Francesco Scaramozzino

M.Sc., Mr

Personal profile

Research interests

Evidence-accumulation and psychosis in the general population.


Behaviour. Aberrant accumulation of evidence in cognitive tasks has been associated with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. In a psychosis-continuum perspective, my project investigates how aberrant evidence-accumulation processes are related to subclinical psychotic symptoms in the general population. Specifically, we are interested in the relationship between perceptual processing of new information and abnormal beliefs.

Computational modelling. My project is embedded in the Bayesian predictive coding approach to psychosis integrated with the use of sequential sampling models. To investigate perceptual decision-making performance, we apply drift-diffusion modelling to behavioural data and evaluate the relation between abnormal beliefs and information processing, using the drift-rate parameter as a proxy of precision ascribed to new evidence.

Brain. Posterior parietal cortex (PPC) activity has been identified as a neural correlate of evidence-accumulation in animal and human studies. By the use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), we aim to evaluate the impact of reduced PPC excitability on cognitive and perceptual evidence-accumulation and detect variability, if any, in the performance along with subclinical psychotic symptoms.      

 

 

Educational background

2015-17| Milan

University of Milan. Master-degree
in
Cognitive Sciences and Decisional Processes. SPECIALIZATION: Applied Cognitive Neuroscience.

2014-15| Bologna- Reggio Calabria

Additional exams for admission to the Master in Cognitive Sciences.

2013-14| Dijon, France
University of Bourgogne. I achieved:
the Italian
Laurea in "Lingue e letterature straniere",
the French
Licence in "Langues, littératures et civilisations étrangères" and the German bachelor-degree in "Germanistik".

2012-13| Mainz, Germany
Johannes Gutenberg Univeristy of Mainz.

2012-13| Bologna
University of Bologna. Admission to the Bologna-Mainz- Dijon Tri-national Program in German and French Studies.

2011-12| Reggio Calabria, Italy

Scientific High-School Diploma,

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

  • Cognitive neuroscience
  • Cognitive modelling
  • Psychology of mental health
  • Psychology of perception