Stefania Benetti

2013

PhD in Psychological Medicine, King's College London, University of London

Supervisors: prof. Andrea Mechelli & prof. Philip McGuire

2012

MSc in Clinical Psychology (accelerated path), University of Padua

Supervisor: prof. Giuseppe Sartori

2008

MSc in Cognitive Neuropsychology, University College London, University of London   

Supervisors: prof. Cathy J. Price & Dr. Mairead Macsweeney

ACADEMIC CAREER

2020 - present

Assistant Professor (RTD-A), CIMeC, University of Trento, Italy

2017-2020 (including leave of absence for political campaign and maternity leave)

Post-doctoral Research fellow, CIMeC, University of Trento, Italy

Advisor: Olivier Collignon

2013-2016

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, CIMeC, University of Trento, Italy

Advisor: Olivier Collignon

2008-2013 

Post-Graduate Research Fellow, King's College London, University of London, UK 

Advisor: Andrea Mechelli

2007 

Visiting Scholar under Erasmus Program, University College London, University of London, UK

Advisor: Cathy J. Price & Marinella Cappelletti

ACADEMIC BREAKS

12/2016-5/2017: Leave of Absence for Political Activity

10/2018-5/2019: Maternity Leave

TEACHING ACTIVITIES

2022: Foundation of Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience. MSc in Cognitive Science, CIMeC, University of Trento.

2021: Understanding Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience. MSc in Cognitive Science, CIMeC, University of Trento.

2021 and 2022: Cognitive Neuroscience Course. MSc in Psychology, Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, University of Trento 

2015:    Foundation of Neuroscience Course. MSc in Cognitive Science, CIMeC, University of Trento.

Multisensory perception and integration

Multimodal processing of communicative interactions

Cross-modal plasticity

Brain Functional Specialization

Brain Development

Brain functional and structural connectivity

fMRI

MVPA

RSA

sMRI - DTI

MEG

My ongoing research includes:

• Multimodal processing of face-to-face interactions: Are multisensory communicative signals integrated in the brain along a dedicated lateral pathway following domain-general principles of Bayesian Causal Inference?
• Audio-visual speech representation in the brain: to what degree heard and seen speech is 'audio-visual'? The role of premotor and motor cortex in audio-visual speech perception and prediction
• The role of sensory experience, and its interplay with genetics, in the shaping of brain functional specialization and the emergence of cross-modal brain plasticity
• Combining neurobiological and behavioural indices to predict speech and language outcome after cochlear implant in deaf children and adults
• Audio-visual speech processing: the role of lip-reading in speech perception/production; developmental trajectories of lip-reading abilities across life-time span; learning to process speech without listening or seeing speech; audio-visual speech processing in deaf individuals with cochlear implant; the relationship between lip- and text-reading

In order to pursue my research aims I apply a multimodal investigation approach in which I combine psychophysics and behavioural testing with advanced fMRI and MEG analytical techniques.

MEMBERSHIPS IN SOCIETIES:

2021-ongoing: Human Brain Mapping Organization

2021-ongoing: Society for Neuroscience

2021-ongoing: Society for Cognitive Neuroscience

2022- ongoing: Italian Psyholgical Association

2022- ongoing: Italian Society for Cognitive Sciences

AD-HOC REVIEWER ACTIVITY:

Peer-reviewed journals

Cerebral Cortex, Human Brain Mapping, Frontiers in Psychology, Schizophrenia Research, Cortex, PLOS One, NeuroImage, Scientific Reports, Brain Topography, Neuropsychologia

Competitive grant evaluations

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), UK Research and Innovation;  Action Medical Research for Children; Preludium-20, National Science Center Poland

Doctoral evaluation committees 

October 2022, Invited expert member of the evaluation Committee for the doctoral thesis “A multi-site image-based data sharing initiative to assess structural brain changes in large cohorts of early and late blind individuals”, candidate Cemal Koba, IMT Lucca (Italy).

