Body Action Language Lab

Such a fascinating topic with lots of connections with the research conducted in our lab!

Today we had the pleasure of hosting @jennysaffran.bsky.social @ISTC-CNR, who gave an inspiring talk on statistical learning in language acquisition. Her research shows how children progressively “learn to understand”, rather than passively absorbing linguistic inputs.

A new paper on interoceptive and exteroceptive experiences for concepts, with mouse tracking. Interoception counts for abstract concepts, but even more for concrete concepts of natural elements (e.g., ocean, forest). Thanks @laurabarca.bsky.social, S. Diana, D.C.Duarte, @giusiporciello.bsky.social.

@ileniafalcinelli.bsky.social @chiarafini.bsky.social @annaborghi.bsky.social

Frontiers | Abstractness and social interaction through a new lens: the potentialities of hyperscanning in naturalistic settings People constantly use concepts, allowing them to capture similar and different elements between objects and situations (Reilly et al., 2024), as mental short...

Hot off the press our latest opinion paper in which we offer a novel perspective on abstract concepts, highlighting the potentialities of hyperscanning research to investigate the role of social interaction in their acquisition and use.
Check it out: doi.org/10.3389/fnin...

Thinking climate change through the lens of abstractness: a multi-task and multi-setting investigation into generational differences in the conceptualization of ecology - Cognitive Research: Principle... To face ecological disasters, one of the major emergencies of modern times, fostering pro-environmental behaviors appears crucial. While research explored various behavioral drivers, few studies addre...

Our multitask, multisetting investigation on ecological concepts is now online 🌍📄.
Findings indicate that these concepts are characterized predominantly by abstractness, with a clear age-dependent pattern: older adults represent them more concretely than younger adults 👥.

doi.org/10.1186/s412...

If you are interested, you can read more about the study on ecological concepts led by @ileniafalcinelli.bsky.social at osf.io/preprints/os...; for details about the conversations study led by @chiarafini.bsky.social please get in touch with her!

Snapshots from today's conference (age.it) in Neaples where Italian experts on aging have gathered to discuss their results. Below @annaborghi.bsky.social presenting studies investigating how abstractness impacts ecological concepts and conversation dynamics across different age cohorts

New #OpenAccess paper from our lab by @claudiamazzuca.bsky.social just out, showing that expertise affects conceptualisation. We found chemists essentialize more than laypeople the category of water. w/ @chiarafini.bsky.social, @ileniafalcinelli.bsky.social, Marta Arcovito, @annaborghi.bsky.social.

🎓🎉 Huge congratulations to our @ileniafalcinelli.bsky.social for successfully defending her PhD in Psychology and Social Neuroscience today, after years of dedication and brilliance, investigating ecological concepts in younger and older adults ! 🥂💫 #PhD

Wonderful talk by Claudia Gianelli today at Sapienza. On open science, meta-science, collaborative research, and the challenges of replicability for embodied cognition. I learned a lot, thank you, Claudia! archivio.unime.it/it/persona/c...
@ballabrome.bsky.social

Image showing the BALLAB banner for the Game Festival

Image showing some of the objects used for the Game Festival, like a 3D model of the brain, a pack of spaghetti, and pictures of living vs. non living entities.

Anna and Chiara playing the "Losing Categories" game with two young future scientist!

Anna and Chiara explaining how the brain works with the help of our 3D model

📷 Game Festival - Festa del Gioco #Garbatella

A joyful day of discovery where our little scientists explored the wonders of the senses, categories, joint action, and open science! Through hands-on experiments, they reminded us how powerful learning through play can be 🧠

@scuolaliberatutti

A new publication from our lab! @chiarafini.bsky.social, @ileniafalcinelli.bsky.social and @annaborghi.bsky.social explored knowledge outsourcing about technological concepts in different ages in a Special Issue in Topoi. Here the link: link.springer.com/article/10.1... 💻👧👵

Excited to share our new work by @annaborghi.bsky.social @claudiamazzuca.bsky.social and @ideeverdi.bsky.social! We dive into abstract concepts in social interaction—exploring vagueness, knowledge outsourcing, cross-cultural variation, and the role of LLMs.
rdcu.be/elbbT

BallaB - NEWS Talk: Prof. Ferdinand Binkofski (Aachen University) Parallel networks for object interaction and affordances Aula Magna, Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza Un...

