Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini

I am a comparative psychologist interested in studying cognitive and perceptual systems in vertebrates and their ontogeny through a multidisciplinary approach that combines behavioural analyses, neural imaging and molecular genetic techniques in zebrafish as model species. I got a Master degree with honors in Evolution of Animal and Human Behaviour at the University of Torino and I obtained a Ph.D in Psychological Sciences at the University of Padova studying non-verbal numerical abilities in animals, working mainly with fish.

In 2017, I won a Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship and worked with Prof. Brennan at Queen Mary University of London where I acquired knowledge about molecular biology techniques in zebrafish.  In 2019, I was awarded the STARS Starting Grant by the University of Padua and then I worked at the Department of Biomedical Sciences (University of Padova) with Prof. Dal Maschio. During this period, I learned using in vivo neural imaging techniques in zebrafish, a competence that further broadened my perspective and increased my ability to adopt a multidisciplinary approach in my research.  

I have developed a network of national and international collaborations that allowed me to study the cognitive abilities of several different animal species (e.g. the domestic dog, the domestic horse, the honeybee, the ruin lizard…) with the aim of understeaning the evolution of cognition through a comparative approach.

My main research topics are the study of the numerical abilities in animals, brain lateralization and the mechanisms underlying decision-making in zebrafish.

I love travelling, having long walks, reading (mainly books about journeys) and good food; luckily all passions I can combine with my job that often allows me to travel.