A research award from France for Francesco Pavani, Director of the Doctoral Programme in “Cognitive and Brain Sciences” at the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC) of the University of Trento.
Pavani received the 2016 Neuroscience prize from the Medisite Foundation, created in 2014 within the Fondation the France to support teams of scientists in the area of neurosciences both in basic and in clinical research.
The ceremony took place a few days ago in Paris on the occasion of the Soirée Recherche Médicale of the Fondation de France, at the Collège de France.
The prize was awarded jointly to Francesco Pavani and Alessandro Farné (head of research at the Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience in Lyon) for their studies on sound source localization in users of cochlear implants, the neuroprosthetics that allow a partial recovery of hearing in profoundly deaf patients.
«Our project – explained Francesco Pavani – is to develop innovative approaches to improve the spatial perception of sounds in people with cochlear implants and in patients with hearing loss, including those who suffer from hearing loss due to old age».
More specifically, Pavani contributed with his work on hearing and multisensory perception and his studies in the area of deafness, brain plasticity and cochlear implants.
«The purpose of our research – Pavani stressed – is to better map the hearing space of people with hearing impairments, and to identify rehabilitation strategies to help them better perceive the sound environment. We are also working on a user-friendly device that can be used for these purposes in clinical settings».