My research activity is placed in the field of Cognitive Sciences, and is focused on the study of the bodily bases (i.e., sensorimotor and interoceptive - that is, the signals we get from the internal organs) of cognitive and affective processes, in populations in different developmental stage, in psychopathological and non-psychopathological conditions. Currently, my main research lines are:
- Acquisition, representation and processing of concepts.
In the context of Embodied Cognition, my experimental research considers the active role of sensorimotor and interoceptive bodily information in cognitive, perceptual and linguistic processes. Specifically, I study the cognitive and bodily factors - understood as sensorimotor information and interoceptive signals - which contribute to the acquisition, processing and representation of different types of concepts (abstract, concrete, emotional) in populations in different developmental stages (adults and children). These works include the analysis of behavioral responses (response times, self-report measures) and movement kinematics.
Key publications:
- Barca, L. (2021). Towards a neurocomputational account of the effect of Age of Pacifier Withdrawal. Journal of Communication Disorders, 90, 106085. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.202106085
- Barca, L., Mazzuca, C., Borghi, A. (2020). Overusing the pacifier sets a footprint on abstract words processing. Journal of Child Language. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000920000070
- Borghi, A. M., Barca, L., Binkofski, F., & Tummolini, L. (2018). Varieties of abstract concepts: development, use and representation in the brain. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 20170134. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0121
- Barca, L., Mazzuca, C., Borghi, A. (2017). Pacifier overuse and conceptual relations of abstract and emotional concepts. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2014, 1-19. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02014
- Interoception, emotions and computational psychiatry.
This line of research is placed within the (embodied) predictive coding, according to which interoceptive information contributes to perception and higher order processes, and is a source of sensory evidence like exteroceptive information. The focus is on interoception: whether the different interoceptive signals are hierarchically organized in an internal model or 'interoceptive schema'; their role in our affective experiences; and how their dysfunctions might contribute to the aetiology and maintenance of psychopathological conditions. My works investigate the cognitive, sensorimotor and interoceptive factors underlying cognitive-affective processes in adults with and without psychopathological conditions (e.g., Anorexia Nervosa, Functional Disorders, Panic Disorders), considering behavioral measures (response times, self- report), kinematic responses and computational models.
Key publications:
- Yu, A.A.N., Iodice, P., Pezzulo, G., Barca, L. (2021). Bodily Information and Top-Down Affective Priming Jointly Affect the Processing of Fearful Faces. Frontiers in Psychology, 12:625986. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.202625986
- Barca, L., Pezzulo, G. (2020). Keep your interoceptive streams under control: an active inference perspective on Anorexia Nervosa. Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 20, 427-440
- Iodice, P., Porciello, G., Barca, L., Bufalari, I., Pezzulo, G. (2019). An interoceptive illusion of effort. PNAS, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821032116
- Pezzulo, G., Iodice, P., Barca, L., Chausse, P., Monceau, S., Mermillod, M. (2018). Increased heart rate after exercise facilitates the processing of fearful but not disgusted faces. Scientific Reports, 8, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-18761-5
