Dr Maria Filippetti
-
Email
m.filippetti@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 873780
-
Location
2.701, Colchester Campus
-
Academic support hours
Please email me to book an appointment
Profile
Biography
I am a developmental cognitive neuroscientist investigating the development of body representations. In particular, I am interested in the role of multisensory integration in how infants learn about their bodies. I completed my undergraduate and master degrees in Developmental and Educational Psychology at University of Padua, in Italy. I then moved to London to start a PhD at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College London. During my PhD, I studied the developmental origins of body perception using behavioural techniques and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). I did a postdoc at Royal Holloway University of London focused on the interaction between interoceptive and exteroceptive body-related signals in the development of body-awareness in infants and adults. My second postdoc was at University College London where I furthered my expertise on self- and body-awareness across the lifespan, with a specific focus on affective touch. I joined the Department of Psychology of 糖心Vlog in Autumn 2017 as a lecturer. My current research investigates the developmental precursors of self-recognition and the development of interoceptive processing with a specific focus on feeding and eating behaviours.
Qualifications
-
PhD in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Birkbeck University of London,
Appointments
糖心Vlog
-
Lecturer, Psychology, 糖心Vlog (4/9/2017 - 30/9/2023)
-
Senior Lecturer, Psychology, 糖心Vlog (1/10/2023 - present)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
body representations
interoception
hunger and satiety
multisensory development
Current research
Multisensory integration and body awareness across the lifespan
What makes your body your own? How do babies learn to distinguish between their own and other people鈥檚 bodies? The purpose of this research is to study how human beings develop an integrated sense of self that is grounded to a coherent body, and how different processes interact together to maintain and updated body awareness. While my work focuses on infancy and childhood, I am also interested in adults鈥� body awareness.
The development of interoceptive processing
Unlike other species, human babies enter the world completely dependent on their caregivers to manage their needs. For example, during feeding parental behaviour can influence the development of infants鈥� ability to sense their hunger and satiety signals. I am interested in understanding the relationship between interoception in caregivers and infants鈥� ability to promptly identify and correctly interpret their internal changes in sensations.
Self-recognition
The ability to recognize one鈥檚 face is considered a fundamental aspect within the spectrum of selfhood. However, what is believed to be the most representative instance of personal identity is probably the less reliable representation of the self; the rather infrequent encounters we have with our own face are in fact mediated by a reflecting surface and likely distorted by a variety of expectations shaped by ourselves and others. How do we balance this information in order to maintain a contentment and stable mental representation of our own identity?
Conferences and presentations
Neural correlates of self-recognition in 6- to 8- month-old infants
Federation of the Europena Society of Neuropsychology, Thessaloniki, Greece, 25/9/2023
Neural correlates of self-recognition in 6- to 8- month-old infants
Societa Italiana di Psicofisiologia e Neuroscienze Cognitive Italy, 14/9/2022
Neural correlates of self-recognition in 6- to 8- month-old infants
International Congress of Infant Studies, Ottowa, Canada, 8/7/2022
Becoming you: the development of body and self-face representations
Invited presentation, Active Self Summer School, Feldafing, Germany, 1/6/2022
Self-identification in childhood:Changes in self-other boundaries modulate children鈥檚 body image attitudes
Experimental Psychology Society, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 6/1/2022
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
-
Growing in the World (PS102)
-
Psychology of Health (PS423)
-
Making connections: How children develop (PS507)
-
MSc Psychology Research Project (PS900)
-
Advanced Brain and Behaviour (PS943)
-
Advanced Psychology of Health (PS951)
Previous supervision
Degree subject: Psychology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 30/4/2025
Degree subject: Electronic Systems Engineering
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 6/7/2022
Degree subject: Computer Science
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 6/7/2022
Publications
Publications (2)