The registration link is available here 👇

sites.google.com/view/annabor...

We were honored to host Ferdinand Binkofski (Aachen University) for a fascinating talk on object interaction, affordances, and tool use, highlighting their distinct neural pathways across the dorsal and ventral streams 🧠.
A truly insightful event at #Sapienza!

About yesterday workshop on conversational dynamics and abstraction in interaction. Thanks to everyone who organised, joined and contributed to the discussion.
@annaborghi.bsky.social @abstractionerc.bsky.social @caterinavillani.bsky.social @mariannabolog.bsky.social

Inner speech is not a simulation of language but an act of speaking: Comment on “The Sound of Thought: Form Matters – The Prosody of Inner Speech” by Hamutal Kreiner, Zohar Eviatar

Our commentary on the article "The sound of thought" on #innerspeech is now online! Inner speech is not a simulation of language but an act of speaking. Thank you @chiaradelivio.bsky.social and @cfernyhough.bsky.social
@ballabrome.bsky.social
link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Participants Recruiting for Mental Imagery Study Here is what you should know about it: Your partecipation would be divided in 3 steps: Compiling an Informed Consent Form + 2 easy questionnaires (this step takes about 5 mins): your result will tel...

🔬 Participate in Our Mental Imagery Study!
🧠💡 We are looking for English-speaking volunteers aged 50+ to take part in our online study on mental imagery!
🔍💭 If you’d like to contribute, write to us or fill out this form 👉 forms.gle/BirmV4GRjTHs...
@ballabrome.bsky.social @agliotilab

🚀 Exciting discussions on #Gender & #EcologicalConcepts in cognition & politics at the Feb 25 conference! 💡 Talks by @Emma Renström, @annalisa-setti.bsky.social, & @glupyan.bsky.social, hosted by our lab @ballabrome.bsky.social & #ProjectDeCo.

📺 Watch here: www.youtube.com/live/QDTBFWc...

Cervello | NEUROspritz | Roma Neuroscienza e divertimento. Eventi divulgativi per mettere a disposizioni i lavori di ricercatori al grande pubblico. Neurospritz onlus

Grazie per la bellissima serata su
*Evoluzione e Cervello*
27 febbraio, 8pm
Tullio Barni in “Carbonio e/o Silicio“
Anna Borghi in “Cervello in azione“
NEUROGames con Marco Iosa
#mercatocentraleroma
neurospritz.wixsite.com/neurospritz is great!
@ballabrome.bsky.social

Join the conference tomorrow!

🗓 February 25 | 3:15–6:00 PM CET
💡 Gender & Ecological Concepts: (un)consciousness, cognition, and politics

www.youtube.com/live/QDTBFWc...

w/
@Emma Renström
@annalisa-setti.bsky.social
@glupyan.bsky.social

Be part of the conversation—participate & spread the word!

With @claudiamazzuca.bsky.social @caterinavillani.bsky.social @TommasoLamarra @mariannabolog.bsky.social @annaborghi.bsky.social

Does sentences’ abstractness affect conversation dynamics? In three preregistered studies with @abstractionerc.bsky.social we found this is so, with abstract sentences eliciting more uncertainty and curiosity than concrete sentences. Just out on Cognition!
authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

On the 25th of February we are hosting an exciting online conference with plenty of brilliant speakers that will discuss with us about concepts, language, consciousness and politicisation. Don’t miss it!

Link here: www.youtube.com/live/QDTBFWc...

Participants needed for neuroscience study! 🧠
Are you 40-45 years old, English native speaker, and interested in how the brain represents abstract and concrete concepts, especially in aphantasia? We are recruiting 16 participants for our study, help us uncover new insights!

w/ @mtliuzza.bsky.social @bodowinter.bsky.social @annaborghi.bsky.social @IleniaFalcinelli @ClaudiaMazzuca @GiovannaCuomo @MattiaGervasi @van90.bsky.social @MatteoCandidi

🚀 Exciting news to kick off our BlueSky journey!

Thrilled to announce that the latest work from @chiarafini.bsky.social is finally out 📖 showing how even digital connections can transform into real, meaningful bonds.