Psycophysiology

Principal Investigator: Prof.ssa Elisa Carlino

Group members:

Carlino Elisa (Principal Investigator)
Piedimonte Alessandro (Researcher)

Address and contacts:

Corso Raffaello 30, Torino, +39.011.6708491
Via Cherasco 15, Torino

Main research activities of the research group

The research group (Context LAB) investigates how the presence of a context (physical and psycosocial) can modulate different physiological functions. Using different electrophysiological and neuroimaging techniques, the aim of this research group is to explore how the exposure to specific contextual stimuli changes sensory perceptions and motor functions.

The study of the context is conducted on two different research fields. On one hand, using specific experimental designs on healthy volunteers, we map the neurobiological underpinnings of positive and negative contestual effects. On the other hand, we apply this knowledge to better design clinical trials and to increase the efficacy of different medical treatments in clinical populations, such as patients with chronic pain and fatigue and patients with different forms of dementia (Frontotemporal Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease etc).

List of 10 main publications

Piedimonte, A., Zamfira, D.A., Guerra, G., Vighetti, S., Carlino, E. (2021). Pain expectation and avoidance in the social context: an electrophysiological study. The Journal of Physiological Science, 6;71(1):29.
Camerone, E.M., Piedimonte, A., Testa, M., Benedetti, F., Carlino, E. (2021). The Effect of Temporal Information on Placebo Analgesia and Nocebo Hyperalgesia. Psychosomatic medicine, 83(1), 43–50.
Piedimonte, A., Benedetti, F., Guerra, G., Zamfina, D., Vighetti, S., Carlino, E. (2020). I expect what you expect: An electrophysiological study on social expectation of pain. Psychophysiology, 57(12), e13666.
Carlino, E., Piedimonte, A., Romagnolo, A., et al., (2019). Verbal communication about drug dosage balances drug reduction in Parkinson's disease: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidences. Parkinsonism and Related Disorders. 65:184-189.
Piedimonte, A., Guerra, G., Vighetti, , Carlino, E. (2017). Measuring expectation of pain: contingent negative variation in placebo and nocebo effects. European Journal of Pain, 21(5):874-885.
Benedetti, F., Carlino, E., & Piedimonte, A. (2016). Increasing uncertainty in CNS clinical trials: the role of placebo, nocebo, and Hawthorne effects. Lancet Neurol, 15(7), 736-47.
Benedetti, F. Frisaldi, E., Carlino, E., et al., (2016). Teaching neurons to respond to placebos. Journal of Physiology, 594(19), 5647-60.
Piedimonte, A., Benedetti, F., & Carlino, E. (2015). Placebo-induced decrease in fatigue: evidence for a central action on the preparatory phase of movement. The European Journal of Neuroscience. 41(4), 492–497.
Carlino, E., Torta, D. M. E., Piedimonte, A., Frisaldi, E., Vighetti, S., & Benedetti, F. (2015). Role of explicit verbal information in conditioned analgesia. European Journal of Pain. 19(4):546-53.
Carlino, E., Frisaldi, E., & Benedetti, F. (2014). Pain and the context. Nature Reviews. Rheumatology, 10(6), 348–355.