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Dr Matteo Martini

Lecturer

Psychology

    Dr Matteo Martini is psychologist who joined the School of Psychology of UEL as lecturer in late 2014. He got a first-class degree (Bsc+Msc) in Experimental Psychology at the Psychology Department of “Sapienza” University of Rome working on the effects of sleep deprivation on topographical memory. He then had a training at Fondazione Santa Lucia carrying out assessment and research on adult and elderly patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Back to "Sapienza" University he joined the Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (Cosan) directed by Professor S. M. Aglioti, where he got his Ph.D. with a thesis on the effects of cognitive and emotional processes on pain perception. He moved to London to work on the placebo analgesia effect at the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmachology of UCL under the supevision of Dr G. D. Iannetti. He later held a post-doc position working with immersive virtual reality scenarios and virtual body ownership, at the EventLab (Universitat de Barcelona), for the Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), directed by Dr M. V. Sanchez-Vives. His interests fall within cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology and psychotherapy.


    - Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

    - Professional Habilitation for Clinical Psychologist

    - Member of the National Register of Psychologists


    Overview




    Selected publications

    Publically available research outputs are available to download from UEL’s Research Open Access Repository (ROAR).

    Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

     

    Zanini, A., Montalti, M., Caola, B., Leadbetter, A., Martini, M. 2017. Pain during illusory own arm movement: a study in immersive virtual reality. European Medical Journal. 2[2]:90-97.

     

    Martini, M. (2017). Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Chronic Pain and Depression: any Possible Applications of Multisensory Feedback Approaches Based on Body Representation? Psychol Behav Sci Int J 2(5): PBSIJ.MS.ID.555599.

     

    Nierula, B., Martini, M., Matamala-Gomez, M., Slater, M., Sanchez-Vives, M.V.  Seeing an embodied virtual hand is analgesic contingent on co-location.  J Pain. 2017 Jan 17. pii: S1526-5900(17)30017-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2017.01.003 |


    Martini, M., Lee, M., Valentini, E., & Iannetti, G. D. (2015). Intracortical modulation, and not spinal inhibition, mediates placebo analgesia. European Journal of Neuroscience, 41(4), 498–504. doi:10.1111/ejn.12807 |


    Martini, M., Bufalari, I., Stazi, M. A., & Aglioti, S. M. (2015). Is that me or my twin? Lack of self-face recognition advantage in identical twins. PLoS ONE, 10(4), e0120900. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120900 |


    Martini, M., Kilteni, K., Maselli, A., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2015). The body fades away: investigating the effects of transparency of an embodied virtual body on pain threshold and body ownership. Scientific Reports, 5, 13948. doi:10.1038/srep13948 |


    Martini, M., Perez-Marcos, D., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2015). Author’s reply to the commentary by Gilpin et al. European Journal of Pain, 19(1), 143–144. doi:10.1002/ejp.606 |


    Martini, M., Perez-Marcos, D., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2014). Modulation of pain threshold by virtual body ownership. European Journal of Pain, 21, 1040–1048. doi:10.1002/j.1532-2149.2014.00451.x |


    Valentini, E., Martini, M., Lee, M., Aglioti, S. M., & Iannetti, G. D. (2014). Seeing facial expressions enhances placebo analgesia. Pain, 155(4), 666–673. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2013.11.021 |


    Martini, M., Valentini, E., & Aglioti, S. M. (2013). Emotional conflict in a model modulates nociceptive processing in an onlooker: a laser-evoked potentials study. Experimental Brain Research, 225(2), 237–245. doi:10.1007/s00221-012-3365-4|


    Martini, M., Perez-Marcos, D., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2013). What color is my arm? Changes in skin color of an embodied virtual arm modulates pain threshold. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 31(7), 1–5. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00438|


    Costa, A., Peppe, A., Martini, M., Coletta, K., Oliveri, M., Caltagirone, C., et al. (2012). Parkinsonian patients with deficits in the dysexecutive spectrum are impaired on theory of mind tasks. Behavioral Neurology, 27(4), 523–533. doi:10.1155/2013/903127|


    Conference Papers

    Nierula, B., Martini, M., Matamala, M., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2015). Are body ownership illusions analgesic? Paper presented at the 16th Congress of the Spanish Society of Neuroscience (SENC), Granada, Spain.|


    Sanchez-Vives, M. V., Sañudo, M. I., Bourdin, P., Martini, M., Iruretagoyena, G., & Bergamasco, M. (2013). Un entorno virtual visual y haptico para la rehabilitación remota. Paper presented at the SERMEF congress, Salamanca, Spain.|


