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MARCO ZORZI

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Position

Professore Ordinario

Structure

Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale - DPG

Address

VIA VENEZIA, 8 - PADOVA

Telephone

0498276618

E-mail

marco.zorzi@unipd.it

POSITIONS:
Full Professor (Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence), University of Padova (Italy)
Deputy Director of the Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova
Senior Researcher, IRCCS San Camillo Neurorehabilitation Hospital, Venice-Lido (Italy)

EDUCATION:
Laurea (MSc) in Experimental Psychology, University of Padova, Padova (Italy), 1994.
European Diploma in Cognitive Science, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste (Italy), 1997.
Ph.D., University of Trieste, 1999.

PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
• Research Fellow, University College London (UK), 1994-1998.
• Visiting Scientist, Macquarie University, Sydney (Australia), 1998.
• Research Fellow, University of Padova, 1999-2000.
• Assistant Professor, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, 2000-2001
• Associate Professor, University of Padova, 2001-2006
• Full Professor, University of Padova, since 1/12/2006
• Invited Visiting Professor, Aix-Marseille University (France), 2011
• Director, Center for Cognitive Science, University of Padova, 2008-2012

AWARD AND GRANTS:
ERC laureate (2008, Starting Grant for Frontier Research from the European Research Council)
Best PhD Thesis in Psychology Award (1999) from the Italian Psychological Association (AIP)
Elected member of the Cognitive Science Society
Principal investigator in projects funded by European Commission, McDonnell Foundation (USA), Italian Ministry of Research, Italian Ministry of Health, Cariparo Foundation, Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation; Wellcome Trust (UK); Royal Society of London (UK).

INSTITUTIONAL BOARDS:
• Member of the Executive Board of Padova Neuroscience Center
• Research Committee of the Department of General Psychology

Notices

Office hours

  • Wednesday from 10:30 to 12:15
    at Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, sede di Via Venezia 12 (piano terra edificio PSICO 2)
    Link per prenotare / booking link: https://calendar.app.google/8ED8bhsijdw63B4p7

Teachings

Publications

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Zorzi, M, & Testolin, A. (2018). An emergentist perspective on the origin of number sense. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 373, 20170043.

Testolin, A., Stoianov, I., & Zorzi, M. (2017). Letter perception emerges from unsupervised learning and recycling of natural image features. Nature Human Behaviour, 1, 657–664.

Sella, F., Berteletti, I., Lucangeli, D., & Zorzi, M. (2017). Preschool children use space, rather than counting, to infer the numerical magnitude of digits: Evidence for a spatial mapping principle. Cognition, 158, 56-67.

Blini, E., Romeo, Z., Spironelli, C., Pitteri, M., Meneghello, F., Bonato, M., & Zorzi, M. (2016). Multi-tasking uncovers right spatial neglect and extinction in chronic left-hemisphere stroke patients. Neuropsychologia, 92, 147-157.

Sella, F., Berteletti, I., Lucangeli, D., & ZORZI, M. (2016). Spontaneous non-verbal counting in toddlers. Developmental Science, 19, 329-337.

Testolin, A., Stoianov, I., Sperduti, A., & Zorzi, M. (2016). Learning orthographic structure with sequential generative neural networks. Cognitive Science, 40, 579–606.

Lisi, M., Bonato, M., & Zorzi, M. (2015). Pupil dilation reveals top-down attentional load during spatial monitoring. Biological Psychology, 112, 39–45.

Cutini, S., Scarpa, F., Scatturin, P., Dell’Acqua, R. & Zorzi, M. (2014). Number-space interactions in the human parietal cortex: Enlightening the SNARC effect with functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. Cerebral Cortex, 24(2), 444-451.

Ziegler, JC., Perry, C., & Zorzi M. (2014). Modelling reading development through phonological decoding and self-teaching: implications for dyslexia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369(1634), 20120397.

Zorzi, M., Barbiero, C., Facoetti, A., Lonciari, I., Carrozzi, M., Montico, M., Bravar, L., et al. (2012). Extra-large letter spacing improves reading in dyslexia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(28), 11455-9.

Stoianov, I., & Zorzi, M. (2012). Emergence of a “visual number sense” in hierarchical generative models. Nature neuroscience, 15(2), 194-6.

Casarotti, M., Lisi, M., Umiltà, C., & Zorzi, M. (2012). Paying attention throgh eye movements: A computational investigation of the premotor theory of spatial attention. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 1519-1531.

Piazza, M., Facoetti, A., Trussardi, A. N., Berteletti, I., Conte, S., Lucangeli, D., Dehaene, S., & Zorzi, M. (2010). Developmental trajectory of number acuity reveals a severe impairment in developmental dyscalculia. Cognition, 116(1), 33-41.

Bonato, M., Priftis, K., Marenzi, R., Umiltà, C., & Zorzi, M. (2010). Increased attentional demands impair contralesional space awareness following stroke. Neuropsychologia, 48, 3934-3940.

Perry, C., Ziegler, J.C., & Zorzi, M. (2007). Nested incremental modeling in the development of computational theories: The CDP+ model of reading aloud. Psychological Review, 114, 273-315.

Zorzi M., Priftis, K., & Umilta` C. (2002). Neglect disrupts the mental number line. Nature, 417,138-139.

Research Area

Research in my laboratory (Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, http://ccnl.psy.unipd.it) is focused on the study of the computational bases of cognition, from development to skilled performance and to breakdowns of processing in atypical development or after brain damage. To address these issues we use a cognitive neuroscience approach that combines several methodologies, including computational modeling, behavioral studies (reaction times, psychophysics, eye tracking), neuropsychology, and functional neuroimaging (fMRI, fNIRS, EEG). Main themes: 1) neural networks, deep learning, generative AI; 2) computational neuroscience; 3) cognitive processes: numerical cognition, space and attention, reading aloud.

Thesis proposals

Topics for theses:
- Artificial intelligence (neural networks, deep learning, machine learning, generative AI)
- Computational cognitive science and computational neuroscience
- Computational neuroimaging (connectomics, brain-behavior mapping) in health and disease
- Numerical cognition (numerosity perception, numbers and space, dyscalculia)
- Spatial attention and eye movements
- Reading and dyslexia

Type of thesis:
- Bibliographic (literature review / synthesis): all levels
- Experimental psychology and psychophysics: all levels)
- Computational modeling: only Master or PhD
- Neuroimaging (fMRI, fNIRS, EEG): only Master or PhD
- Neuropsychology (neurological patients or children with learning disabilities): only PhD

See lab website for more info:
Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (http://ccnl.psy.unipd.it)

Supervision of PhD thesis: see section "Notice and additional information"