Michela Picardi

I’m a physiotherapist in the Department of Neurorehabilitation Science at Casa di Cura Igea in Milan. I’m a PhD candidate in Clinical Neuroscience at School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca. I received my Master’s degree in Scienze Riabilitative delle professioni sanitarie from the University of Firenze in 2018 and my Bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy at Università Statale di Milano in 2013. My clinical and research interest includes neurorehabilitation treatment and the assessment of the motor system in patients affected by neurological disease. My PhD project is focused on non-invasive brain stimulation techniques (like TMS, i.e., paired associative stimulation protocols) in healthy subjects and patients affected by stroke.

PhD research project

Effects of paired associative stimulation protocols in motor recovery after brain injuries

My PhD project explores the neurophysiological and clinical efficacy of a novel visuo-motor version of the paired associative stimulation (i.e., visuomotor-PAS) as a possible innovative motor rehabilitation treatment in stroke patients with upper limb motor disorders, the novel PAS protocol is compared with a classic M1-PAS protocol. The innovative aspect of visuomotor-PAS is to act on a more extended visuo-motor network, featured by the functional properties of the Mirror Neuron System (MNS); this may represent a clinical advantage allowing to promote post-stroke motor recovery through the induction of a plastic reorganization in the damaged motor system by gaining its access through a potentially spared MNS. I conduct my research projects at the University of Milano-Bicocca and at the Istituto Auxologico Italiano in Milan.

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  Scopus: 57201364196

  ResearchGate