Education

EDUCATION:

2006: PhD in Cognitive Neurosciences, Doctoral School “Cerveau Cognition Comportament”, Université Paris VI, Paris, France. Supervisor: Carl van Vreeswijk.

2001: Master (Mphil) in Computational Neurosciences, Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit (UCL), London, UK. Supervisor: Geoffrey Hinton.

1999: Summer School on Neural Information Processing, Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy.

1998: Postgraduate Research Fellow, Biophysics Institute (CNR) Pisa, Italy.

1997: Laurea Degree in Physics (110/110 summa cum laude). University of Pisa, Italy. Supervisor: Paolo Grigolini.

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING:

2015: Professional training on the use of pediatric EEG EGI system (Electrical Geodesic, Inc.), CIMeC, Rovereto, Italy.

2012: Professional training on Cryogenics for MEG maintenance, Centre Energie Atomique, Saclay, France.

2012: Brainstorm (software for EEG/MEG data analysis), Satellite Course of Biomag, 18th International Conference on Biomagnetism, Paris, France.

2011: EEG/MEG SPM (software for EEG/MEG data analysis), Functional Imaging Laboratory, University College London, London, UK.

2011: Professional training on the use of Elekta MEG, Hopital La Salpetriere, Paris, France.

2007: EEGLAB Workshop (software for EEG/MEG data analysis), Aspet, France.

2005: Synchronization in nonlinear systems and complex networks, Societa’ Italiana Caos e Complessita’, Firenze, Italy. 

2004: Advanced methods of analysis of biomedical signals, Italian national Group of Bioengineering, Bressanone, Italy.

 
Academic career and teaching activities

ACADEMIC CAREER:

2023: National Scientific Qualification (ASN) as associate professor, SC 02/D1 - SSD FIS/07 (Applied Physics).

2015-Present: Technical Manager of the Baby Lab and Neonatal Neuroimaging Unit (category EP), Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Italy.

2010-2014: Technical Manager of the Magnetoencephalography Lab (category IR2), Neurospin, INSERM Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit (U992), Neurospin, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. 

2007-2009: Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Italy.

2005-2006: Postdoctoral Fellow, INSERM Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit (U992), Orsay, France.

2002-2005: Postdoctoral Fellow (Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship + Human Frontiers), Neurophysics and Physiology Laboratory (CNRS U8119), Paris, France.

TEACHING ACTIVITIES:

Academic teaching:

“Lo sviluppo della specializzazione corticale per l’elaborazione dei volti” within the course “Metodi di ricerca in neuroscienze cognitive”, Prof. Maria Paola Paladino, Corso di Laurea in Scienze e Tecniche di Psicologia, Dipartimento di Psicologia e Scienze Cognitive, Universita’ di Trento (2017: 2 h).

“L’uso dell’EEG per studiare le basi neurali del senso del numero” within the course “Le basi neurali della abilità di calcolo e di lettura”, Prof. Manuela Piazza, Corso di Laurea in Scienze e Tecniche di Psicologia, Dipartimento di Psicologia e Scienze Cognitive, Universita’ di Trento (2016: 4 h).

“Advanced Methods of EEG/MEG Data Analysis” within the course “Foundations of Brain Imaging”, Prof. Jorge Jovicich, Master of Cognitive Neuroscience, CIMeC, Università di Trento (2015: 2 h).

“Advanced Methods of EEG/MEG Data Analysis” within the course “Metodi Indagine Neuroscienze Cliniche Cognitive” Prof. Jorge Jovicich, Corso di Laurea in Scienze e Tecniche di Psicologia, Dipartimento di Psicologia e Scienze Cognitive, Universita’ di Trento (2008: 3 h; 2009: 8 h).

Other teaching activities:

“Metodi di visualizzazione dell’attivita’ cerebrale”, Course for Tecnici Operatori Socio Sanitari, Opera Armida Barelli, Rovereto (2016: 8 h).

“Frequency-tagging”, within the course “Ecole Oscillations Paris”, Institute Cerveau Moelle epiniere, Paris, France, 2011.

“Multidimensional analysis of the neural dynamics underlying a cognitive process”, within the summer school “Bioingegneria per le Scienze Cognitive”, Bressanone, Italy, 2009.

“Correlations in DNA sequences : a tool to study their complex structure”, Istituto Politecnico, Torino, Italy 2005.
Research interests

My main research work aims at developing methods for efficient and innovative analysis of EEG/MEG data, with a focus on pediatric populations (infants and newborns). More specifically, I work on:

  • EEG/MEG data pre-processing pipelines for efficient artifact correction/removal, both in adults and in infants/newborns.
  • EEG/MEG data analysis: time-frequency analysis, frequency-tagging, fractal analysis.
  • Methods and tools for accurate EEG/MEG source reconstruction.

