Valentina Bambini
Valentina Bambini is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University School for Advanced Studies (IUSS) of Pavia, Staff Member of the IUSS Lab for Neurolinguistics, Computational Linguistics, and Theoretical Syntax (NETS), and Coordinator of the joint IUSS-San Raffaele University PhD Program in Cognitive Neuroscience and Philosophy of Mind. She received her undergraduate training in Linguistics at Scuola Normale Superiore and University of Pisa. She earned her PhD in Linguistics at Scuola Normale Superiore (2007), with a dissertation investigating the neural basis of metaphor comprehension. She worked as postdoctoral fellow (2008-2010) and junior researcher (2010-2011) at the Laboratory of Linguistics of the Scuola Normale Superiore, and then as senior researcher at IUSS, Pavia (2012-2014). She taught pragmatics and neurolinguistics as Adjunct or Visiting Professor at San Raffaele University in Milan, University of Pisa, University of Verona, University of Zurich, University of Trondheim, XPRAG.de Summer School in Berlin, and Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. Her main research interests lie in neurolinguistics and in the emerging fields of neuropragmatics and experimental pragmatics, focusing on the cognitive and neural underpinnings of communicative abilities, both in healthy and pathological conditions. She co-coordinated two projects promoted by the EURO-XPRAG network on the elaboration of figurative meaning (2009-2011). She was awarded a grant from Regione Toscana (2010-2013) to develop new tools for the assessment of communicative impairments in clinical populations. The project led to the creation of the APACS test (Assessment of Pragmatic Abilities and Cognitive Substrates). She was the national coordinator of a PRIN project funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (2017-2020), addressing the relationship between pragmatics and Theory of Mind. The project also developed novel training programs to promote communicative abilities across the lifespan and in patients. Currently she is the PI of the IUSS Unit of a project founded by the Italian Ministry of Health and devoted to the development of a brief version of the APACS test for assessment and treatment purposes. She authored more than 60 publications in international journals and books, including Brain and Language, Neuropsychologia, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, Applied Psycholinguistics. She co-founded the Experimental Pragmatics in Italy (XPRAG.it) research network.
Google Scholar Citation Index
Institutional webpage and updated list of publications
Selected publications
Books
  • Bambini V. (2017) Il cervello pragmatico. Roma: Carocci
  • Bambini V. , I. Ricci , P. Bertinetto (2012) (a cura di) Linguaggio e cervello - Semantica / Language and the brain - Semantics, Atti del XLII Convegno della Società di Linguistica Italiana. Roma: Bulzoni
Papers
  • Arcara G., E. Tonini, G. Muriago, E. Mondin, E. Sgarabottolo, G. Bertagnoni, C. Semenza, V. Bambini (2020) Pragmatics and figurative language in individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury: Fine-grained assessment and Relevance-theoretic considerations. Aphasiology 34(8):1070-1100
  • Bambini V., G. Arcara, F. Bosinelli, M. Buonocore, M. Bechi, R. Cavallaro, M. Bosia (2020) A leopard cannot change its spots: A novel pragmatic account of concretism in schizophrenia. Neuropsychologia 139:107332
  • Greco M., P. Canal, V. Bambini, A. Moro (2020) Modulating “Surprise” with Syntax: A Study on Negative Sentences and Eye-Movement Recording. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 49:415–434
  • Greco M., P. Canal, V. Bambini, A. Moro (2020) Expletive Negation: from syntax to eye-movements. In Proceedings of the Fifty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, (eds.) O ̈mer Eren, Asimina Giannoula, Sam Gray, Chi-Dat Lam (Daniel), Aurora Martinez del Rio. pp.161-172. ISBN:978-0-914203-90-2; ISSN 0577-7240.
