POST-DOCTORAL POSITION IN THE NEURAL MECHANISMS SUBSERVING THE MODULATION OF DEFENSIVE RESPONSES

• (2500001S)
  Commitment & contract: Collaboration contract
  Location: Center for Life Nano- & Neuro-Science, Rome, Italy

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

• A PhD in Neurobiology and similar disciplines
• Documented experience in invasive electrophysiology across sensory domains
• Strong publication record in the field
• Good command of spoken and written English

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

• Strong analytical skills and coding abilities are highly desirable
• Ability to work in a challenging and international environment
• Capacity to work autonomously and collaboratively in a highly interdisciplinary environment
• Possess Analytical Reasoning skills and a growth mindset
• International experience
• Being independent, proactive, suited for collaborative work in a team with senior and junior collaborators, as well as interact with other groups in international networks.

Several neural and behavioural responses are enhanced when their eliciting sensory stimuli are close to certain body parts. For example, we discovered that the blink reflex elicited by somatosensory stimulation of the hand (hand-blink reflex, HBR) is enhanced when the hand is close to the eyes. Thus, plotting the HBR magnitude as a function of the hand position produces a head-centered response field. Such body-part centred (or peripersonal) response fields, mostly described in humans and non-human primates, have been traditionally interpreted as reflecting spatial coding in egocentric coordinates. However, we have recently demonstrated that these responses are better understood as mappings onto behaviour, rather than as representations of stimulus configuration. What is the functional significance of body-part centered neural responses?
The Neuroscience and Behaviour Research Unit led by Prof. Giandomenico Iannetti is opening a post-doctoral position to address this question and study the neural mechanisms of the HBR modulations. This research will involve electrophysiological recordings in humans and the analysis of already collected invasive recordings in non-human primates.
The laboratory uses psychophysical and neurophysiological approaches to conduct experiments that investigate fundamental questions about human perception and behaviour. For a full publication list see www.iannettilab.net and https://goo.gl/RcY1ER. The laboratory is composed of an international team of researchers with complementary expertise in the field of peripersonal space research, computational modelling, and sensorimotor neurophysiology. In addition, there is the possibility of collaborating with other IIT research groups with a strong track record in computational, as well as with a number of international research groups conducting research relevant for this project. The laboratory is fully equipped with state-of-the-art technology to combine behavioural, physiological recordings and brain stimulation, in both controlled and ecological environments.
The salary will be commensurate to qualifications and experience and in line with international standards.