October 2021, Invited Member for evaluation of the doctoral thesis “Active listening in sound localization: Multisensory and motor contributions to perceiving and re-learning the auditory space”, candidate Chiara Valzogher, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon (France)

2022-2023: Starting Grant Giovani Ricercatori, University of Trento (6,000 Euros)

2017: Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Seal of Excellence

2016: Abstract Award, 10th Rovereto CAOs Workshop (250 Euros)

2009-2012: PhD Grant by King's College London funded by the Wellcome Trust

2008: Guarantors of Brain Travel Awards (500 Pounds)

CONFERENCES PRESENTATIONS

Talks

Benetti, S., et al. (2022). A brief period of postnatal visual deprivation leads to selective alteration in the response to facial identity in specific regions of the human face network. Selected talk for XXX Conference of AIP – Associazione Italiana di Psicologia, 27-30 Septemer 2022, Padova (Italy).

Benetti, S. (2022) What early auditory deprivation tells us about multisensory recognition of person identity in the human brain. Invited to Symposium on “Deafness and blindness as insights into cognition” at IMRF, International Multisensory Research Forum,4-7 July 2022, Ulm (Germany).

Benetti, S. (2022). Face specialization in the brain: insights from early sensory deprivation. Invited to Symposium on “What can deafness and blindness tell us about cognition” at ICON-2020, International Conference of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18-22 May 2022, Helsinki (Finland).

Benetti, S. (2021). Promuovere l’ascolto dall’orecchio al cervello. ‘Sordità infantile’ Online Series, 14th December 2021, Trento (Italy)

Benetti, S. (2018). Plasticità e stabilità: selettività dell’elaborazione crossmodale nelle cortecce uditive. Giornate di Neuropsicologia dell’Età Evolutiva – XIII edition, 17-.19 January2018, Bressanone (Italy).

Benetti, S. (2016). Faces Selectively Activate the Temporal Voice Area in Early Profound Deafness. CAOs 2016 – 10th Rovereto Workshop on Concepts, Actions and Objects (Italy). Five Best Posters Award 2016.

Symposium Organization

Benetti,S., Ferrari, A (2023). Multisensory Processing in Face to Face Communication, 21st International Multisensory Research Forum (IMRF), 27-30 June 2023, Brussels (Belgium).

Poster Presentation

Benetti, S., Mattioni, S., Gao, X., Lewis, T., Maurer, D., Collignon, O (2023). Brief postnatal visual deprivation alters the identity processing in the human fusiform face area (2023). Caos 2023 - 14th Rovereto Workshop on Concepts, Actions and Objects. Rovereto, Italy.

Ferrari, A., Mazzi, G., Tommasini, M., Valzolgher, C., Pavani, F., Benetti, S. (2023). Domain-general Bayesian Causal Inference in Multisensory Processing of Face-to-Face Interactions. Caos 2023 - 14th Rovereto Workshop on Concepts, Actions and Objects. Rovereto, Italy.

Benetti, S., Gao, X., Lewis, T., Maurer, D., Collignon, O. A brief period of postnatal Visual Deprivation leads to selective alteration in the response to facial identity in specific regions of the human face network (2021). NeuroCog, 23-24 November 2021, Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium).

Saviola, F., Novello, L., Maffei, C., Benetti,S., Battal., C et al. (2019) The deaf graph: Structrual brain networking in auditory deprivation. OHBM 2019 – 25th Organisation for Human Brain Mapping Meeting, Rome, Italy.

Benetti, S., XiaoQing, G., Collignon., O. (2018). Early Visual experience and temporal frequency tuning of the neural system for human face processing. CAOs 2018 – 12th Rovereto Workshop on Concepts, Actions and Objects. Rovereto, Italy

Benetti, S., Zonca, G., Rabini, G., Ferrari., A., Rezk, M., Pavani, F., Collignon., O. (2017). Functional Selectivity for visual radial motion processing in the temporal auditory cortex of early deaf individuals Workshop for the 10th anniversary of CIMeC, Rovereto, Italy. 

Benetti, S., Rabini, G., Zonca, G., Baruffaldi., F., Foa, V., Pavani, F., Collignon., O. (2016). Faces Selectively Activate the Temporal Voice Area in Early Profound Deafness. OHBM 2016 – 22nd Organisation for Human Brain Mapping Meeting, Geneve, Switzerland. 

