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| Research interests |
| Sleep is my research interest in the field of comparative
psychology. The domestic chick is the animal model and three
are the lines of research. Together with some aquatic mammals
and certain birds, domestic chicks exhibit a unique behavioural
and electrophysiological state called "monocular-unihemispheric
sleep", in which one cerebral hemisphere is awake and the
other is sleeping. With Marina Rugger (a fellow in my Lab.)
and I am studying how the on-going imprinting process and the
consolidation of the imprinting memories influence the pattern
of monocular-unihemispheric sleep in male and female chicks.
Behavioural recordings. Daniela Bobbo
(a post-doc in my lab) and I are assessing whether the amount
and pattern of monocular-unihemispheric sleep of chicks is modulated
by learning and memory processes (special tasks) in which one
hemisphere or the other are previously mainly involved during
wakefulness.Behavioural recordings. Finally, I am studying the
pattern of sleep-wakefulness cycle (wakefulness, slow wave sleep,
hypnotic sleep and unihemispheric sleep) during the ontogenetic
development of chicks. I am recording the EEG, EMG and EOG during
the first 15 days post-hatching in female imprinted chicks. |
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| Publications |
Buchtel,H.A., Berlucchi,G., Mascetti,G.G. 2009. Behavioural
and electrophysiological analysis of strabismus in cats: modern
context . Experimental Brain Research, 192(3), 359-367.
Bobbo,D., Nelini,C., Mascetti,G.G. 2008. Binocular and monocular/unihemispheric
sleep in the domestic chick (Gallus gallus) after a moderate
sleep deprivation. Experimental Brain Research, 185(3), 421-427.
Bobbo,D., Mascetti,G.G., Fonda,F., Vallortigara,G. 2007. Monocular
sleep following passive avoidance learning in chicks. Behavioural
Brain Research, 178(2), 305-312.
Mascetti,G.G., Rugger,M., Vallortigara,G., Bobbo,D. 2007. Monocular-unihemispheric
sleep and visual discrimination learning in the domestic chick.
Experimental Brain Research, 176(1), 70-84.
Bobbo,D., Vallortigara,G. & Mascetti,G.G. 2006. Effects
of social interaction on monocular/unihemispheric sleep in male
and female domestic chicks. Biological Psychology 73, 213-219.
Facoetti,A., Zorzi,M., Cestnick,L., Lorusso,M.L., Molteni,M.,
Paganoni,P., Umiltà,C., & Mascetti,G.G. 2006. The
relationship between visuo-spatial attention and nonword reading
in developmental dyslexia. Cognitive Neuropsychology 23, 841-855.
Bobbo,D., Vallortigara,G., Mascetti,G.G. 2006. The effects of
early post-hatching changes of imprinting object on the pattern
of monocular/unihemispheric sleep of domestic chicks. Behavioural
Brain Research 170, 23-28.
Mascetti,G.G., Bobbo,D., Rugger,M., Vallortigara,G. 2004.
Monocular sleep in male domestic chicks
Behavioural Brain Research 153, 447-452.
Bobbo,D., Galvani,F., Mascetti,G.G. & Vallortigara,G. 2002.
Light exposure of the chick embryo influences monocular sleep.
Behavioural Brain Research 134, 447-466.
see more publications |
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| Links |
| Department
of General Psychology - personal page (in Italian) |
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