More recently, my work extended to the design of experimental paradigms and analysis methods specifically adapted to measure the neural responses underlying early proto-cognitive functions (social and number cognition, spatial navigation) in newborns and infants.
Research work

My main role is the management and general operation of CIMeC's Baby Lab and Neonatal Neuroimaging Unit. Specifically, I am responsible for:

  • The choice, installation and maintenance of the EEG system and associated devices (stimuli presentation, video recordings etc.)
  • The daily operation of the Baby Lab and Neonatal Neuroimaging Unit;
  • Newborn and infant EEG user training on experimental design, data acquisition and data analysis.

Within this role, I am working on several projects (in collaboration with CIMeC researchers, PhD students and external collaborators) to improve the quality the EEG studies conducted at the Neonatal Neuroimaging Unit:

  • Automatic algorithms for efficient artifact removal in newborn EEG data;
  • New methods of analysis of EEG responses in frequency-tagging paradigms;
  • EEG source reconstruction methods and co-registration tools for newborn EEG studies;
  • Development of a wireless portable EEG system for newborn/infant recordings outside the lab environment.
Memberships in societies and scientific committees

Editorial boards

Guest Editor of the Special Issue "Developmental EEG: Advances on Data Analysis Methods", Sensors (2023-)

Editorial board member, Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience (2023-)

Editorial board member, Biology Forum (2008-2014)

Ad-Hoc Reviewer for scientific journals: PNAS, Neuroimage, Journal of Neural Engineering, Cerebral Cortex, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Science, iScience, Psychophysiology, Journal of Neuroscience Methods, Measurement, Physical Review E, Chaos Solitons & Fractals, Physica A, Journal of Biological Physics, IEEE Transactions Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, Computers in Biology and Medicine, Sensors, ICASSP (IEEE Signal Processing Society), European Signal Processing Conference, PeerJ, Scientific Reports, International Journal of Psychophysiology, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Frontiers in Neuroscience – Brain Imaging Methods, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Laterality, Brain Connectivity, Theoretical Biology Forum. 

Other reviewer activities: 

External reviewer for the European Research Council (ERC Starting Grants, 2018)

External reviewer for the Fund for Scientific Research-FNRS, Belgium (2020, 2021, 2023). 

Scientific committees:

Member of the scientific committee of the Centro Interdipartimentale per lo Studio dei Sistemi Complessi (Interdepartmental Center for Complex Systems Studies), University of Pisa (2022-)
Conferences and lectures

Buiatti M, Frequency-tagging: A powerful method to investigate neurocognitive development with EEG, CuttingGardens: EEG and MEG methods multi-hub meeting, Genova, 2023

Buiatti M, Functional relevance and limits of scale-free temporal brain fluctuations, Dynamics and Complexity Pisa, 2023

Buiatti M, Developmental cognitive neuroimaging out of noisy, short-duration EEG data: a methodological challenge, CReSCo Seminars on Developmental Neuroscience, Università di Trento/Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto (TN), 2022.

Buiatti M, Cortical route for face processing in human newborns, Invited talk at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth, USA, 2020.

Buiatti M, Di Giorgio E, Piazza M, Polloni C, Menna G, Taddei F, Baldo E, Vallortigara G, Una via corticale per l’elaborazione delle facce nei neonati, XXIV Congresso Nazionale della Societa’ Italiana di Neonatologia, Roma (Italia), 2018. 

Buiatti M, Di Giorgio E, Piazza M, Polloni C, Menna G, Taddei F, Baldo E, Vallortigara G, A neural signature of face-like selectivity in human newborns, Sensory Plasticity, Adaptation and Development Workshop, Pisa Vision Laboratory, Pisa (Italia), 2018. 

Polloni C, Menna G, Liguori A, Agnese M, Baldo E, Taddei F, Buiatti M, Frasnelli E, Caffini M, Tosoni D, Piazza M, Vitali A, Vallortigara G, Lo studio delle attivita’ cerebrali del neonato con il metodo “EEG Frequency Tagging” e della fNIRS (functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy): la ricerca universitaria inserita nella pratica ospedaliera, XXII Congresso Nazionale della Societa’ Italiana di Neonatologia, Napoli (Italia), 2016. 

Monto S, Buiatti M, Salti M, Dehaene S, Decoding for information in oscillatory amplitude, phase and synchrony, Biomag, 20th International Conference on Biomagnetism, Seoul, South Corea, 2016.

