Francesca Frassinetti
Papers
1
Total Citations
215
H-Index
1
About
Francesca Frassinetti is a leading cognitive neuroscientist whose research explores the intersection of spatial cognition, social interaction, and the sense of body ownership. Her key contributions center on understanding how the brain represents the space immediately surrounding the body—known as peripersonal space—and how this representation is modulated by social factors, emotions, and tool use. In her highly cited 2014 study (215 citations), she pioneered the use of immersive virtual reality to compare reaching distance (peripersonal space for action) with comfort distance (interpersonal space for social interaction), revealing that these spaces share common mechanisms but are differentially influenced by the social valence of stimuli. This work has fundamentally shaped how researchers conceptualize the boundary between self and other. Frassinetti’s broader impact includes over 4,000 citations, with seminal studies on how tool use expands peripersonal space and how emotional stimuli alter spatial perception. Her innovative combination of VR, neuropsychology, and psychophysics has made her a pivotal figure in embodied cognition, offering profound insights into how our bodies anchor our social world.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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