Maria Concetta Morrone

Maria Concetta Morrone serves as Professor of Physiology at the Medical School of the University of Pisa since 2008, previously holding the position of Professor of Psychophysiology at the School of Psychology of Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele of Milan from 2000. She currently presides over the Italian Society of Neuroscience following her 2023 election.

Education

• Department of Physics, University of Pisa (1977)
• Biophysics training at Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa

Morrone's research pioneers the understanding of mammalian visual system function through interdisciplinary integration of psychophysics, electrophysiology, functional brain imaging, computational modeling, and artificial intelligence. Her foundational work in visual perception has established critical frameworks for contemporary neuroscience, with particular emphasis on cross-species comparative studies in humans and animals that bridge physiological mechanisms with perceptual phenomena.

Scientific Recognition

• inaugural Campbell Award for Australian Neuroscience
• National Prize of the President of Italy for Physiopathology (Accademia Dei Lincei)
• Perception Lecture, European Congress of Visual Perception
• Koffka Medal in development and perception
• Ken Nakayama Medal for Excellence in Visual Science (VSS)
• ERC Advanced Grant (2013)
• Elected Member, Accademia Dei Lincei (2014)

Her research program includes three active laboratories in Perth, Pisa, and Milan featuring cutting-edge technology infrastructure. Morrone has secured major competitive funding including the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant and serves as editor-in-chief for leading neuroscience journals while co-founding the life sciences' first open access publication platform.