Ongoing research lines
ADDICTED – Attentional Disruption after DIgital ContenTs Exposure during Development - Finished
The ADDICTED study investigates the short-term effects of digital contents (i.e., cognitively engaging vs. non-engaging) in 4-6 years-old children on their 1) resting state neural networks (HD-EEG), skin conductance (SC) and heart rate (HR), 2) behavioral performance and associated ERPs, 3) performance on neuropsychological tests (e.g., inhibition). Moreover, HD-EEG, pupil dilatation, SC and HR are recorded during cartoon watching to compare general psychophysiological activation between the two conditions.
Adaptive cognitive control (ACC) in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a multi-centric study (CALM-1) - Finished
This multi-centric study involves more than 10 clinical centres mainly in the Venetian region of Italy and aims at defining the endophenotypic profile of Adaptive Cognitive Control in ADHD children and find possible early markers of atypical development in their siblings.
The control group will be recruited from local schools.
Keep CALM and take control: a multi-centric study (CALM-2) on contextual and individual aspects on attention and self-regulation in developmental age - Ongoing
This second multi-centric study involves more than 10 clinical centres mainly in the Venetian region of Italy and aims at defining the neuroendophenotypic profile of Adaptive Cognitive Control in children with neurodevelopmental conditions (e.g., ADHD, ASD, SLD etc.) and find possible early markers of atypical development in their siblings. The control group will be recruited from local schools.
This study builds on the results from the previous multi-centric study (CALM-1) and aims at deepening the understanding of the neurophysiological correlates of Adaptive Cognitive Control adopting a transdiagnostic perspective. Moreover, computational modelling will allow a more fine-grained investigation of individual learning fingerprints and their relation with the broader behavioral and cognitive profile.
IUS-P validation - Finished
In collaboration with Professor Gioia Bottesi, we are working on the Italian validation of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale Parent version (IUS-P), which investigates how children react toward uncertain situations. This might be a transdiagnostic trait for many psychopathological and neurodevelopmental conditions and we suggest it might be associated with poor adaptive cognitive control functioning.
“Yoghiamo a Scuola”: a Yoga-Mindfulness school-based intervention to foster Adaptive Cognitive Control (ACC) in children - Finished
The “Yoghiamo a Scuola” project investigated whether an 8-week Yoga-Mindfulness school-based intervention led by trained professionals could improve children’s ACC and psychological wellbeing. 220 families adhered to the project (3° year of kindergarten – 2° grade). Before and after the intervention, the PACC (Padua Adaptive Cognitive Control; Mento et al., in prep.) battery
was administered to children and questionnaires to their parents and teachers. Preliminary results showed a potential positive effect on ACC.
School involved in the project: “I.C. Santini”, Noventa Padovana (PD, Italy)