Borghesani V, Pedregosa F, Eger E, Buiatti M, Piazza M, A perceptual-to-conceptual gradient of word coding along the ventral path. IEEE Pattern Recognition in Neuroimaging, Tubingen (Germany), 2014.

Kabdebon C, Buiatti M, Pena M, Dehaene-Lambertz G, EEG evidence of statistical learning in preverbal infants, Biomag, 19th International Conference on Biomagnetism, Halifax, Canada, 2014.

Kabdebon C, Buiatti M, Pena M, Dehaene-Lambertz G, Neural Correlates of Statistical Language Learning, Organization of Human Brain Mapping, Hamburg (Germany), 2014.

Kabdebon C, Buiatti M, Pena M, Dehaene-Lambertz G, EEG evidence of statistical learning in preverbal infants, DuCog Conference on Language and Conceptual Development, Dubrovnik (Croatia), 2014. 

Borghesani V, Eger E, Buiatti M, Piazza M, Conceptual spaces in the brain: the quest for semantic representations with fMRI, Rovereto Workshop on Concepts, Actions, and Objects, Rovereto, 2014.

Strauss M, Sitt J, King J-R, Elbaz M, Azizi L, Buiatti M, van Wassenhove V, Dehaene S Disruption of hierarchical auditory predictive coding during sleep. Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, Brisbane, Australia, 2014.

Buiatti M, Finocchiaro C, Caramazza A, Dehaene S, Piazza M, Word meaning in the human brain: evidence for distinct category specific neural semantic spaces. Biomag, 18th International Conference on Biomagnetism, Paris, France, 2012.

Roger C, Buiatti M, van Wassenhove V Self-monitoring of internal clock shifts: automatic vs. conscious access to time. Biomag, 18th International Conference on Biomagnetism, Paris, France, 2012.

Roger C, Buiatti M, van Wassenhove V How do cognitive mechanisms react and adjust after a disruption of the internal clock? A combined MEG-EEG study. Society for Neurosciences, New-Orleans, USA, 2012. 

Assecondi S, Bianchi A, Buiatti M, Ferrari P, Mazza V, Schwarzbach JV, Jovicich J. A nonlinear template-based approach for BCG artifact removal in EEG-fMRI recordings at high fields. Organization of Human Brain Mapping, Barcelona, 2010. 

Assecondi S, Buiatti M, Ferrari P, Mazza V, Schwarzbach JV, Jovicich J. Ballistocardiographic artifact removal from simultaneous EEG-fMRI recordings at 4 T. ISMRM Italian Chapter Annual Meeting, Milan, Italy, 2010.

Buiatti M, Pena M, Dehaene-Lambertz G, Using brain ‘frequency-tagging’ resonance properties to disentangle neural responses to different hierarchical units of continuous speech. , XIX Congresso Nazionale della Società Italiana di Biofisica Pura e Applicata (SIBPA), Roma (Italy), September 17-20, 2008 (refereed abstract).

Sigman M, Buiatti M, Dehaene S, Neurophysiologic correlates of sequential processing in the human brain, Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Atlanta (USA), October 13-17, 2006 (refereed abstract).

Garello R, Buiatti M, Galleani L, On the study of correlation in DNA sequences, I FIMA (Federazione Italiana Matematica Applicata) International Conference "Models and Methods for Human Genomics", Ayas-Champoluc, Aosta Valley (Italy), January 23-27, 2006 (refereed abstract and selected oral presentation).

Buiatti M, Van Vreeswijk C, Variance normalisation: a key mechanism for temporal adaptation in natural vision? The Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting, Alicante, Spain, July 5-9, 2003. (refereed abstract and selected oral presentation)

Buiatti M, Van Vreeswijk C, Variance normalisation: a crucial mechanism for dynamic adaptation in natural vision? Complessita' e scienze della vita, Italian Society for Chaos and Complexity, June 14-15 2002, Pisa, Italy. (refereed abstract and oral presentation) 

Buiatti M, Acquisti C, Mersi G, Bogani P, Buiatti M, The biological meaning of DNA correlations, Fractals 2000 in Biology and Medicine, March 8-11 2000, Ascona, Switzerland. 

Buiatti M, Allegrini P, Grigolini P, Randomness, heterogeneity and scaling in DNA walks, American Physical Society Centennial Meeting Program, March 20-26, 1999, Atlanta, GA. (refereed abstract and oral presentation)

Allegrini P, Buiatti M, Grigolini P, West B, Fractional Brownian motion in DNA sequences as a non-stationary process, Meeting of the Texas District of the American Physical Society, October 1996, Arlington, TX. (refereed abstract)

 
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