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About

Francesco Lacquaniti is a pioneering neuroscientist whose research sits at the intersection of motor control, neuroprosthetics, and human–robot interaction. His work has fundamentally advanced our understanding of how the brain and spinal cord coordinate locomotion and how this knowledge can be applied to rehabilitation. A central theme of his career is the neural control of walking: his highly cited 2008 paper on distributed neural networks for locomotion (85 citations) and his 2007 review on spinal plasticity after spinal cord injury (57 citations) have shaped modern approaches to gait evaluation and training. Lacquaniti has also made significant contributions to neuroprosthetic technology, as seen in his 2014 study on EMG patterns during exoskeleton-assisted walking (146 citations), which explores how robotic guidance affects muscle activity and sensory feedback. More recently, he has delved into the cognitive and perceptual dimensions of movement, investigating how humans perceive time and how tactile feedback influences hand motor control—work that has implications for designing more intuitive humanoid robots. With a career spanning foundational motor neuroscience to cutting-edge rehabilitation engineering, Lacquaniti’s research continues to bridge basic science and clinical application.