Lorenzo Pasquini, PhD
Assistant Professor
Neurology
School of Medicine

I joined the Memory and Aging center in 2016 as a postdoctoral fellow, were I used fMRI and autonomic physiology to study the neural basis of social-emotional functions in older adults and patients with frontotemporal dementia. I joined Neuroscape as a faculty in 2022, where I explore the neural basis of emotional well-being in older adults using multimodal, simultaneous fMRI and autonomic physiology recordings.

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A primary aim of my research is to develop tailored interventions, either behavioral (e.g. closed-loop meditation) or pharmacological (e.g. psilocybin), to target those brain systems that support emotions and social behavior in older adults. In my work, I combine sophisticated data analysis techniques, such as dynamic connectivity and brain connectivity gradients to to better understand how the brain and the body interact to support emotional well-being in older adults.

Awards

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  • R00 Pathway to Independence Award, NIH-NIA, 2022-now
  • Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship, Humboldt Foundation, 2022-2025
  • NEW-B travel award to SfN, NEW-B, 2022
  • K99 Pathway to Independence Award, NIH-NIA, 2020-2022
  • Travel Fellowsip, Big Data Neuroscience 2017, 2017
  • Minisymposium, Society of Neuroscience, 2017
  • Travel Fellowship, AAIC, 2016
  • PhD Fellowship, German Academic Foundation, 2014-2016

Education & Training

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  • Postdoc Neuroimaging of dementia Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco 2022
  • Visiting scholar Computational neuroscience Pompeu Fabra University 2022
  • PhD Neuroimaging of dementia Technische Universität München 09/2016
  • Visiting scholar Neuroimaging Brain Institute 03/2016
  • MS Public Health Ludwig Maximilians Universität 09/2015
  • Visiting scholar Epidemiology King's College London 06/2015
  • Diploma Biology Ludwig Maximilians Universität 09/2011
  • Erasmus student Neuroscience Université Paris Sud 09/2008

Interests

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  • Empathy
  • Dynamic functional connectivity
  • Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy
  • Social-emotional function
  • Emotions
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Insula
  • Neuroimaging biomarker
  • Frontotemporal dementia
  • Von Economo neurons
  • Autonomic nervous system physiology

Websites

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Publications (37)

Top publication keywords:
HallucinogensBanisteriopsisAutonomic Nervous SystemConnectomeMagnetic Resonance ImagingFrontotemporal DementiaBrainAmyloid beta-PeptidesNeurologic ExaminationEmpathyAlzheimer DiseaseNeural PathwaysNerve NetDepressive Disorder, MajorParietal Lobe

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