Orsola Rosa Salva

Orsola Rosa Salva is an Assistant Professor (RTDa) at the Interdepartmental Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMEC) at the University of Trento since November 2020. Her research focuses on comparative cognitive neuroscience using domestic chickens as a model system to investigate innate social predispositions, cerebral asymmetry, and cognitive development. She has maintained continuous academic appointments at the University of Trento since 2010, initially as a post-doctoral researcher under Prof. Giorgio Vallortigara.

Her primary research interests include:

• Animal cognition and comparative psychology
• Neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience
• Cerebral asymmetry and lateralization
• Statistical learning mechanisms
• Autism spectrum disorder research through comparative models
• Ethology and neuroethology of social behavior

Analysis of her recent publications (2022-2024) reveals a consistent focus on innate social cognition in visually naive domestic chicks. Her work demonstrates chicks' spontaneous preferences for animate motion patterns, non-predictable reciprocal movements, and agent interactions. These studies bridge comparative psychology, developmental neuroscience, and social cognition, establishing chicks as valuable models for understanding the evolutionary foundations of social perception. Her methodological approach integrates behavioral observation with neural correlates analysis.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Best Poster Prize at the 2018 Avian Cognitive Neuroscience Forum

Dr. Salva has extensive teaching experience across multiple Italian universities including Padova, Trieste, and Trento. Her instructional contributions span courses in Animal Cognition, Comparative Psychology, Neuroscience, and Psychobiology. While specific grant information isn't detailed in the provided text, her research trajectory demonstrates sustained funding through post-doctoral positions and research contracts since 2006. She actively participates in international conferences on cognitive development, neuroethology, and comparative psychology.

Her work is conducted primarily through the Interdepartmental Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMEC) at the University of Trento, where she collaborates with Prof. Giorgio Vallortigara's research group. This center provides the interdisciplinary environment necessary for her comparative cognitive neuroscience research, combining psychological, neurological, and ethological approaches to study fundamental cognitive processes across species.