silveri, M. C., Traficante, D., Lo Monaco, M. R., Iori, L., Sarchioni, F., & Burani, C. (2018). Word selection processing in Parkinson's disease: When nouns are more difficult than verbs. Cortex: A Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior, 100, 8-20. doi:http://0-dx.doi.org.opac.unicatt.it/10.1016/j.cortex.2017.05.023
19. Cancer, A., Bonacina, S., Antonietti, A., Salandi, A., Molteni, M., & Lorusso, M. L. (2020). The Effectiveness of Interventions for Developmental Dyslexia: Rhythmic Reading Training Compared With Hemisphere-Specific Stimulation and Action Video Games. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01158
20. Zanaboni Dina, C., Rago, S., Cancer, A., & Antonietti, A. (2020). A music-dance-imaging training in young adults with Tourette syndrome. Life Span and Disability, 23, 187-209.
21. Andolfi, V. R., Di Nuzzo, C., & Antonietti, A. (2017). Opening the mind through the body: The effects of posture on creative processes. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 24, 20-28 (doi: 10.1016/j.tsc.2017.02.012).
22. Cancer, A., Bonacina, S., Antonietti, A., Salandi, A., Molteni, M., & Lorusso, M. L. (2020). The Effectiveness of Interventions for Developmental Dyslexia: Rhythmic Reading Training Compared With Hemisphere-Specific Stimulation and Action Video Games. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01158
23. Tuena, C., Mancuso, V., Stramba-Badiale, C., Pedroli, E., Stramba-Badiale, M., Riva, G., & Repetto, C. (2021). Egocentric and Allocentric Spatial Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment with Real-World and Virtual Navigation Tasks: A Systematic Review. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 79(1), 95–116. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-201017
24. Tuena, C., Serino, S., Gaston-Bellegarde, A., Orriols, E., Makowski, D., Riva, G., & Piolino, P. (2017). How virtual embodiment affects episodic memory functioning: a proof-of-concept study. Annu. Rev. Cyberther. Telemed, 15, 98-103.
25. Tuena, C., Serino, S., Dutriaux, L., Riva, G., & Piolino, P. (2019). Virtual Enactment Effect on Memory in Young and Aged Populations: a Systematic Review. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(5), 620. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8050620
26. Riva, G., Di Lernia, D., Serino, A., & Serino, S. (2020). The role of reference frames in memory recollection. Behav Brain Sci, 42, e296. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19001845