IANNETTILAB

Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory

We investigate fundamental questions about how humans and other animals cope with the world through perception and action.

We are particularly interested in understanding the mechanisms that brains have evolved for the detection and the motor reaction to sudden and surprising environmental stimuli.

This research is relevant for the study of pain, defensive behaviours, and peripersonal space.

Our group members have diverse backgrounds, from physiology to physics and philosophy. Until 2009 the lab was based at the University of Oxford. We are currently based at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) and University College London (UCL).

Action-Relevance fields (Bufacchi & Iannetti, 2018)

We combine behavioural readouts with neurophysiology during the presentation of transient, tonic and naturalistic stimuli of multiple sensory modalities. We perform experiments in simple laboratory settings as well as in ecological virtual reality environments (VR).

Behavioural measures range from simple psychophysics and reaction times to detailed analysis of force and movement kinematics.

Neurophysiological measures include reflexes, electromyography (EMG) and cortical activity (EEG, fMRI, ECoG and LFP).

We analyse these measures with computational and statistical techniques, such as geometric modelling, machine learning, and information theory.

EEG responses at the scalp vertex, evoked by sudden transient stimuli of several sensory modalities

Interested in working with us? Please contact: Prof Giandomenico Iannetti ([email protected] or [email protected])