Assoc. Prof Dr. Giorgia Silani
Deputy Head - Department of Clinical and Health Psychology
Head of the Research Unit for Clinical Social Neuroscience (CSN)
T: +43-1-4277-47223
E: giorgia.silani@univie.ac.at
Office: Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Wien, Room O3.47
Office hours: on appointment
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology
Liebiggasse 5
1010 Vienna
Research interests
- Neural foundations of social cognition and social emotions
- Empathy and prosocial behaviors
- Neurodiversity (e.g. autism)
- Reward processing and clinical conditions related to it (e.g. Anorexia Nervosa)
Professional experience
[Translate to Englisch:] 09/2022 – present | Deputy head of the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria. |
09/2020 – present | Associate Professor and Head of the Clinical Social Neuroscience Unit (CNS unit), Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria. |
09/2019 - 11/2019 | Collaboration of Excellence Visiting Scholar, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Trieste, Italy. |
05/2018 – 08/2020 | Assistant Professor with tenure track and Head of the Clinical Social Neuroscience Unit (CNS unit), Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria. |
05/2014 - 04/2018 | Senior post-doc and Head of the Clinical Social Neuroscience Unit (CNS unit), Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement and Intervention, University of Vienna, Austria. |
08/2010 - 12/2015 | Senior Researcher (Ricercatore a Tempo Determinato) and Head of the Collective Emotions and Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Trieste, Italy. |
02/2007 - 07/2010 | Research Fellow (“Post-doc”), Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Switzerland. |
06/2006 - 12/2006 | Research Fellow (“Post-doc”), Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, University College London, UK. |
10/2004 - 05/2006 | Visiting Doctoral Student, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UK. |
01/2002 - 02/2006 | Doctoral Student in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. |
09/1999 - 12/2001 | Clinical neuropsychologist, Neuropsychology Laboratory, Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Italy. |
07/1998 - 08/1999 | Clinical neuropsychologist, Neurological Rehabilitation Department, Tradate Hospital, Varese, Italy. |
Education
[Translate to Englisch:] 06/2017 | Habilitation for attainment of Venia Legendi in Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria |
02/2006 | Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience (summa cum laude), University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. |
02/1998 | M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology (summa cum laude), University of Turin, Italy. |
Awards and Stipends
[Translate to Englisch:] December 2021 | International Social Research Prize, Lugano, CH |
2008 | Best Poster Award at the Italian Interdisciplinary Network on Alzheimer Disease (ITINAD) conference, Italy |
June 2002 | Best Poster Award at the AIP (Italian Psychological Association), Italy |
Certificates
(copy 1)
[Translate to Englisch:] 01/2005 | Certificate of Psychotherapist upon completion of four-year postgraduate course in psychotherapy, Institute for the Person-Centered Approach (founded by Carl Rogers), Varese, Italy. |
09/2003 | Certificate of Clinical Psychologist, University of Turin, Italy. |
Publications
Showing entries 1 - 10 out of 89
2024
Keysers, C., Silani, G., & Gazzola, V. (2024). Predictive coding for the actions and emotions of others and its deficits in autism spectrum disorders. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews , 167, [105877]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105877
Chiappini, E., Massaccesi, C., Korb, S., Steyrl, D., Willeit, M., & Silani, G. (2024). Neural Hyperresponsivity During the Anticipation of Tangible Social and Nonsocial Rewards in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Concurrent Neuroimaging and Facial Electromyography Study. Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, 9(9), 948-957. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.04.006
Freund, A., Fuchshuber, J., Silani, G., & Unterrainer, H-F. (2024). The relationship between attachment, primary emotions and positive/negative spirituality: a path analysis. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, [1375850]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1375850
Quesque, F., Apperly, I., Baillargeon, R., Baron-Cohen, S., Becchio, C., Bekkering, H., Bernstein, D., Bertoux, M., Bird, G., Bukowski, H., Burgmer, P., Carruthers, P., Catmur, C., Dziobek, I., Epley, N., Erle, T. M., Frith, C., Frith, U., Galang, C. M., ... Brass, M. (2024). Defining key concepts for mental state attribution. Communications Psychology, 2, [29]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-024-00077-6
Massaccesi, C., Korb, S., Götzendorfer, S., Chiappini, E., Willeit, M., Lundström, J. N., Windischberger, C., Eisenegger, C., & Silani, G. (2024). Effects of dopamine and opioid receptor antagonism on the neural processing of social and nonsocial rewards. Human Brain Mapping, 45(4), [e26645]. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26645
2023
Korb, S., Clarke, A., Massaccesi, C., Willeit, M., & Silani, G. (2023). Facial mimicry is not modulated by dopamine D2/3 and opioid receptor antagonism. Psychopharmacology, 240, 2081-2091. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-023-06426-3
Kraus, J., Výborová, E., & Silani, G. (2023). The effect of intranasal oxytocin on social reward processing in humans: a systematic review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, [1244027]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1244027
Riva, F., Pronizius, E., Lenger, M., Kronbichler, M., Silani, G., & Lamm, C. (2023). Age-related differences in interference control in the context of a finger-lifting task: an fMRI study. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 18(1), [nsad034]. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsad034
Stijovic, A., Forbes, P. A. G., Tomova, L., Skoluda, N., Feneberg, A. C., Piperno, G., Pronizius, E., Nater, U. M., Lamm, C., & Silani, G. (2023). Homeostatic Regulation of Energetic Arousal During Acute Social Isolation: Evidence From the Lab and the Field. Psychological Science, 34(5), 537-551. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976231156413
Forbes, P. A. G., Pronizius, E., Feneberg, A. C., Nater, U. M., Piperno, G., Silani, G., Stijovic, A., & Lamm, C. (2023). The effects of social interactions on momentary stress and mood during COVID-19 lockdowns. British Journal of Health Psychology, 28(2), 306-319. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12626