Degrees and postgraduate qualifications

2016. Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), University of Roehampton, London. Date of recognition: 13/07/2016. Recognition reference: PR109097.

2003 – 2006. Ph.D. in Neuroscience. University of Verona, Verona, Italy. Title of thesis: ‘Modulation of cortical oscillatory activities induced by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation over the Human motor cortex’.

1994 – 2000. BSc and MSc in Psychology (Laurea) 104/110 (equivalent to 1^st Class). University of Padua, Padua, Italy.

Academic and professional posts held since graduation

March 2016 – present. Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton, London.

September 2007 – February 2016. Lecturer in Psychology. Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, England.

January 2006 – August 2007. Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Marie Curie Research Training Network at Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (ICN) and department of Psychology, University College London (UCL), London.

Short summary of research

My research explores the temporal and functional organization of cognitive processes, enhancing the understanding of neural mechanisms underlying visual cognition. I am currently investigating the electrophysiological correlates of exogenous capture of visual attention and the link between visual short-term memory (V-STM) and visual attention processes. I am interested in examining whether involuntary attentional capture by irrelevant but salient visual objects is an exogenous bottom–up phenomenon, or can be modulated by endogenous factors such as current task set. In particular, I am exploring how the combination of series of paradigms from Experimental Psychology including match-to-sample with inhibition of return (IOR) and memory guided visual-search, leads to a modulation of both behavioral performance (i.e. Response Times - RTs and accuracy) and neural responses (Event Related Potentials – ERPs, Wavelets, Phase Locking Factor) throughout task-engaged cortical regions.

Areas of research

Cognitive Neuroscience – Biological Psychology – Experimental Psychology – Visual Cognition – Visual Electrophysiology; enhancing the understanding of neural mechanisms underlying the link between visual short-term memory (V-STM) and visual attention processes.

Translational research – early cognitive Biomarkers of Psychological Dysfunction; using electrophysiological measures to assess perceptual and cognitive functions in normal controls and young adults at-risk to develop psychopathology (i.e. Schizotypy and Depression).

Cognitive Functions Enhancement through brain mapping and stimulation (i.e. transcranial Direct Current Stimulation – tDCS; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation – TMS)

Interdisciplinary approach; focused at the interface between Psychology (i.e. Visual Cognition) and Biological Approach to Psychology (i.e. Cognitive Neuroscience).

Research methods: electroencephalography (EEG), Event Related Potentials (ERPs); Human brain stimulation (i.e. transcranial Direct Current Stimulation –tDCS; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation – TMS; EEG with tDCS/rTMS combination).

Dr Giorgio Fuggetta’s full list of publications and h-index in Google Scholar Citations. Click here to access Google Scholar Citations.

Download Apply rCAR from MATLAB Central File Exchange. Apply rCAR is a MATLAB's script by Dr Phil A. Duke, Dr Giorgio Fuggetta, and Dr Kyle Q. Lepage that performs re-referencing using the robust Common Average Reference (rCAR) procedure to EEG data in different formats. Click here to access MATLAB Central File Exchange.

Download Working Memory Analyser and all available experiments from GitHub. Working Memory Analyser is a free Psychology software by Dr Phil A. Duke and Dr Giorgio Fuggetta to investigate the effect of working memory load on visual distractibility. Click here to access GitHub and download the source code and cross-platform releases for Windows, MacOS and Linux.