Available for collaborations · Roma, IT

Matteo Laurenzi

Cognitive neuroscientist studying the bodily roots of the self — bridging phenomenology, EEG and behavioural science to understand how consciousness emerges from the brain.

Role PhD · Doctor Europaeus
Field Psychology & Cognitive Science
Based in Roma, Italia
Get in touch Explore research
01

About

A short introduction

I am a researcher in cognitive neuroscience whose work investigates the foundations of selfhood: the felt sense of being a body, an agent, and a narrator of one's own experience.

My doctoral research at Sapienza University of Rome combines EEG, behavioural paradigms and phenomenological methods to study the minimal bodily self, the narrative self, and the gradual structure of conscious experience — drawing on contemplative practice and embodied cognition.

Beyond the laboratory I act as Topic Coordinator and Review Editor for Frontiers in Psychology, lecture across Italian universities, and coordinate orientation programs for high-school students under Italy's PNRR — NextGenerationEU initiative.

  • Peer-reviewed publications4+
  • LanguagesIT · EN (C2)
  • Based inRoma, IT
  • DoctorateDoctor Europaeus
02

Research focus

Themes & methods

Minimal & bodily self

Behavioural, neuroimaging and phenomenological evidence on the embodied roots of self-experience and bodily illusions.

EEG & neurophysiology

Acquisition, pre-processing and analysis of EEG signals to probe the temporal dynamics of attention, awareness and embodied cognition.

Mindfulness & contemplative science

How meditative training reshapes attention, emotion and self-referential processing — from theory to clinical practice.

Pattern Theory of Self

A multidimensional, gradualist account of the self extended to non-human animals and questions of consciousness, ethics and method.

03

Experience

Selected positions

  1. 2024 — present

    Topic Coordinator & Review Editor

    Frontiers in Psychology

    Academic editorial work coordinating research topics and peer-review across cognitive and consciousness studies.

  2. 2023 — 2024

    Visiting Researcher

    Department of Neurobiology · Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia

    International research stay contributing to the Doctor Europaeus distinction; cross-laboratory collaboration on neurophysiology of consciousness.

  3. 2023 — 2025

    Coordinator of Educational Activities

    PNRR · NextGenerationEU — Orientation programs for upper-secondary schools

    Designed and coordinated orientation courses linking neuroscience to learning, identity and well-being for high- school students across Italy.

  4. 2022 — 2026

    Doctoral Researcher · PhD candidate

    Sapienza University of Rome — Psychology & Cognitive Science

    Doctorate (Doctor Europaeus) on the gradual structure of the self, integrating EEG, behavioural paradigms and phenomenological method.

04

Teaching

Lectures & laboratories

Sapienza Università di Roma

  • Master — Mindfulness: practice, clinic and neuroscience
    Sept 2022 · Nov 2023 · Mar 2024 — Lectures and seminars on identity in the neuroscientific context and research techniques
  • MSc course — Psychology of Emotions & Mindfulness Techniques
    Mar 2023 · Nov 2023 · Mar 2024 — Lectures, seminars and student lab activities; coordination of teaching materials

Università Europea di Roma

  • MSc course — Affective Neuroscience
    Apr 2024 · Nov 2025 — Lectures on embodied cognition; laboratory activities on bodily illusions
  • Qualifying course — Support Teachers
    Dec 2023 — Lecture on intelligence: from foundations to contemporary research
05

Publications

Selected works

  1. 2025

    A multidimensional approach to the self in non-human animals through the Pattern Theory of Self

    Laurenzi, M., Raffone, A., Gallagher, S., & Chiarella, S. G.

    Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1561420.

  2. 2025

    Animal consciousness: exploring theoretical, methodological and ethical issues

    Laurenzi, M., Raffone, A., & Ehret, G.

    Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1627261.

  3. 2023

    Behavioral, neuroimaging and phenomenological evidence of the minimal-bodily self

    Laurenzi, M., Chiarella, S. G., Simione, L., Gallagher, S. A., & Raffone, A.

    Atti del XXIX Congresso AIP, pp. 410–410.

  4. 2023

    Le neuroscienze della Mindfulness

    Chiarella, S. G., Kerusauskaite, S. G., Laurenzi, M., D'Angiò, M., & Raffone, A.

    In: Gli Interventi Basati sulla Mindfulness (II ed.), pp. 370–408. Giovanni Fioriti Editore.

Speaking & conferences

  • Brain Awareness Week — keynote Cervello, essenza e identità: le basi neuroscientifiche dell'esperienza di Sé · Narrative Self, Minimal Self and Selflessness — March 2024
  • AIP — Italian Psychology Association · Experimental Section Blitz Talk: Behavioral, neuroimaging and phenomenological evidence of the minimal-bodily self — September 2023
  • Organising Committee — ICEM 2023 / ICEM 2026 International Conference on Mindfulness
  • Organising Committee — ICSC 2024 (9th edition) International Conference on Spatial Cognition
06

Skills & education

Tools & training

Technical

  • EEG · BrainVision
  • Python (Anaconda)
  • PsychoPy
  • PsyToolkit
  • Signal processing
  • Statistical analysis
  • Microsoft Office
  • Google Workspace

Languages

  • Italian
    Native
  • English
    C2 · TOEFL 106/120

Communication

Cross-cultural research mentorship, public speaking and academic event coordination — supervising international thesis interns and chairing scientific sessions.

Education

  • 2026
    PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Science · Doctor Europaeus
    Sapienza Università di Roma
  • —
    Cognitive & Affective Neurophysiology Summer School
    EEG signal acquisition, processing and analysis · University of Porto
  • —
    MSc · Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychological Rehabilitation
    Sapienza Università di Roma
  • —
    BSc · Applied Psychological Sciences
    Università degli Studi dell'Aquila
07

Let's talk.

Open to research collaborations, invited talks, teaching and consulting in the cognitive and neurological sciences.

Email matteo.laurenzi@protonmail.com Phone +39 349 465 9587
Address Via Casale di San Basilio 47E · 00156 Roma · Italia