Bianco, F., Rigato, S., Filippetti, ML. and Ognibene, D., (2024). Learning mental states estimation through self-observation: a developmental synergy between intentions and beliefs representations in a deep-learning model of Theory of Mind
Filippetti, ML., Clarke, A. and Rigato, S., (2021). The mental health crisis of expectant women in the UK: effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on prenatal mental health, antenatal attachment and social support
Journal articles (29)
Filippetti, ML., Clarke, ADF. and Rigato, S., . BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 22 (1), 22-68
Kirsch, LP., Tanzer, M., Filippetti, ML., Von Mohr, M. and Fotopoulou, A., Mothers are more egocentric towards their own child鈥檚 bodily feeling. Communications Psychology. 1 (1)
Rigato, S., De Sepulveda, R., Richardson, E. and Filippetti, ML., (2024). . Child Development. 95 (5), 1797-1810
Chawner, L. and Filippetti, ML., (2024). . Developmental Review. 72, 101133-101133
Filippetti, ML., Andreu-Perez, J., De Klerk, C. and Rigato, S., (2023). . NeuroImage. 265, 119756-119756
Cook, C., Crucianelli, L. and Filippetti, ML., (2023). . Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 17, 1181395-
Rigato, S., Filippetti, ML. and De Klerk, CJM., (2023). . Scientific Reports. 13 (1), 14091-
Filippetti, ML., Clarke, ADF. and Rigato, S., (2022). . BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 22 (1), 68-
Morris, AJ., Filippetti, ML. and Rigato, S., (2022). . Child Development Perspectives. 16 (2), 103-109
Andreu-Perez, J., Hagras, H., Kiani, M., Rigato, S. and Filippetti, ML., (2022). . IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine. 17 (1), 16-33
de Klerk, CCJM., Filippetti, ML. and Rigato, S., (2021). . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288 (1949), 20210070-
Filippetti, ML., (2021). . Child Development Perspectives. 15 (3), 182-188
Andreu-Perez, J., Emberson, LL., Kiani, M., Filippetti, ML., Hagras, H. and Rigato, S., (2021). . Communications Biology. 4 (1), 1077-
Crucianelli, L. and Filippetti, ML., (2020). . Topoi. 39 (3), 575-586
Della Longa, L., Filippetti, ML., Dragovic, D. and Farroni, T., (2020). . Frontiers in Psychology. 10, 2944-
Crucianelli, L., Wheatley, L., Filippetti, ML., Jenkinson, P., Kirk, E. and Fotopoulou, A., (2019). . Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 35, 47-56
Filippetti, ML., Kirsch, L., Crucianelli, L. and Fotopoulou, A., (2019). . Scientific Reports. 9 (1), 2635-
Filippetti, ML. and Crucianelli, L., (2019). . Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 185, 191-205
Orioli, G., Filippetti, ML., Gerbino, W., Dragovic, D. and Farroni, T., (2018). . Infancy. 23 (2), 252-267
Filippetti, ML. and Tsakiris, M., (2018). . Infancy. 23 (4), 577-590
Panagiotopoulou, E., Filippetti, ML., Gentsch, A. and Fotopoulou, A., (2018). . PLoS ONE. 13 (8), e0203039-e0203039
Filippetti, ML. and Tsakiris, M., (2017). . Cognition. 159, 1-10
Panagiotopoulou, E., Filippetti, ML., Tsakiris, M. and Fotopoulou, A., (2017). . Scientific Reports. 7 (1), 12883-
Filippetti, ML., Farroni, T. and Johnson, MH., (2016). . Infant and Child Development. 25 (3), 317-322
Filippetti, ML., Lloyd-Fox, S., Longo, MR., Farroni, T. and Johnson, MH., (2015). . Cerebral Cortex. 25 (10), 3779-3787
Filippetti, ML., (2015). What is special about our own face? Commentary: Tuning of temporo-occipital activity by frontal oscillations during virtual mirror exposure causes erroneous self-recognition. Frontiers in Psychology. 6 (OCT), 1551-
Cole, JH., Filippetti, ML., Allin, MPG., Walshe, M., Nam, KW., Gutman, BA., Murray, RM., Rifkin, L., Thompson, PM. and Nosarti, C., (2015). . PLoS ONE. 10 (6), e0130094-e0130094
Filippetti, ML., Orioli, G., Johnson, MH. and Farroni, T., (2015). . Infancy. 20 (4), 455-465
Filippetti, ML., Johnson, MH., Lloyd-Fox, S., Dragovic, D. and Farroni, T., (2013). . Current Biology. 23 (23), 2413-2416
Conferences (1)
Kiani, M., Andreu-Perez, J., Hagras, H., Filippetti, ML. and Rigato, S., (2020).
Reports and Papers (1)
Kirsch, LP., Tanzer, M., Filippetti, ML., Von Mohr, M. and Fotopoulou, A., (2022). Mother knows best: Mothers are more egocentric towards their own child鈥檚 bodily emotions
Grants and funding
2025
HomeStart HI Evaluation EOI
Home-Start 糖心Vlog
2023
Public Engagement Evidence & Search Support BabyLab
糖心Vlog (QR Impact Fund)
Understanding the role of skin temperature in the development of bodily-self awareness
British Academy
The role of multisensory experience in the development of body representations
Economic and Social Research Council
2022
Enhancing BabyBrains锟� programme with 糖心Vlog Babylab research to improve parent-baby relationships
糖心Vlog (ESRC IAA)
2020
Understanding the development mechanisms underlying emotional eating
Academy of Medical Sciences
2019
Embodied vulnerability to body (dis)satisfaction in children
Experimental Psychology Society
The changing body: body representations across the lifespan
The Guarantors of Brain
Contact
Academic support hours:
Please email me to book an appointment
Follow me on social media
