Friendship: a treasure for the brain
“Who finds a friend finds a treasure”: this ancient proverb holds a deep truth, confirmed by recent neuroscientific discoveries. Friendships not only add value to our lives but also make us richer at a brain level. Friendships stimulate the **development of specific brain areas**, creating new neur…
Can movement help counteract depression?
Depression is one of the most widespread mental health conditions globally. It typically appears as an emotional phenomenon characterized by strong negative beliefs. Research shows that the most effective pathways to treat it go through the instinctive-motor dimension. Important links thus emerge b…
Brain plasticity: why understanding it can change the way we learn (at any age)
Once it was thought that the brain was rigid and unchangeable, doomed to age without the possibility of renewal. Today, neuroscience tells a completely different story. Discover what “brain plasticity” means and why it can revolutionize the way we live, teach, and learn with the free video lesson b…
The brain’s rejuvenating break
Even though the modern, busy lifestyle often makes it difficult, taking a break feels good. Our brain needs to recharge its batteries from time to time. Carving out moments for ourselves to “do nothing” is essential for our physical and mental well-being.
The brain’s reward system and learning
Why do we do what we do? Beyond meeting the basic needs for our survival—food, rest, safety—we are motivated by what brings us pleasure, fun, and satisfaction. These activities are usually useful to us in some way, which is why our brain associates them with pleasure.
Physical activity: a real medicine for the aging brain
The brain can renew itself, even in advanced age, thanks to physical activity. For a long time, it was believed that once a certain age was reached, the mind would inevitably begin to degenerate, but this is not entirely true. Certainly, after the age of seventy, the loss of nerve cells reaches its…
Psychology for the future: let’s talk about silence
The 33rd International Congress of Psychology ICP 2024: Psychology for the Future – Together in Hope was held from July 21 to 26. The new symposium, organized by the RINED Research Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics of the Patrizio Paoletti Foundation, explored the fascinating topi…
Protecting the brain. What strategies?
Understanding the brain has been a complex and fascinating challenge for humans for centuries. Over time, it has been recognized as the seat of the rational part of the soul, thought, higher psychic functions, or the unconscious. Amidst complexity and fragility, the brain is at the center of the mo…
Play and Brain Development
Since Neumann’s “Game Theory” was used in the 1940s to explain human behavior in fields such as economics, politics and biology, it has become increasingly clear that play is not just a form of entertainment for children and adults. Instead, play is a crucial element in the development and nurturin…
Neurobiology of Beauty
Neuroscience highlights the importance of cultural participation for individual well-being, showing how cultural events influence brain activity, structure, and biochemistry, particularly in areas related to pleasure and reward. Neuroaesthetics studies the activation of specific neural structures a…
The 4 Cs of Neuro-Pedagogical Research
Research cannot stop. It is precisely continuity that ensures scientific progress becomes sustainable. Scientific knowledge evolves in relation to the continuous change of individuals and society. Thanks to collaboration with leading research institutions in Italy and worldwide, we can guarantee th…
Risks and extraordinary potentials of the adolescent brain. Interview with Tania Di Giuseppe, psychotherapist and head of psycho-pedagogical research
What happens in the brains of adolescents and what is the latest from the psycho-pedagogical research and projects of Patrizio Paoletti Foundation? We find out in this interview with Tania Di Giuseppe, head of the Foundation’s psycho-pedagogical research area.
Education based on neuroscience to realize our potential: interview with Elena Perolfi, head of training projects
In this interview with Elena Perolfi, head of the Foundation’s educational and training projects, we find out how a child’s brain grows amid neurodevelopment, synaptogenesis, and education, and how Fondazione Patrizio Paoletti applies this knowledge in its educational practice with young children.
Paoletti Foundation organizes a two-fold event on the brain mechanisms that regulate our lives: silence and psychophysics, ICONS and the Fechner Day
On the morning of October 22, 1850, psychologist and statistician Gustav Theodor Fechner, while in his bed recovering from an eye injury, had an insight that is considered the basis of modern psychophysics. The law Fechner formulated based on that insight was, “For the intensity of a sensation to g…
Becoming parents: the brain’s second life
It is a common experience and often reported by fathers and mothers that the arrival of a new born child starts a new and completely different life. This transformational experience can be seen from many points of view and neuroscientific research shows how profound the brain change is. What goes o…
The neuroscience of self-esteem: 5 research-based tips for valuing ourselves
Although self-esteem is widely studied in the behavioral sciences, its neuroanatomical basis is still largely unknown. For example, reduced self-esteem has been associated with increased brain activity in regions of the anterior insula and dorsal part of the anterior cingulate cortex, the same regi…
At 21 Minutes – Tali Sharot’s research on brain optimism : benefits and risks for mental health
One of the most important insights produced by neuroscience in recent years is undoubtedly the discovery of how much the ability to imagine characterizes us as a species and the difference it has made in our evolution. The ability to abstract ourselves from the data present to our senses at a given…
The Foundation is the Italian partner of AIDA, the project that studies new models for the social inclusion of Alzheimer patients
May 5th and 6th the Patrizio Paoletti Foundation in Rome hosted the kick-off meeting of the AIDA project, with collaborating, European organizations from Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Bulgaria and Slovenia. In AIDA, the cultural, health and digital world form an alliance to support the training…
Counteracting cognitive decline is a teamwork for body and mind: Fondazione Paoletti’s research on Quadrato Motor Training at AD/PD Conference
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s still represent a very difficult and unsolved challenge for researchers. Their prevalence among the world’s population calls for the need to improve the tools to counteract them and find new and more effective ones.
