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 neural c…
How to cultivate empathy and prevent empathic overload?
Empathy represents one of the most extraordinary and important human abilities: the capacity to understand and share others’ emotions, creating subtle bridges that connect visions, experiences, and life stories. Cultivating empathy is a true skill to train, at any age, starting from childhood, capa…
Social connection for overall health
We live in an era characterized by increasing digitalization of work and services and by hyperconnectivity that shifts relationships and free time online. However, the most important connection remains the human one, preferably direct and in person, because healthy social interaction is a key deter…
Voices from the Pedagogy for the Third Millennium
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Patrizio Paoletti Foundation, we give voice to the recipients of its neuro-psychopedagogical research in the service of humanity, close to people and capable of truly changing lives. Matilde, Gioele, Marco, and Marisa share the educational approach of the Pa…
Why are emotions so important?
Emotions represent one of the most fascinating and complex dimensions of human experience: sophisticated information-processing systems that guide our thoughts, shape our decisions, and influence our social relationships. Thanks to advances in neuroscience and cognitive psychology, we are witnessin…
Caravan of the Heart: how good is volunteering for us?
Volunteering means committing to doing good for others. But how good is it for us as well? And how useful is it for everyone, even for the youngest? We talk about it with Ariadne Rossetti, psychologist and systemic-relational psychotherapist in training, specialized in working with adolescents, you…
How to learn to manage conflicts?
Conflicts are an integral and natural part of our lives and play a fundamental role in the evolution of ideas, choices, and human history itself. From small domestic disagreements to workplace disputes, it is essential to learn to manage them constructively, transforming stress into opportunities f…
Seniors in Summer: Empathy Overcomes Loneliness and Isolation
Summer, empty cities, familiar places that in the silence seem strange, memories of a lost time that sharpen the loneliness of the present. During the summer months, isolation and loneliness can become more burdensome for older adults: children and relatives go on vacation, neighborhoods empty out…
The triad of intelligences, emotions, and relationships
The World Health Organization in 1948 introduced a new concept of health: no longer simply the absence of disease, but a complete state of physical, psychological, emotional, social, and existential well-being. Within this new framework, which we call global health, building truly integral well-bei…
The Pain of Loneliness
Social interaction is essential for ensuring satisfaction, joy, and even proper brain functioning. On the other hand, the deprivation of human connections is highly detrimental to the entire body and mind. Loneliness and social isolation put our overall health at risk and cause real suffering for h…
What and how many are our senses really?
At school, we were taught that we have 5 senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. But science today suggests that the ways our body perceives and interacts with the environment are more numerous, and their functioning is linked to emotions.
Pranayama: how to practice the Yoga of Breath?
On the occasion of International Yoga Day, June 21, we explore Breath Yoga, a set of techniques that help us understand and optimize the most natural and fundamental activity of our life—the first one we do at birth: breathing. We will discover that Pranayama, Breath Yoga, offers significant benefi…
We need more emotional intelligence in schools
Even at school, emotional intelligence (EI) is a fundamental concept for the well-being and success of students. It not only influences their social skills but also their academic performance. Understanding and managing one’s own emotions, as well as recognizing and respecting those of others, are…
Assisi International School: Happiness Lies in Positive Interdependence
We had the privilege of experiencing one of the many “AIS Experiences”, spending three days immersed in the Kindergarten and Primary School on the occasion of International Day of Happiness on March 20. Who were the protagonists of this adventure? The girls and boys aged three to six, constantly dr…
“I am you, you are me, may everything be for our neighbor.”
Neuroscientific and psychopedagogical research has investigated friendship in recent years as a fundamental expression of human relationships, uncovering its enormous benefits: it is a highly protective factor for psychological well-being during adolescence, aids in the positive processing of physi…
