The Department welcomes Giorgio Arcara
I am a psychologist with a background in neuropsychology, and I earned my PhD in Psychological Sciences from the University of Padua, under the supervision of Prof. Sara Mondini. My main areas of research are Clinical Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. What unites my research in these fields is a focus on methodological aspects: I am not only interested in what is being studied, but how research is conducted and what implications arise from methodological choices that—whether consciously or not—affect procedures, results, and interpretations.
In Clinical Neuropsychology, I have worked on deepening the understanding of the foundations of neuropsychological testing and on improving tests—by developing new instruments, refining existing ones, and proposing new statistical methodologies to enhance clinical practice.
In the field of Cognitive Neuroscience, I have focused on EEG and MEG data analysis, developing toolboxes in various programming languages (mainly R and Matlab). Here too, my focus remains methodological: I am particularly interested in identifying clinically relevant biomarkers and exploring the potential of neuroscience to contribute to defining psychological constructs that are useful in clinical contexts—for example, through the identification of unifying principles, such as that of Predictive Processing.
As a cross-cutting theme, I am a strong advocate of Open Science, a passion I have nurtured for years. I freely share everything I develop (software, slides) and strive to promote the values of transparency and collaboration that are central to this movement.
For my research, I collaborate with several national and international groups, but the most important partnership is certainly with the IRCCS San Camillo in Venice, a neurorehabilitation institute where I had the role of Lab coordinator and Deputy Scientific Director. This roles allowed me to carry out my research in close contact with clinical practice.
Outside of work, I am very close to my family and try to spend as much time with them as possible. In the remaining time, I’m always into some hobby or another and I tend to get really into something for a while before moving on to the next.
My most consistent passions are reading (non-fiction and fiction) and music. I (badly) play several instruments, and together with my closest friends, we have a music project: we compose one song a year. At this rate, we estimate we’ll release our first album in about ten years - but as they say, good things take time.