Benetti, S., Baruffaldi, F., Zonca, J., Rabini, G., Collignon O. (2015). Hearing by eye: does auditory deprivation weaken or enhance visual speech perception? A preliminary study in Italian Profoundly Deaf Individuals. IMRF 2016 - 16th International Multisensory Research Forum, Pisa, Italy

Benetti, S., Di Gioia, G., Agwardal,S., Budisavljevic, S., Frau, .,N, Pavani, F., Collignon, O. (2015). Beyond language: an auditory-spatial role for the Arcuate Fasciculus? CAOs 2015 - 9th Rovereto Workshop on Concepts, Actions and Objects, Rovereto, Italy

Benetti, S., Pettersson-Yeo, W., Allen, P., Catani, M., Williams, S., Barsaglini, A., ... & Mechelli, A. (2014). Vulnerability to Auditory verbal hallucinations and connectivity in the perisylvian language network: a multimodal investigation. OHBM 2014 – 20thOrganisation for Human Brain Mapping Meeting, Hamburg, Germany.

Falkenberg, I., Benetti,S., Petterson-Yeo,W.,  Dazzan P., Simmons, A., Williams, S., McGuire P. (2013). Incidental radiological findings on brain magnetic resonance imaging in patients with first-episode psychosis and healthy controls. 14th International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, Florida, US.

Benetti, S., Mechelli, A., Picchioni, M., Matthiasson, P., Broome, M. R., Weinstein, S., ... & McGuire, P. K. (2008). Functional integration between the anterior hippocampus and inferior frontal cortex is impaired in both schizophrenia and the at risk mental state. Schizophrenia Research, 1(102), 97. SIRS 2008 - 1st Schizophrenia International Research Society Conference, Venice, Italy.

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

2022: Invited public talk “Vedere per credere: il cervello umano tra sensi e realtà”, CIMeC Città, Rovereto, Italy

2022: Lecture “Vedere Voci e Sentire Colori: il cervello umano tra plasticità e stabilità”, Collegio di Merito “Bernardo Clesio”, Trento, Italy

2022: 3-months Mentorship for the ‘Alternanza Scuola-Lavoro’ (School-Work Interniship) Program for HIgh-School Students

2017: Contribution to UNITRENTOMaG web-magazine: “ La plasticità cerebrale nelle persone sorde. Uno studio condotto dal Cimec e pubblicato sulla rivista scientifica PNAS”.

2016: Contribution to UNITRENTOMaG web-magazine: “Spiegare l’evoluzione del linguaggio attraverso le neuroscienze. Lectio Magistralis di Terrence Deacon” (in collaboration with Roberto Bottini).

2016: Symposium proposer and moderator of “Segni che lasciano il segno”. Speakers: Terrence Deacon, Francesco Pavani, Roberto Bottini, Stefania Benetti, 14th Genova Science Festival 2016. Genova, Italy

2015  Proposer of “The magic of brain”. Research Night, University of Trento, Trento, Italy

RESEARCH COVERAGE IN THE MEDIA

Persone sorde dalla nascita possono ‘ascoltare i volti’ (su Ansa). 27/6/17

Persone sorde dalla nascita possono ‘ascoltare i volti’ (su Giornale di Sicilia). 27/6/17

Sordo dalla nascita? Può “ascoltare” i volti grazie al cervello (su Corriere Adriatico) . 27/6/17

Sordi dalla nascita? Possono ascoltare I volti. (su Il Mattino). 27/6/17

Sordità: come il cervello impara ad “ascoltare” i volti.(su Il Trentino - Provincia Autonoma di Trento). 28/6/17

Sordità: il cervello "ascolta" i volti (su Il Tempo). 28/6/17

Anche i volti «parlano» ai sordi (sull'Adige). 28/6/17

Plasticità del cervellio ‘tramuta’ vista in udito, sordi “ascoltano” I volti (su IntelligoNews). 28/6/17

«Ascoltare i volti». Gli stati d'animo attraverso le voci (sul Trentino). 24/7/17

Ecco come I sordi riescono ad “ascoltare” i volti (su Wise Society). 17/8/17

Man born blind has synaesthesia that makes numbers feel textured ( on New Scientist ). 19/4/22