Ricerca CentriCogPsyLabResearch

Research

Cognitive ageing

We are involved in a project THE - Tuscany Health Ecosystem - Subproject 4. Our goal is to develop and validate a digital platform for promoting cognitive enhancement interventions and rehabilitation in physiological aging and in patients with cognitive deficits.

The effectiveness of computerized cognitive training programs to counteract the cognitive decline in physiological aging and to improve cognitive functioning in patients with brain lesions is still a matter of debate. Most of such programs have focused upon training of basic processes (e.g., memory, speed of processing) or simulated daily living abilities, mostly with an individual approach. However, cognitive enhancement through interactive activities, especially in reference to the use of electronic devices, to be executed in a real or in a virtual social context might be more effective for promoting cognitive enhancement and rehabilitation. With respect to aging, the cognitive processes most sensitive to physiological aging - but at the same time crucial for adaptive cognitive and emotional functioning - are those included in the domain of executive functions and cognitive control capacity. These processes allow the activation and monitoring of appropriate strategies and the inhibition of inappropriate behaviours in daily life for an adaptive behaviour. The enhancement of executive functions has been observed in association with social activities corroborating the assumption that maintaining a large social network can help promote healthy cognitive aging. Indeed, intervention trials - aimed at promoting social engagement - have also shown promising results for improving brain health and cognition. It is still a matter of debate whether and how such interventions - developed to improve cognitive capacities - “transfer” to performance on other cognitive tasks and to daily life. Basically, although there is solid evidence that brain training interventions lead to cognitive enhancement, it is still unclear whether such interventions improve performance on closely related and distant tasks or that training improves daily cognition performance, just as the brain circuits involved have not yet been mapped. Indeed, the evidence that these specific improvements are transferable to other capacities and have a significant general impact on the daily lives of individuals, are still limited, so the question remains whether the engagement in stimulating activities really constitute a "protective" factor against cognitive decay.

Cognitive control

Every day, we all have to make decisions, many of which may affect the course of our lives in a significant way. Our ability to make optimal choices is strongly determined by the capacity to quickly adapt our behavior depending on the current goal, rather than remaining inflexible and rigid. This capacity is called “cognitive control” and it is distinguished between proactive and reactive. The first refers to the ability to stand ready to inhibit an action to prevent inadequate behaviors, allowing to prepare for and facilitate the inhibition of non-optimal behaviors. On the contrary, reactive inhibition allows the cancellation of a planned action in reaction to a sudden external signal once that the action has been previously elicited. In our lab, we study the proactive and reactive components of cognitive control from a behavioral and psychophysiological point of view. Also, we investigate how cognitive control is modulated by traits personality such as impulsivity.

Virtual environment

The milieu in which we currently live extends beyond the traditional physical world and encompasses the digital and virtual domains. The convergence of these emerging mediums, coupled with the advent of social media and recent shifts in behavioral patterns, has markedly amplified the volume and diversity of stimuli and impulses that necessitate our cognitive management. Consequently, this increase poses challenges for our adaptation to contemporary society and, crucially, for our capacity to discern and represent information from the multitude with which we come into contact. Within the framework of this research, we endeavor to investigate the impact of diverse mediums on cognitive processes and human behavior.

Forest therapy