  • Bambini V., L. Bischetti, C. Bonomi, G. Arcara, S. Lecce, M. Ceroni (2020) Beyond the motor account of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Verbal humour and its relationship with the cognitive and pragmatic profile. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 55(5):751-764
  • Bischetti L., P. Canal, V. Bambini (2020) Funny but aversive: A large-scale survey of the emotional response to Covid-19 humor in the Italian population during the lockdown. Lingua
  • Del Sette P., V. Bambini, L. Bischetti, S. Lecce (2020) Longitudinal associations between theory of mind and metaphor understanding during middle childhood. Cognitive Development 56:100958
  • Bambini V., E. Tonini, I. Ceccato, S. Lecce, E. Marocchini, E. Cavallini (2020) How to improve social communication in aging: Pragmatic and cognitive interventions. Brain and Language 211:104864
  • Bambini V., P. Canal, D. Resta, M. Grimaldi (2019) Time-course and neurophysiological underpinnings of metaphor in literary context. Discourse Processes 56:77-97
  • Lecce S., L. Ronchi, P. Del Sette, L. Bischetti, V. Bambini (2019) Interpreting physical and mental metaphors: Is Theory of Mind associated with pragmatics in middle childhood?. Journal of Child Language 46(2):393-407
  • Canal P., L. Bischetti, S. Di Paola, C. Bertini, I. Ricci, V. Bambini (2019) ‘Honey, shall I change the baby? – Well done, choose another one’: ERP and time-frequency correlates of humor processing. Brain and Cognition 132:41-55
  • Bischetti L., I. Ceccato, S. Lecce, E. Cavallini, V. Bambini (2019) Pragmatics and theory of mind in older adults’ humor comprehension. Current Psychology 1-17
  • Montemurro S., S. Mondini, M. Signorini, A. Marchetto, V. Bambini, G. Arcara (2019) Pragmatic Language Disorder in Parkinson’s Disease and the Potential Effect of Cognitive Reserve. Frontiers in Psychology 10:1220
  • Kalandadze T., V. Bambini, K. Næss (2019) A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on metaphor comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: Do task properties matter?. Applied Psycholinguistics 40(6): 1421-1454
  • Carotenuto A., G. Arcara, G. Orefice, I. Cerillo, V. Giannino, M. Rasulo, R. Iodice, V. Bambini (2018) Communication in Multiple Sclerosis: Pragmatic Deficit and its Relation with Cognition and Social Cognition. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 33(2):194-205
  • Domaneschi F., P. Canal, V. Masia, E. Lombardi Vallauri, V. Bambini (2018) N400 and P600 modulation in presupposition accommodation: The effect of different trigger types. Journal of Neurolinguistics 45:13-35
  • Cappelli G., S. Noccetti, G. Arcara, V. Bambini (2018) Pragmatic competence and its relationship with the linguistic and cognitive profile of young adults with dyslexia. Dyslexia 24(3):294-306
  • Schaeken W., M. Van Haeren, V. Bambini (2018) The understanding of scalar implicatures in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Dichotomized responses to violations of informativeness. Frontiers in Psychology 9:1266
  • Carotenuto A., S. Cocozza, M. Quarantelli, G. Arcara, R. Lanzillo, V. Brescia Morra, I. Cerillo, E. Tedeschi, G. Orefice, V. Bambini, A. Brunetti, R. Iodice (2018) Pragmatic abilities in multiple sclerosis: The contribution of the temporo-parietal junction. Brain and Language 185:47-53
  • Bambini V., G. Arcara, B. Aiachini, B. Cattani, M. Dichiarante, A. Moro, S. Cappa, C. Pistarini (2017) Assessing functional communication: validation of the Italian versions of the Communication Outcome after Stroke (COAST) scales for speakers and caregivers. Aphasiology 31:332-358
  • Masia V., P. Canal, I. Ricci, E. Lombardi Vallauri, V. Bambini (2017) Presupposition of new information as a pragmatic garden path: Evidence from Event-Related Brain Potentials. Journal of Neurolinguistics 42:31-48
  • Bambini V. (2017) Dove risiede il linguaggio? Linguaggio, cervello e neurolinguistica. Masini F., Grandi N. (eds.) “Tutto ciò che hai sempre voluto sapere sul linguaggio e sulle lingue”, Bologna, Caissa Italia, pp 113-116
  • Zanin E., M. Riva, V. Bambini, S. Cappa, L. Magrassi, A. Moro (2017) The contribution of surgical brain mapping to the understanding of the anatomo-functional basis of syntax: A critical review. Neurological Sciences 38(9):1579–1589
  • Bambini V., G. Arcara, I. Martinelli, S. Bernini, E. Alvisi, A. Moro, S. Cappa, M. Ceroni (2016) Communication and pragmatic breakdowns in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. Brain and Language 153–154:1–12
  • Arcara G., V. Bambini (2016) A test for the Assessment of Pragmatic Abilities and Cognitive Substrates (APACS): Normative data and psychometric properties. Frontiers in Psychology 7:70
  • Bambini V., C. Bertini, W. Schaeken, A. Stella, F. Di Russo (2016) Disentangling metaphor from context: An ERP study. Frontiers in Psychology 7:559
  • Bambini V., G. Arcara, M. Bechi, M. Buonocore, R. Cavallaro, M. Bosia (2016) The communicative impairment as a core feature of schizophrenia: Frequency of pragmatic deficit, cognitive substrates, and relation with quality of life. Comprehensive Psychiatry 71:106-120
  • Bosia M., G. Arcara, M. Buonocore, M. Bechi, A. Moro, R. Cavallaro, V. Bambini (2016) Communication in schizophrenia, between pragmatics, cognition, and social cognition. In: A.M. Di Sciullo (ed.) Biolinguistic Investigations on the Language Faculty. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 213-234.
