Biography

I am a Professor in the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University London.

My main research focus is on the theoretical and empirical analysis of complex systems, with an emphasis on the structural and temporal properties of networks with higher‐order interactions and feedback dynamics.

I have broadened my research to include social contagion and team dynamics, the investigation of whole‐brain activation patterns, and the structure of cognitive representations in natural and syntethic neural architectures, with particular reference to their topological structure, merging statistical physics approach, algebraic topology and data analysis.

My current topics of interests are:

i) extending models of cooperating behavioural and biological spreading processes with explicit group interactions with the aim to link them to socio‐economical data;

ii) the dynamical connectivity during resting state and tasks, aiming to build robust quantitative tools to be used as building blocks to develop biomarkers and as guiding principles to reverse‐engineer functional connectivity dynamics, with the ultimate aim of linking them to higher cognitive functions, e.g. control and decision making.

Academic affiliations: Principal Researcher at CENTAI, Guest Scholar Networks Units IMT Lucca.

Previous: ISI Foundation, Imperial College London

Interests

  • Topology and Predictability of Complex Systems
  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Control

Education

  • PhD in Complex Networks, 2012

    Imperial College London

  • MSc in Theoretical Physics, 2008

    University of Pisa

  • BSc in Physics, 2005

    University of Pisa

News & Highlights



Upcoming

12-14.2.24 I will be talking at the IPAM workshop “ Mathematical Approaches for Connectome Analysis”.

Recent

23-25.10.23 I will be visiting the Network Science Institute in Boston!

16-20.10.23 I will be an invited speaker at the ICERM “ Topology and Geometry in Neuroscience”.

11.10.23 I am talking at the “ Mindful Connections” workshop at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome (slides here).

22-25.8.23 I am invited at ICIAM2023 as a speaker in the “Hypernetworks and their dynamics in theory and applications” workshop.

10.7.23 I will be a lecturer at the Netsci2023 School.

26-30.6.23 I will be speaking at the AI Neuro School in Lipari.

12-16.6.23 I will lecturing at this years editions of the BIOMAT’s school.

1.6.23 I joined the Network Science Institute as Professor!!!

31.5.23 New paper on social and asocial learning in zebrafish accepted in Communications Biology.

Recent Publications

A unified framework for Simplicial Kuramoto models

Simplicial Kuramoto models have emerged as a diverse and intriguing class of models describing oscillators on simplices rather than …

Evolutionarily conserved role of oxytocin in social fear contagion in zebrafish

Oxytocin is necessary and sufficient for social fear contagion in zebrafish supporting an evolutionary conserved role for oxytocin in emotional contagion among vertebrates.

Multistability, intermittency and hybrid transitions in social contagion models on hypergraphs

Although ubiquitous, interactions of groups of individuals (e.g., modern messaging applications, group meetings, or even a parliament …

Effective Higher-Order Link Prediction and Reconstruction From Simplicial Complex Embeddings

We developed an embedding technique for simplicial complexes, which is able to efficiently reconstruct missing simplices and predict unseen ones.

Hyper-cores promote localization and efficient seeding in higher-order processes

We introduce hypercores and show that they are important for multiple dynamical processes.

Higher-order organization of multivariate time series

Time series analysis has proven to be a powerful method to characterize several phenomena in biology, neuroscience and economics, and …

Connecting Hodge and Sakaguchi-Kuramoto: a mathematical framework for coupled oscillators on simplicial complexes

We formulate a general Kuramoto model on weighted simplicial complexes where phases oscillators are supported on simplices of any order …

Developmental effects of oxytocin neurons on social affiliation and processing of social information

Social behavior is developed over the lifetime of an organism and the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) modulates social behaviors across vertebrate species, and is associated with neuro-developmental social deficits such as autism. However, whether OXT plays a role in the developmental maturation of neural systems that are necessary for social behavior remains poorly explored. We show that proper behavioral and neural response to social stimuli depends on a developmental process orchestrated by OXT neurons. Animals whose OXT system is ablated in early life show blunted neuronal and behavioral responses to social stimuli as well as wide ranging disruptions in the functional connectivity of the social brain. We provide a window into the mechanisms underlying OXT-dependent developmental processes that implement adult sociality.

Social and asocial learning in zebrafish are encoded by a shared brain network that is differentially modulated by local activation

Group living animals can use social and asocial cues to predict the presence of a reward or a punishment in the environment through …

People

CENTAI Team

Former members

Collaborators