At the ICoN Center, complex cognitive processes are investigated, ranging from decision-making to motor cognition, from language to social and affective cognition, and to eating behavior, with important translational implications.

Decision-Making Neuroscience

Making decisions—and translating them into real actions and behaviors—requires a finely tuned balance between motivational drives and inhibitory processes of cognitive control. This balance can be disrupted in numerous neurological or psychiatric disorders, in which motivational drive is either absent or, conversely, excessive and insufficiently counteracted by effective inhibitory mechanisms. Investigating the neurocognitive bases of decision-making and executive functioning therefore enables the development of models of various disorders characterized by emotional, motivational, and impulse-control deficits. This research line aims to examine the neural foundations of decision-making using multiple methodological approaches, including neuroimaging (magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography) and neurostimulation techniques (transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation), through studies involving both healthy participants and clinical populations. An additional goal is to translate the resulting knowledge into innovative treatments based on neurostimulation interventions.

Social and Affective Neuroscience

The social nature of human beings is closely tied to the ability to understand others’ affective (empathy) and cognitive (mentalizing) states, and to incorporate this information when making decisions (moral cognition). These processes, collectively referred to as social cognition, rely on complex networks of cortical and subcortical brain regions that may be specifically affected in many neurological and psychiatric conditions. This research line aims to investigate the neural bases of social cognitive processes using various techniques, from neuroimaging (magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography) to neurostimulation (transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation), through studies involving healthy participants and clinical populations. The resulting knowledge may provide valuable insights for the development of novel treatments focused on social cognitive abilities, potentially combined with neurostimulation-based methods.

Motor Cognition and Action Representation 

Our daily experience relies on the ability to move body parts in a coordinated manner to produce complex actions that allow us to interact with the environment. Beyond motor planning, engaging in social interaction requires the capacity to analyze and interpret the meaning of others’ actions—whether directly observed or conveyed through language—and to respond with appropriate behaviors. These abilities may be impaired in disorders affecting motor control. This research line investigates the neurophysiological foundations of motor cognition and action representation using neuroimaging (magnetic resonance imaging and high-density electroencephalography), neurostimulation (magnetic stimulation), and movement analysis (kinematics). The resulting knowledge aims to inform the development of new neuro-motor rehabilitation treatments and biomarkers of their effectiveness (e.g., in Parkinson’s disease or stroke).

Language and Semantic Cognition

Understanding the functional anatomy of language has been at the core of our research for over 40 years. Integrating neuropsychological and psycholinguistic approaches with the diverse methods of cognitive neuroscience—such as neuroimaging, neurophysiology, neuromodulation, and neurocomputational modeling—is significantly enriching our understanding of its neural organization.
Semantic processing is a specific focus of interest. Semantic memory contains knowledge about the world (facts), such as words, concepts, and numbers, accumulated over a lifetime. Studying patients with isolated or relatively isolated impairments of this central aspect of mental functioning has played a pivotal role in developing theoretical and practical models of cognition and in identifying the neurobiological mechanisms underlying semantic memory. Several research lines adopt a multimodal approach, with particular emphasis on abstract knowledge and organization, investigated along a continuum ranging from basic cognitive mechanisms in healthy individuals to the neural adaptations supporting high performance in experts, and finally to the alterations observed in neurological and psychiatric patients, with the aim of developing experimental approaches to rehabilitation.

Prevention of Neurocognitive Disorders

Keeping the brain healthy is not simply a matter of age or luck: it is a deliberate choice, increasingly supported by robust scientific evidence. Prevention is one of the pillars of Precision Medicine for promoting Brain Health, which relies on personalized interventions tailored to each individual, beginning with a comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment. Research in this area is based on projects that combine the study of innovative and digital cognitive markers capable of predicting the risk of cognitive decline, monitoring changes over time, and supporting personalized prevention programs, leveraging multimodal analyses and digital medicine.

Multimodal Studies for Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementias

Neurodegenerative cognitive diseases represent a complex and compelling domain. They include young-onset clinical syndromes, such as early-onset Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal dementia, as well as atypical conditions such as primary progressive aphasias. Studying these disorders means entering the core of the processes that govern memory, language, and social emotions, and understanding how the brain changes when these functions are compromised.
Research projects in this field aim to identify specific cognitive and behavioral markers that allow precise characterization of each patient’s phenotype, linking it to the analysis of biological biomarkers and paving the way for novel personalized rehabilitation approaches. Recognizing the earliest signs of cognitive impairment allows timely intervention, when the brain is still capable of responding and adapting.

