On June 29th, 2023, the first suborbital human flight of the Italian Air Force took off from Las Cruces (New Mexico, USA) on Virgin Galactic's Spaceship-2 spacecraft. The aim of the flight was to investigate the impact of microgravity on the human body and cognition, and testing new technologies for space missions.

The passengers were two Air Force officers and a CNR engineer, the first-ever flight of this kind.

The scientist from the Department of Molecular Medicine of the Sapienza University of Rome and from BrainSigns, prof. Gianluca Borghini, took part in the mission as head of the study on the impact of microgravity on cognitive functions. In particular, neurophysiological signals, like brain and heart activity and skin conductance, were acquired during the flight together with the performance while dealing with specific experimental tasks.

In this context, BrainSigns provided the technology for recording these signals and the software for their analysis derived from industrial experiences in the aviation context.

Before, during and after the flight, lasted about seventy-five-minute, the crew conducted 13 experiments, proposed by the Department of Aerospace Medicine of the Italian Air Force, IMAS Milan, CNR, University of Milan, IRCCS Policlinico Foundation of Milan, Sapienza University of Rome, Polytechnic University of the Marche, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo of Milan and Andremacon Biotech of Italy.

This aspect allowed for carrying out multidisciplinary tests that would otherwise be difficult to perform. The results will provide useful data for scientific research applicable to several fields, not only technological but also human health.

For more information visit the Virgin Galactic website from this link, and watch the official video of the flight here.

CERTAMENTE is back in presence on 17 May at Base Milano, cultural hub.

The event will be an opportunity to understand the effectiveness of applying neuromarketing and behavioural sciences to marketing and communication strategies.

The programme is full of innovative content: there will be several testimonials from international experts who will illustrate strategies successfully applied in large companies. 

Our company is a scientific partner of the event and our scientific director, Prof. Fabio Babiloni, will open the event with an introduction on Neuroscience applied to the corporate world.

Following Charles Spence (Professor of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University) will talk about how to innovate multisensory perception of tasting experiences.Simon Lancaster (internationally renowned Speechwriter) during his talk will illustrate how, by combining rhetoric and neuroscience, an effective guide to the language of leadership can be created. Finally, Matteo Motterlini (Full Professor at San Raffaele University) will explain how decision-making is generated in our mind in the field of economic choices.

In the afternoon there will be concrete national and international business cases through three thematic sessions in parallel.

It will discuss how to optimise digital marketing campaigns through Neuroscience. It will be understood how Neuromarketing can be used to innovate products and logos and improve the consumer experience in stores, illustrating strategies successfully applied in large companies.

In addition, during the conference there will be the opportunity to "touch" Neuromarketing at a stand of our company where new neuroscientific technologies can be used.

As always, the day will be an excellent opportunity to collect new thoughts that can be put into in company marketing and communication practices.

The study on Michelangelo's Moses, conducted by our team, was reported during the TV programme 'Generazione Bellezza' on RAI 3, in the episode of 14 April 2023.

The Mindtooth system, developed by our start-up as part of a European Horizon 2020 project, was used to detect the emotions and interest aroused by viewing the sculpture.

The easily wearable device is able to measure how our brain and body react when we are in front of works of art.

The results showed that it is not enough to be in front of the sculpture, but, to maximise emotion and interest, one has to look at it from a well-defined point: the one from where the eyes and the intense gaze of Moses meet, i.e. in the lateral position to the statue. Instead, in the frontal viewing position, where the Moses' gaze does not directly meet that of the visitors, the measured emotion is significantly lower.

The results of a neuroaesthetic study conducted at the ArtVerona art fair have been published, the result of a collaboration between BrainSigns, in particular Prof. Fabio Babiloni and Dr. Giulia Cartocci, and the collective of artists and researchers Numero Cromatico, especially involving Dr. Dionigi Mattia Gagliardi, Dr. Salvatore Gaetano Chiarella and Dr. Giulia Torromino. The aim of the research was to investigate the effect of knowledge that a work was created by a human artist rather than an Artificial Intelligence (AI) in an ecological context.

In fact, ArtVerona involved 25000 visitors, of which about 3000 visited the studio stand and 150 visitors took part in the research. Two unpublished abstract paintings were used (D.M. Gagliardi 2015), declaring them to the participants alternatively as produced by "human" or "AI".

Participants who saw both paintings declared as less pleasant the painting whose author was believed to be AI after seeing the one believed to be produced by humans. This showed that we are in fact influenced by the author's knowledge of a work, and that our judgement is more negative for works that we think are the product of an AI. This is an important fact in light of the rise of creative and intelligent technologies, many of which are capable of producing original artworks. The interdisciplinary approach between art and neuroscience, therefore, can not only provide new keys to understanding the concept of authorship, but also open new scenarios on the creation and use of artwork.

The study, partly supported by the Great University Project 2021 'The artificial intelligence and us: how we react, how we can live together' obtained by Prof. Fabio Babiloni and colleagues, is the result of the first collaboration between BrainSigns and Numero Cromatico.

The two groups are carrying out further research, including a study within the SUPERSTIMOLO exhibition of Numero Cromatico at the MAXXI Museum in Rome, where it was also possible to consider brain reaction using the Mindtooth system, developed with EU funds and already used recently in the NeuroDante project, led by Prof. Fabio Babiloni's team with manager Dr. Cartocci.

To learn more about the article, you can read and download it on the website of the Computers in Human Behavior magazine.