Domenica Crupi

Università degli Studi di Messina

Adjunct Associate Research Scientist

Mirror neuron system and art perception

2006-2007

Domenica Crupi received her Italian degree in medical school in 2002 from the University of Messina (110/110 cum laude) and she discussed a thesis on "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study". At the present she is in the last year of her residency in Neurology at the University of Messina. From the beginning of her residency she worked at the department of Neuropathology and, in particular, she took multiple sclerosis in-patients' and out-patients' clinical care at the Regional Center for Management of Multiple Sclerosis. From June 2005 to November 2006 she worked at department of Neurophysiology in Messina as electromyographist. In summer 2006 she attended a course in clinical neurosciences and neuroanatomy at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The main research experience of Dr Crupi is on transcranial magnetic stimulation, a non-invasive technique used to study the function of the human central motor system in health and disease. She has been working in the Prof. Quartarone's laboratory since March 2002 focusing her activity on movement disorder pathophysiology (dystonia in particular).
At the Italian Academy she will investigate the changes in cortico-spinal excitability and within intracortical circuits induced by observation of a work of art, during its mental representation and by observation of the real action itself, using transcranial magnetic stimulation. The experiments will be performed in Professor Battaglia's laboratory at City College of New York.
She was founder and is currently President and Health Director of the local section of "AVIS", the association of voluntary blood donors which operates in collaboration with the Transfusional Center in the city of Reggio Calabria. She is also member of "GADCO", an association for the promotion of umbilical cord donation.