Ongoing research projects:

-    DIgital markers of Social Cognition for diagnosis & pRognosis in Neurodegeneration (DISCeRN) (Bando JPND 2025)
-     Trattamenti innovativi di neuromodulazione per il dolore cronico: valutazione e previsione degli effetti di protocolli personalizzati ad Alta Definizione per la Stimolazione Transcranica a Corrente Diretta (HD-tDCS) (Bando PNRR 2023)
-    Concetti sociali e interazione sociale (Bando PRIN 2022) 
-    Percepire lo stato corporeo interno: comprendere il ruolo dell’interocezione nell’obesità (Bando PRIN 2022)
-    Migliorare le funzioni motorie, cognitive e sociali nei pazienti con malattia di Parkinson: un approccio innovativo che combina registrazioni elettrofisiologiche e stimolazione cerebrale non invasiva in scenari interattivi (Bando Giovani Ricercatori, Ricerca Finalizzata 2021)

Head: Prof.ssa Eleonora Catricalà

Research staff:

Prof. Nicola Canessa

Prof.  Stefano F. Cappa

Prof.ssa Chiara Cerami

Prof.ssa Giulia Mattavelli

Dott.ssa Valentina Pacella

Dott.ssa Natalia Borella

Dott.ssa Francesca Conca

Dott.ssa Anna Dechino

Dott.ssa Giada D’Este

Dott. Thomas Di Gregorio

Dott.ssa Elisabetta Fasiello

Dott. Massimo Favaro

Dott. Stefano Franzosi

Dott.ssa Irene Gorrino

Dott.ssa Gaia Locatelli

Dott.ssa Maria Jose Habib

Dott.ssa Carlotta Maiocchi

Dott.ssa Aurora Manini

Dott.ssa Marta Milanesi

Dott. Andrea Panzavolta

Dott.ssa Margherita Papaccio

Dott. Riccardo Pirone

Dott.ssa Alice Radici

Dott. Leonardo Rassouli

Dott.ssa Letizia Richelli

Dott.ssa Anna Vedani

Dott. Gabriele Volpara

Dott.ssa Francesca Vozzo

National collaborations

Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele di MIlano
Università degli Studi Milano-Bicocca
Università degli Studi di Trento
Università degli Studi di Torino
Università degli studi di Verona
Università degli Studi di Pavia
Università degli Studi di Firenze
Università La Sapienza di Roma
Università degli Studi di Messina

IRCCS San Raffaele di Milano
Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta di Milano
Istituto Auxologico IRCCS di Milano
Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS di Pavia e Milano Camaldoli
IRCCS Fondazione C. Mondino di Pavia
IRCCS Fondazione Don Gnocchi di Firenze
IRCCS Fatebenefratelli di Brescia
Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS di Roma

Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS di Roma
Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata di Verona
Azienda Ospedaliera Ospedali Riuniti di Palermo

Rete Italiana Neuroscienze e Neuroriabilitazione
Istituto Psicologico Italiano IPSI
Food Policy Milano

International collaborations
Università di California, San Francisco, USA
St George's University Hospitals, Londra, UK
Potsdam Universität, Potsdam, Germania
Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Bordeaux, Francia
Radboud University, Nijmegen, Olanda
Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, Francia 
Imperial College London, Londra, UK
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Lille University Hospital, Lille, Francia
Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Madrid, Spagna
EOC, Lugano, Switzerland
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
 

• Morphometric Evidence of a U-Shaped Relationship Between Loss Aversion and Posterior Insular/Somatosensory Cortical Features. Arioli M, Richelli L, Mattavelli G, Cattaneo Z, Poggi P, Canessa N. Hum Brain Mapp. 2025
• Understanding barriers and optimizing socio-cognitive assessment in the diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders. Cerami C, Boccardi M, Meli C, … & Dodich A; SIGNATURE initiative. J Neuropsychol. 2025
• High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex modulates decision-making and executive control. Mattavelli G, Lo Presti S, Tornaghi D, Canessa N. Brain Struct Funct. 2022
• Neural correlates of naming errors across different neurodegenerative diseases: An FDG-PET study. Catricalà E, Polito C, Presotto L, Esposito V, Sala A, Conca F, ... & Perani D. Neurology. 2020
• State-dependent TMS reveals the differential contribution of ATL and IPS to the representation of abstract concepts related to social and quantity knowledge. Catricalà E, Conca F, Fertonani A, Miniussi C, Cappa SF. Cortex. 2020

The full list of publications is available on the following page of the IRIS archive.

To request information on technical/scientific issues related to the ICoN Centre, please direct your correspondence to the Director of the Centre, Prof. Eleonora Catricalà, eleonora.catricala@iusspavia.it

Tel: +39 0382 375811
Fax: +39 0382 375899

IUSS Pavia
Palazzo del Broletto,
Piazza della Vittoria 15 - Pavia (PV) 27100
Italia