Laura Cacciamani

Laura Cacciamani   

Pronouns: she, her, hers            

Associate Professor                                   

                                                                 

Contact Information

• Office: 47-23M
• Phone: (805) 756-2703                                   
• Email: lcacciam@calpoly.edu

 

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
• Ph.D., M.A., Psychology (Cognition & Neural Systems emphasis), The University of Arizona
• B.S., Psychology and Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University

 

Courses Taught

• PSY 430 Sensation and Perception
• PSY 329 Research Methods
• PSY 480 Cognitive Neuroscience

 

Research Interests

 

In my research, I’m interested in investigating how the various senses (vision, touch, hearing, etc.) work together and separately to produce an understanding of the world around us. Important to this understanding is the ability to both perceive and remember the objects in our environment, as well as their spatial relationships. Vision is typically the sense on which we rely the most for these cognitive functions, as it provides us with the fastest and richest processing of an object or scene. But what about the other senses? What about in those who are blind or visually impaired who can’t rely on vision to perceive the world? Using both behavioral and neuroimaging techniques (including fMRI, or functional magnetic resonance imaging), I aim to shed light on these broad questions. In doing so, I hope to provide insight into object perception and memory in both sighted individuals as well as those with sensory deficits such as blindness or deafness.

 

Selected Publications/Professional Activities

• Cacciamani, L., +Sheparovich, L., +Gibbons, M., +Wack, C., +Crowley, B., +Carpenter, K. (2020). Task-irrelevant sound corrects leftward spatial bias in blindfolded haptic placement task. Multisensory Research, 33(4), 521-548.
• *Likova, L. T. & *Cacciamani, L. (2018). Transfer of learning in people who are blind: Enhancement of spatial-cognitive abilities through drawing. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 112(4).
• Cacciamani, L., Wager, E., Peterson, M. A, & Scalf, P.E. (2017). Age-related changes in perirhinal cortex sensitivity to configuration and part familiarity and connectivity to visual cortex. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 9(291), 1-15.
• Cacciamani, L., & Likova, L. T. (2017). Memory-guided drawing training increases Granger causal influences from the perirhinal cortex to V1 in the blind. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 141, 101-107.
• Cacciamani, L., & Likova, L. T. (2016). Tactile object familiarity in the blind brain reveals the supramodal perceptual-mnemonic nature of the perirhinal cortex. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10(92), 1-11.
• Likova, L. T., Tyler, C. W., Cacciamani, L., Mineff, K., & Nicholas, S. (2016). The cortical network for braille writing in the blind. Electronic Imaging, 16, 1-6.
• Cacciamani, L., Scalf, P. E., & Peterson, M. A. (2015). Neural evidence for competition-mediated suppression in the perception of a single object. Cortex, 72, 124-139.
• Cacciamani, L., Mojica, A. J., Sanguinetti, J. L., & Peterson, M. A. (2014). Semantic access occurs outside of awareness for the groundside of a figure. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 76(8), 2531-2547.
• Cacciamani, L., Ayars, A. A., & Peterson, M.A. (2014).  Spatially rearranged object parts can facilitate perception of intact whole objects. Frontiers in Psychology: Perception Science, 5(82), 1-11.

* denotes shared first authorship

+ denotes Cal Poly student