    Sanchez-Vives, M. V., Sañudo, M. I., Bourdin, P., Martini, M., Iruretagoyena, G., & Bergamasco, M. (2013). Ingeniería y rehabilitación: Caso de estudio. Paper presented at the SERMEF congress, Salamanca, Spain.|


    Martini, M., Perez-Marcos, D., Fuentes, C., Haggard, P., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2012). Distortion of the perceived body image by asynchronous visuo-tactile stimulation. Paper presented at the 8th FENS Forum of Neuroscience, Barcelona, Spain.|


    Perez-Marcos, D., Martini, M., Slater, M., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2012). Spatial differences in auditory memory during the virtual hand illusion. Paper presented at the 120th APA Convention, Orlando, FL, USA.|


    Martini, M., Cannella, D., Ruggiero, A., Porciello, G., & Valentini, E. (2010). Observing emotional facial expressions in a model modulated the pain pathway of an onlooker. A L.E.P. study. Paper presented at the Federation of European Societies of Neuropsychology (FESN), Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Holland.|


    Invited Talks

    Martini, M. (2014). The use of Virtual Body Ownership as a tool for pain modulation. Research data presented to the Multisensory Research Group, Universtitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.|

     

     


    Collaborators

    • test

    Research

    Zanini, A., Montalti, M., Caola, B., Leadbetter, A., Martini, M. (2017). Pain during illusory own arm movement: a study in immersive virtual reality. European Medical Journal. 2[2]:90-97.

     

    Martini, M. (2017). Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Chronic Pain and Depression: any Possible Applications of Multisensory Feedback Approaches Based on Body Representation? Psychol Behav Sci Int J 2(5): PBSIJ.MS.ID.555599

     

    Nierula B, Martini M, Matamala-Gomez M, Slater M, Sanchez-Vives MV.  (2017). Seeing an embodied virtual hand is analgesic contingent on co-location.  J Pain. Jan 17. pii: S1526-5900(17)30017-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2017.01.003 


    Martini, M. (2016). Real, rubber or virtual: The vision of “one’s own” body as a means for pain modulation. A narrative review. Consciousness and Cognition, 43, 143-151. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2016.06.005

    Martini, M. Kilteni, K., Maselli, A., & Sanchez-Vives, M.V. (2015). The body fades away: investigating the effects of transparency of an embodied virtual body on pain threshold and body ownership. Scientific Reports, 5, 13948. doi:10.1038/srep13948

    Martini, M., Lee, M., Valentini, E., & Iannetti, G.D. (2015). Intracortical modulation, and not spinal inhibition, mediates placebo analgesia. European Journal of Neuroscience, 41(4), 498–504. doi:10.1111/ejn.12807 

     

    Martini, M., Bufalari, I., Stazi, M.A., & Aglioti, S.M. (2015).Is that me or my twin? Lack of self-face recognition advantage inidentical twins. PLoS ONE, 10(4), e0120900. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120900


    Martini, M., Perez-Marcos, D., & Sanchez-Vives, M.V. (2015). Author’s reply to the commentary by Gilpin et al. European Journal of Pain, 19(1), 143–144. doi:10.1002/ejp.606


    Martini, M., Perez-Marcos, D., & Sanchez-Vives, M.V. (2014). Modulation of pain threshold by virtual body ownership. European Journal of Pain, 21, 1040–1048. doi:10.1002/j.1532-2149.2014.00451.x


    Valentini, E., Martini, M., Lee, M., Aglioti, S.M., & Iannetti,G.D. (2014). Seeing facial expressions enhances placebo analgesia. Pain, 155(4), 666–673. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2013.11.021


    Martini, M., Valentini, E., & Aglioti, S.M. (2013). Emotionalconflict in a model modulates nociceptive processing in an onlooker: alaser-evoked potentials study. Experimental Brain Research, 225(2), 237–245. doi:10.1007/s00221-012-3365-4


    Martini, M., Perez-Marcos, D., & Sanchez-Vives, M.V. (2013). Whatcolor is my arm? Changes in skin color of an embodied virtual armmodulates pain threshold. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 31(7), 1–5. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00438


    Costa, A., Peppe, A., Martini, M., Coletta, K., Oliveri, M.,Caltagirone, C., et al. (2012). Parkinsonian patients with deficits inthe dysexecutive spectrum are impaired on theory of mind tasks. Behavioral Neurology, 27(4), 523–533. doi:10.1155/2013/903127


    Publications

    My research focuses on, but is not limited to, the perception of pain and pain modulation, the psychological and neural mechanisms of body ownership and body representation, face recognition and emotional facial expressions.


    Interests




    PY5205: Cognitive Neuropsychology

    PY5210: Psychology of Ageing (module leader)

    PY7152: Individual Differences and Developmental Psychology

    BSc (Hons) Psychology
    MSc Psychology

    Teaching