In this study with Prof. Luciano Bernardi at the University of Pavia we show that long term practice of meditation results in higher arterial and cerebral oxygen saturation, lower blood pressure, and slower baseline respiration. 

In this study with Prof. Isabelle Peretz at the University of Montreal we show that spontaneously moving with music creates powerful experiences of being in flow, more than what happens when we just listen to music without engaging the body. 

In this study with Prof. Isabelle Peretz at the University of Montreal we show that dancing enhances the experience of pleasure from listening to music, compared to what happens when we listen to music without engaging the body. 

In this live-concert experiment with Prof. Luciano Bernardi from the University of Pavia we show that listening to simple rhythms and melodies, which largely dominate the choice of music during rituals and mass events, brings individuals together in terms of their physiological rhythms.

In this study with Dr. Shelley Snow and Prof. Alexandre Lehmann we show that toning, a form of chanting with roots in mindfulness and sound healing, brings participants to spontaneously adopt a pattern of slow and deep breathing that optimizes respiratory function and increases heart rate variability.

In this experiment with Prof. Luciano  Bernardi we show that music attracts and modulates physiological rhythms such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate and the diameter of the microvessels in the finger. These bodily changes are likely the biological substrate of the emotional response the music.

In this experiment with Prof. Patricia Dobkin at McGill University we show that doctors who undergo an 8-week training in mindfulness experience a reduction in stress, a reduction in burnout and are their patients perceive them as being more caring.

In this experiment with Dr. Luca Rinaldi at the University of Milano-Bicocca we show that words related to the future are strongly associated with forward movements of the body, and words related to the past are associated with backward movements.

In this experiment with Prof. David Ostry at McGill University we show that the felt sense of the body drives the acquisition of a novel motor pattern, over and beyond the active production of the movements themselves.

In this experiment with Dr. Giuseppe Vallar at the University of Milano-Bicocca we show that music keyboards help patients with stroke regain awareness of portions of the space around them. The combination of keys and associated music scale sounds prompts patients to push, key after key, the boundary of the space they are able to perceive.

In this experiment with Prof. Emanuela Bricolo at the University of Milano-Bicocca we show that pianists who mentally rehearse complex music motor sequences show detectable improvements in movement velocity and timing during actual performance.