Alberto Zani

• Alberto Zani graduated in 1979 with a Dissertation on Brain Neurotransmitters and Behaviour.
• He then specialized in Cognitive Psychophysiology in The Netherlands, and in Cognitive Neuroscience in the USA. 
• He worked at the Institute of Psychology and the Institute of Neuroscience and Bioimaging.
•  At present, he works at the Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology of the Italian Research Council, where he carries out research in Cognitive Neuroscience as responsible of the Electro-Functional Brain Imaging unit (http://erplabcnr.wordpress.com/alberto-zani/). 
• He taught Psychophysiology, Anatomical and Physiological Foundations of Mind, Neuroanatomy, Cognitive Psychology, and was enrolled in the national list of Full Professors in Psychobiology and Psychophysiology. He authored four books  e. g. Theories of the Brain. 
• From Eighteenth Century Up Today (in Italian) and The Cognitive Electrophysiology of Mind and Brain - as well as more than 110 peer-reviewed papers in International Journals. 
• His specific specialization areas are neural networks of Visual attention, language, and emotions.

Research:

• The effect of background music on episodic memory and autonomic responses: listening to emotionally touching music enhances facial memory capacity.
• Non-expert listeners show decreased heart rate and increased blood pressure (fear bradycardia) in response to atonal music.
• Semantic brain areas are involved in gesture comprehension: an electrical neuroimaging study.
• The effect of musical practice on gesture/sound pairing.
• ERP signs of categorical and supra-categorical processing of visual information.
• Audio-visuomotor processing in the musician’s brain: an ERP study on professional violinists and clarinetists.
• Comprehending body language and mimics: an ERP and neuroimaging study on Italian actors and viewers.
• Musical expertise affects neural bases of letter recognition.