Alice Naomi Preti

I’m a clinical-forensic psychologist (Ordine degli Psicologi della Lombardia, OPL, sez. A, n. 24021).
I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Scienze e tecniche psicologiche at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, with a thesis on “La figura del child molester: la relazione tra gli abusi subiti in infanzia e l’attuale disturbo sessuale”.
Subsequently, I obtained my Master’s degree in Neuroscienze e riabilitazione neuropsicologica at the University of Padua, Padua, with a thesis on “Lie detection in the age of chatbots: a method to recognize online faked identities”, under the supervision of Professor Giuseppe Sartori, with whom I also completed my pre-graduate internship in forensic neuropsychology.
Then, I completed my post-graduate internship in clinical neuropsychology at IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico of Milan, under the supervision of Dr. Stefano Zago. Since then, I have been collaborating with Dr. Zago in the field of forensic neuropsychology.
Since 2021, I have been registered with the Ordine degli Psicologi della Lombardia.
In October 2021, I obtained a master’s program in Neuropsicologia clinica at the Milan Institute for Health Care and Advanced Learning (MiCAL), with a thesis on “Atrofia corticale posteriore: presentazione di un caso sottoposto a trattamento combinato di transcranial direct current stimulation e training cognitivo”.
From May 2020 to May 2022, I conducted a research collaboration (as a visiting graduate) at the University of Milan-Bicocca, contributing to research projects in the clinical-forensic neuroscience field.
From May to October 2022, I worked as a neuropsychological research collaborator at the Istituto Auxologico Italiano, under the supervision of Professor Nadia Bolognini.
Since October 2022, I have been enrolled in the PhD program in Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Milan-Bicocca, Medicine and Surgery Department, Monza-Brianza, with a research project on “Deficits of signature in neurological diseases: a neuropsychological investigation,” under the supervision of Professor Nadia Bolognini and Dr. Stefano Zago.

PhD research project

Deficits of signature in neurological diseases: a neuropsychological investigation

Background. Dysgraphic disorders at both central (i.e., phonological/lexical-semantic route or graphemic buffer) and peripheral levels (i.e., graphomotor planning and implementation) are common to several neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular disorders. At variance with spontaneous writing, the signature is a more automated graphic gesture, and it seems to be spared even in neurological patients presenting with dysgraphia.

Aims. The present project aims at: i. exploring signature changes in healthy controls (HCs) and clinical populations (dementias, stroke and brain tumors), ii. investigating the neural correlates of signature deficits in stroke/tumor patients through the analysis of the lesion side and size; iii. analyzing the association between signature changes and both spontaneous writing and cognitive scores.

Methods. Both HCs and patients undergo a clinical-neuropsychological battery and signing/writing tasks by means of two tools (the ‘THInkPen’, by the Politecnico of Milan; a Wacom digital tablet connected to the Bicocca’s software ‘VBDigital Draw’). For patients only, neuroimages and clinical data are also collected.

Expected outcomes. By the end of this research project, normative data and psychometric properties on signing ability for the Italian population will be provided. Additionally, clinical properties on the evolution and features of signature in three different clinical populations (dementias, stroke, and brain tumors) will be obtained.