  • Moro A., V. Bambini, M. Bosia, S. Anselmetti, R. Riccaboni, S. Cappa, E. Smeraldi, R. Cavallaro (2015) Detecting syntactic and semantic anomalies in schizophrenia. Neuropsychologia 79(Part A):147-157
  • Bosia M., G. Arcara, A. Moro, R. Cavallaro, V. Bambini (2015) Pragmatic abilities across symptoms dimensions in schizophrenia. Studi italiani di linguistica teorica e applicata (SILTA), Numero monografico: Tra linguistica medica e linguistica clinica. Il ruolo del linguista, a cura di Franca Orletti, Francesca M. Dovetto & Anna Cardinaletti, XLIV(3): 473-485
  • Arcara G., C. Semenza, V. Bambini (2014) Word structure and decomposition effects in reading. Cognitive Neuropsychology 31(1-2):184-218
  • Weiland H., V. Bambini, P. Schumacher (2014) The role of literal meaning in figurative language comprehension: evidence from masked priming ERP. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 8:583
  • Catani M., V. Bambini (2014) A model for Social Communication And Language Evolution and Development (SCALED). Current Opinion in Neurobiology 28:165-171
  • Bambini V., D. Resta, M. Grimaldi (2014) A dataset of metaphors from the Italian literature: Exploring psycholinguistic variables and the role of context. PLoS ONE 9(9):e105634
  • Bambini V., M. Ghio, A. Moro, P. Schumacher (2013) Differentiating among pragmatic uses of words through timed sensicality judgments. Frontiers in Psychology 4:938
  • Bambini V. (2013) La lingua di Dante entra in risonanza: contributi italiani allo studio dei correlati neurobiologici del linguaggio. In: Maraschio N., De Martino D., L’italiano dei saperi. Ricerca, scoperta, innovazione, Firenze, Le Lettere (Collana: “La lingua italiana nel mondo”, 5), 7-23
  • Bambini V. (2012) Neurolinguistics. In: Östman J.A., Verschueren J., Handbook of Pragmatics, Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1-34
  • Bambini V., B. Bara (2012) Neuropragmatics. In: Östman J-O., Verschueren J. Handbook of Pragmatics, Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1-22
  • Bambini V., D. Resta (2012) Metaphor and experimental pragmatics: When theory meets empirical investigation. Humana.Mente Journal of Philosophical Studies 23:37-60
  • Schumacher P., V. Bambini, H. Weiland (2012) Event-related brain potentials of masked repetition and semantic priming while listening to sentences. Neuroscience Letters 530:138-143
  • Bambini V., M. Trevisan (2012) EsploraCoLFIS: Un'interfaccia web per le ricerche sul Corpus e Lessico di Frequenza dell'Italiano Scritto (CoLFIS). Quaderni del Laboratorio di Linguistica (Scuola Normale Superiore) 11:1-16 EsploraCoLFIS Web Interface — Videotutorials <
  • Bambini V., C. Gentili, E. Ricciardi, P. Bertinetto, P. Pietrini (2011) Decomposing metaphor processing at the cognitive and neural level through functional magnetic resonance imaging. Brain Research Bulletin 86(3-4):203-216
  • Bambini V. (2010) Neuropragmatics: A foreword. Italian Journal of Linguistics / Rivista di Linguistica 22(1):1-20