Maria Pennacchio

Maria Pennacchio serves as a Research Fellow at the Interdepartmental Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMEC) within the University of Trento, Italy. Her position is based at the Rovereto campus (Corso Bettini, 31), where she conducts interdisciplinary research bridging neuroscience, psychology, and clinical medicine.

Her research program centers on cognitive and emotional deficits in Parkinson's disease, with particular emphasis on emotion recognition (facial and bodily expressions), theory of mind, moral cognition, and diagnostic criteria for mild cognitive impairment. She employs neuropsychological assessments, behavioral experiments, and machine learning techniques to analyze clinical data, frequently exploring the relationship between motor symptoms and cognitive-emotional deficits. Her work extends to related conditions like Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, investigating neural mechanisms of stress-induced cardiac events.

Analysis of her 2022-2025 publications reveals a cohesive research trajectory focused on Parkinson's disease, with six publications demonstrating methodological evolution from traditional neuropsychological testing to machine learning applications. Her work consistently examines how non-motor symptoms impact patient quality of life, with recent studies addressing diagnostic gaps in PD-MCI and moral decision-making deficits. She maintains a core collaboration network led by Costanza Papagno, with regular contributions from Chiara Longo, Alessandra Dodich, and Luca Turella.

No scientific awards or honors were documented in the provided source material.

While the provided text does not list formal advisees, her role as Research Fellow suggests involvement in mentoring within CIMEC's training programs. Her publication record indicates active participation in research projects funded through University of Trento channels, though specific grants are not detailed. Dr. Pennacchio's work directly contributes to clinical applications through improved cognitive assessment protocols for Parkinson's patients.

She operates within CIMEC's interdisciplinary ecosystem, which integrates psychology, neuroscience, and medicine to investigate mind-brain relationships. Her current projects appear focused on refining diagnostic criteria for cognitive impairment in movement disorders and expanding investigations into socio-cognitive deficits across neurological conditions.