C4DM Seminar: Antonio Criscuolo: Intra- and inter-individual variability in body-brain-behavioral rhythms: an ongoing multimodal study with smart wearables
QMUL, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science
Centre for Digital Music Seminar Series
Seminar by: Antonio Criscuolo
Date/time: Wednesday, 18th March 2026, 3 pm
Location: G2, Enginering Building, Mile End. Teams link
Title: Intra- and inter-individual variability in body-brain-behavioral rhythms: an ongoing multimodal study with smart wearables
Abstract:
Our sensory landscape features a multitude of semi-periodic input streams: there are temporal
regularities in speech and music, as well as in bodily physiological activity. The brain displays
(semi-)rhythmic patterns of activity, too: from (sensory-driven?) low-frequency oscillations in the
delta-theta (1-8Hz) ranges, to (endogenous?) higher-frequency activity in the alpha (8-12Hz) and
beta-gamma (12-100Hz) ranges.
In this study, we aimed at characterizing intra- and inter-individual variability in (i) body-brain-
behavioral (BBB) rhythms, (ii) coupling dynamics across scales, and (iii) their influence on
sensory processing and action coordination.
For doing so, we recorded BBB activity by employing a combination of smart wearable
technologies (fitness tracker, mobile EEG, smart glasses) while 50 participants engaged in a series
of tasks ranging from resting state and listening tasks (simple and complex auditory sequences),
to spontaneous behaviors (tapping, speaking and walking).
Preliminary results suggest that (semi-)periodic activity in pupil dilation, breathing, walking,
cardiac signals, tapping, saccadic movements, speaking and individual alpha may form a cross-
frequency architecture characterized by a lognormal distribution. Although less (simple and)
predictable than a harmonic distribution [1], such stochastic pattern better accommodates complex
cognitive phenomena such as our sense of time, space and memory [2]
. Secondly, decoding
approaches suggest that sensory processing may fluctuate between intero- and exteroceptive input
streams during listening tasks [3,4]: i.e., the brain seems to dynamically switch to tune to either
cardiac or auditory input over time, thus demanding to reconsider our conceptualization of
attention and its dynamics.
While the project is currently ongoing, preliminary observations promise to advance our
understanding of how complex body-brain interactions shape information processing and
behavior.
References:
[1] Klimesch, W. The frequency architecture of brain and brain body oscillations: an analysis.
European Journal of Neuroscience 48, 2431–2453 (2018).
[2] Buzsáki, G. Time, space, memory and brain–body rhythms. Nature Reviews Neuroscience
2025 27:1 27, 61–78 (2025).
[3] Criscuolo, A., Czepiel, A., Schwartze, M. & Kotz, S. A. A body-brain (dis)equilibrium
regulating transitions from health to pathology. Phys. Life Rev.
https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PLREV.2025.07.003 (2025) doi:10.1016/J.PLREV.2025.07.003.
[4] Criscuolo, A., Schwartze, M. & Kotz, S. A. Cognition through the lens of a body–brain
dynamic system. Trends Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.TINS.2022.06.004 (2022)
doi:10.1016/J.TINS.2022.06.004.
Bio:
The journey
Antonio was born and raised in the sun and blue of the Amalfi Coast, in southern Italy.
He is originally from Salerno, where he studied music and bassoon and graduated at the Conservatory in 2013. In
2017, Antonio obtained his BSc degree in (Experimental) Psychology at the University of Bologna (IT); in 2019
obtained a Research Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience at Maastricht University (NL), and later his PhD
diploma in 2024. In his academic journey, Antonio has been a visiting researcher at the center for Music in the Brain
(Aarhus, Denmark; 2017), at the Oxford center for Human Brain Activity, University of Oxford (Oxford, United
Kingdon; 2019) and at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (Frankfurt, Germany).
Academic profile and expertise
Antonio has been performing basic (i.e., healthy young and aging subjects), comparative (i.e., primates and humans),
and translational (i.e., stroke patients with lesions in the Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia; Parkinson’s patients) research
investigating inter-individual variability in the neural mechanisms of auditory, time and multisensory (i.e., audio-
visual; audio-tactile) processing.
Combining state-of-the art neurophysiology methods (e.g., magnetoencephalography (MEG) and
electroencephalography (EEG), as well as wearable EEG) with newly developed analytical approaches, Antonio
sought to characterize the neural dynamics underpinning the capacities to encode, predict and synchronize
sensorimotor systems with sensory events in the acoustic environment.
In a second research line, Antonio has been exploring the modulatory role of body-brain physiological interactions on
neurocognitive functions: he performed experimental work and systematic literature reviews formulating novel
frameworks for how respiratory, cardiac, and other bodily signals may influence neural activity and information
processing from health to pathology, consequently impacting how we perceive the sensory world and act in it.
Research grants, and activities
Antonio’s research has been funded by small-scale grant schemes (e.g., KNAW, NWO), private investors (i.e., venture
capital), recognized by international bodies (e.g., Italian Society for Psychophysiology and Neuroscience), and
presented at >10 international conferences and research labs world-wide.
Next to research, Antonio has been teaching, supervising MSc and PhD students, and coordinating scientific initiatives
(e.g., research days, seminars, workshops and public outreach events) across Europe.
In 2023, Antonio founded ‘Body-Brain Waves’ (waves-conference.com), a series of conferences, summer schools,
workshops, and science dissemination activities focusing on the role of body-brain interactions in cognition.