Federico Frau

The François Bourgeois Foundation is sponsoring **3 travel grants** to support participants who want to attend and present their work. More info & contacts here: www.neplab.it/travel-grant...

The EFC project is sponsoring **6 travel grants** for PhD students (2 for students traveling from abroad and 4 for students traveling from Italy).
Deadline: February 10! Info & application link: www.neplab.it/travel-grant...

Don't miss the opportunity to attend the #DISCOURSE2026 Satellite Meeting in Pavia, March 30-31, sponsored by the #EducatingFutureCitizens (EFC) EU project.
Info & registration: neplab.it/discourse_ho...
(registration is open until full capacity is reached)
#IUSSPavia #IMTLucca #NEPLab

Can GPT replace human raters of metaphors? Our new work with @vmangiaterra.bsky.social @cbarattieri.bsky.social
@al-azary.bsky.social Across 687 Italian & English metaphors, GPT shows strong validity & reliability, but stumbles when meaning becomes sensorimotor ➡️ arxiv.org/abs/2512.12444 #NEPLab

Thank you, Asya! 😊

Delighted to share that I’m starting a new role as Jr Assistant Professor (RTDa) at IUSS within the #DIALOG project funded by @wellcometrust.bsky.social–as part of
@valentinabambini.bsky.social's unit🎉
No better way to celebrate than with Italian pastries & the amazing support of the #NEPLab team🍰🤍

Ten years of using the APACS test: a multistudy cross-diagnostic analysis of pragmatic profiles and their relationship with Theory of Mind | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biologic... Pragmatic impairments are largely documented, yet rarely considered in clinical practice, also owing to a poor characterization of pragmatic profiles across conditions, as well as some overlap with th...

You can find the abstracts of my talks here: drive.google.com/file/d/1GY_H... (just type my name!)

Plus, our cross-diagnostic study of pragmatic impairment has been published as a paper in Phil Trans Royal Society B. Check it out: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

I really had a great time at #XPRAG2025 in Cambridge, where I presented novel EEG data showing that we can prime figurative meaning in metaphors and modulate late effects in ERP response, as well as our cross-diagnostic study of pragmatic impairment in relation to theory of mind #NEPLab

Sure, thanks for your interest!

Check the full abstract here: 2025.neurolang.org/presentation...

#SNL2025

So glad to have attended my first #SNL conference and presented a poster with @riccardoventurini.bsky.social, showing beta functional connectivity alterations linked to pragmatic impairment in schizophrenia. Great time here in Washington and inspiring talks at Gallaudet University 🧠 #NEPLab #SNL2025

Thanks, Radim! ☺️

Thank you, Asya!

Ten years of using the APACS test: a multistudy cross-diagnostic analysis of pragmatic profiles and their relationship with Theory of Mind | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Pragmatic impairments are largely documented, yet rarely considered in clinical practice, also owing to a poor characterization of pragmatic profiles across conditions, as well as some overlap with theory of mind (ToM) in the conceptualization of ...

Link to access the paper: tinyurl.com/mt43f7vk

Proud to have this article as part of the themed issue on the relationship between pragmatics and theory of mind edited by @valentinabambini.bsky.social Serena Lecce & Mikhail Kissine!
Full issue here: tinyurl.com/32vczrm3

New paper out on Philos Trans R Soc B 🚨
We conducted the first large-scale cross-diagnostic analysis of pragmatic impairment in 7 clinical groups, highlighting profiles of communicative weaknesses and their association with theory of mind skills @royalsocietypublishing.org #NEPLab 🧠

@nadinedijkstra.bsky.social @imagingneuroucl.bsky.social @valentinabambini.bsky.social

Next Monday, the #IUSSLinguisticsSeminar will host Dr. Nadine Dijkstra, who will introduce us to the neural correlates of mental imagery, with a focus on the mechanisms allowing us to discern a mental image from a real visual percept.
🗓️June 16, 11-12.30am CEST
Zoom link: tinyurl.com/keap95ks
#NEPLab

Today, we double our IUSS Linguistics Seminars, with two talks covering topics from metaphor and emotional experience, to communication and connection in development (ft Jeannette Littlemore & Merideth Gattis) 🤩
➡️ 3-7pm, CEST
Zoom link: iusspavia.zoom.us/my/br.salade...
#NEPLab

Next week (12.05), the IUSS Linguistics Seminars series will
host Mikhail Kissine, don't miss it!
Info to attend either in person or online below ⬇️

The Laboratory of Neurolinguistics and Experimental Pragmatics meets the father of Experimental Pragmatics! @irastamon.bsky.social thanks for the visit! #NEPLab

Save the date! #IUSSLinguisticsSeminar
Tomorrow, Prof. Francesco Vespignani (@UniPadova) will present the application of power spectrum analysis to study the neural response to phrases and sentences
🗓️February 18, 9-10.30 am CET
📍@IussPavia
Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/yc2vsnx6
#NEPLab

More on future scientific events organized at the #NEPLab here: https://www.neplab.it/events/

Don't miss the first #IUSSLinguisticsSeminar of the 2025 series: EEG source connectivity in neuropsychiatric disorders: the case of schizophrenia, w/ Prof. Giorgio Di Lorenzo (@unitorvergata)
🗓️February 10, 3.30-5.00 pm CET
📍@IussPavia
Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/3ncx7b7f
#NEPLab

Tomorrow (online on Teams), 10 am - 12 pm CET
More info here: https://prin.unica.it/meimi/metaphor-comprehension-and-multimodal-experience-in-schizophrenia-a-window-into-pragmatic-impairment-and-altered-underlying-mechanisms/

I can't wait to discuss one of my favorite topics with the team of the PRIN Project "Metaphor & Epistemic Injustice in Mental Illness" (@fraervas @sophia_79 & Francesca Ferri). I'll bring a neuropragmatic perspective & our works on metaphor comprehension in schizophrenia #NEPLab

In a nutshell, we investigated whether bodily experience contributes to the semantic representation of verbs and how it participates in verb access across different tasks, loading on semantic and episodic processes in Italian as compared to English
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I'm so happy to share our new paper published on #JML, which is the product of an amazing collaboration with @PennyPexman and @ejmuraki (with @VBambini and @lucabischetti #NEPLab) 🎊🎉
Here is the link to read the full paper: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1jvXQ_,1j5ABHL5
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#ESLP2024 brought some great talks and remarkable keynote speakers (but also a lot of mental imagery!), so glad I had the opportunity to be there and present our work to the amazing embodied language community! @bll_berlin #embodiment #NEPLab

The German delegation of the #NEPLab is ready for #ESLP2024 conference starting tomorrow (but still getting used to German sunny weather 🌧️)

I couldn't be more grateful to the #XPRAGit2024 committee for awarding me the Young Researcher Award for the best presentation, dedicated to the memory of Bruno Bara. Having started my journey in experimental pragmatics from his works, this award really means a lot to me! #NEPLab