Angelo Maravita
Papers
6
Total Citations
319
H-Index
6
About
Angelo Maravita is a leading cognitive neuroscientist whose research sits at the intersection of body representation, tool use, and neuroprosthetics. His work fundamentally explores how the brain constructs and updates the body schema—the internal model of our physical selves—and how this representation can be extended to include tools, avatars, and even robotic limbs. Maravita’s most cited paper (107 citations) demonstrated that illusory self-identification with an avatar reduces physiological arousal to pain, revealing the profound power of virtual embodiment. His “robot hand illusion” study (90 citations) showed that visuo-motor congruency can induce a powerful sense of ownership over a robotic hand, a finding with direct implications for prosthesis design. Maravita has also made landmark contributions to understanding the parietal lobe’s role in tool use, and his longitudinal work on neurally-interfaced hand prostheses (52 citations) provides compelling evidence that amputees can develop a genuine sense of embodiment for a functional artificial limb. Through these studies, Maravita has illuminated the remarkable plasticity of the body schema, showing that our sense of self is not fixed but continuously shaped by experience, technology, and the tools we wield.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 5The parietal lobe and tool use29 citations · 2018
- 6Plasticity and tool use in the body schema6 citations · 2021