Post-Doc Fellow
Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: +39 3284360920
ORCID: 0009-0004-4451-3534
Supervisor: Giovanna Ponte
Project: “Cell-cultured octopus production through sustainable marine biomass valorization – SEANERGIES”
ERC sectors: Comparative physiology (LS4_2), Neural networks and plasticity (LS5_5)
Settori scientifico-disciplinari: Fisiologia (BIO/09), Anatomia comparata e citologia (BIO/06)
Research Interests
My work at the Stazione Zoologica has mainly focused on experiments aimed at highlighting the physiological responses to visual, mechanical, and electrical stimulation in the cephalopod mollusk Octopus vulgaris, using neurophysiological techniques to assess its biological plasticity. In particular, during my PhD project I concentrated on neural dynamics based on electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings, developing minimally invasive methods to record brain signals (EEG-like) of neuronal activity in living animals, without requiring any surgical intervention. Neurophysiological techniques made it possible to detect the general characteristics of neural traces from different brain regions of the octopus. This approach aims to investigate the physiological and biological mechanisms underlying neural plasticity in this marine organism.
Currently, my research activity is carried out within the framework of the “SEANERGIES” project, with the goal of conducting innovative experiments related to the evaluation of the physiological response of nerve and muscle cells (including organotypic cultures) of Octopus vulgaris, and to the study of responses under stress conditions induced by different stressors, in order to enable a more accurate characterization of the cell types under investigation. The data resulting from this research will be essential for studying neural and neuromuscular dynamics related to biological plasticity and the stress response.
