Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Valentina Cesari is a leading researcher at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience, human-machine interaction, and robotic surgery. Her work centers on understanding how the brain constructs a **sense of agency** and **embodiment** when operating remote tools, with a particular focus on **teleoperation** and **robotic-assisted surgery (RAS)**. In her highly cited 2024 systematic review (13 citations), she established that agency is crucial for skills learning in virtual environments, as it enhances motor confidence and neural congruence. Cesari’s 2023 review (10 citations) made a pivotal contribution by demonstrating how **sensory substitution**—using visual clues to compensate for missing haptic feedback—can significantly improve surgical performance and potentially foster a mediating sense of embodiment. Her experimental work (2024, 8 citations) further advanced the field by showing that stimulating the **right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ)** directly modulates embodiment, presence, and teleoperation performance. By bridging fundamental cognitive mechanisms with applied surgical robotics, Cesari’s research is laying the groundwork for more intuitive, effective, and safer remote manipulation systems, making her a key voice in the future of telesurgery and human augmentation.