Gazzola group

General description research

The Gazzola group studies how the brain help us understanding the action, sensations and emotions of other individuals, and how this understanding influences social interactions and decision making. A particular focus goes on actions that benefits ourself at the expenses of others. Combining research in mice, rats, healthy human participants and patients, the lab is particularly interested in understanding the causal contribution of neurons involved in a subject’s own actions, sensations and emotions. To this aim, a secondary effort is dedicated to the development of new technologies and analytical approaches for non-invasive brain stimulation, brain imaging and closed-loop system.

Psychiatric symptoms (or disorders) the group is interested in 

The lab is particularly interested in brain dysfunctions that cause an abnormal perception and understanding of what other individuals do and fell, which result in maladaptive social interactions and decisions. In particular, abnormal activity in brain regions processing the emotions of others can lead to more callous and aggressive behavior, such as that often reported in psychopathy and conduct disorders, or stimulate the recall of a past traumatic experience in PTSD. Difficulties in vicariously experience the actions of others can play a role in some of the social deficits observed in neurogenerative disorders such as Parkinson or to induce compulsivity in OCD patients. Our group is also interested in understanding how adaptive social behavior is promoted or impaired as a consequence of early life adversities, which can also result in antisocial behavior.

Technical approaches

MRI in patients and controls together with quantifications of subjective experiences and perception have been core to our past work on patients. FMRI together with psychological and behavioral testing will also be at the core of a longitudinal study in kids with conduct disorders, currently running in collaboration with AUMC. Eye tracking and physiological measures like skin conductance and heart rate, will also be at the center of future experimental work (both in humans and rodents), in particular to identify empathy related responses that are more embodied and less cognitive.  Intracranial recordings in patients with implanted electrode (DBS, iEEG, ECoG) can be particularly informative. Neural recordings (neuropixel, calcium imaging etc.) of homologous brain regions in rodents and their neuromodulation (chemo/opto-genetics) can then be used to bring correlative observations in humans to causal mechanisms.

Keywords: Empathy, prosocial, antisocial, action observation, pain, reward, social cognition, decision making, moral conflict, psychopathy, disgust, OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder, emotion, emotion regulation.

RDoC research domains:
Negative valence: All mentioned
Postive valence: All mentioned
Cognitive systems: Attention and Perception
Social processes: Affiliation and Attachment, Social Communication, Perception and Understanding of others
Sensorimotor systems: Action Planning and Selection, Sensorimotor Dynamics
 
Disorders:
Antisocial Personality Disorder, Psychopathy, Conduct Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorders, PTSD, OCD.