Francesco Tortora (@francescotortora.bsky.social)

Francesco Tortora

@francescotortora.bsky.social

Experimental Psychologist | PhD student in the Experimental Clinical Psychology Group at Julius-Maximilians-University, Würzburg | Part of the RTG 2660 on Approach-Avoidance | Interested in Fear Learning and Memory

127 followers 162 following7 posts

Francesco Tortora

@francescotortora.bsky.social

🧠 Our new preprint is out! In our shared work with @ecemtavacioglu.bsky.social, we report the first translation of an intensity-based gradual extinction procedure from rodents to humans. doi.org/10.31234/osf...

doi.orgGradual Extinction via US Intensity Reduction: a Translational Test of Fear Memory Updating in HumansRelapse of fear-related symptoms after exposure-based treatment remains a major challenge across anxiety disorders. One potential explanation is that extinction learning yields a new memory trace rath...

Francesco Tortora

@francescotortora.bsky.social

By combining this approach with psychophysiological measures of defensive responding, we investigated how progressively reducing the intensity of an aversive outcome influences the subsequent expression of fear memories.

Francesco Tortora

@francescotortora.bsky.social

We provide initial evidence that gradual extinction may attenuate spontaneous recovery of fear. This approach offers a promising framework to investigate how aversive memories are updated and then expressed. With @yannikstegmann.bsky.social , @martandreatta.bsky.social, @gamerlab.bsky.social.

Francesco Tortora reposted

Yannik Stegmann

@yannikstegmann.bsky.social

New paper out! We examined EEG and autonomic responses during threat anticipation and asked whether this state of “attentive immobility” influences memory encoding. We found enhanced perceptual processing, but this did not translate into better memory. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Francesco Tortora

@francescotortora.bsky.social

16 Sept

Hey folks! Check out our new preprint!📍 Bridging animal and human research, we dynamically manipulated contextual properties in VR to investigate how elemental and configural representations interact to shape the human defensive system across multiple response domains. doi.org/10.31234/osf...

doi.orgOSF

Francesco Tortora

@francescotortora.bsky.social

9 June

Had a great time at #PuG2026 in Heidelberg. Honored to receive the Poster Prize from @biodgps-dgpa.bsky.social , recognizing the work developed during my PhD within @rtg2660.bsky.social Thanks to my supervisors @gamerlab.bsky.social and @martandreatta.bsky.social for the continous support.

Francesco Tortora

@francescotortora.bsky.social

9 June

If you would like to learn more about the poster and my research, it will soon be available here: www.dgps.de/fachgruppen/... Stay tuned for more to come!

dgps.deDGPs - PosterpreisDie Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie e.V. (DGPs) ist eine Vereinigung der in Forschung und Lehre tätigen Psychologen und Psychologinnen. Die DGPs erstrebt die Förderung und Verbreitung der wissen...

Francesco Tortora reposted

Gamer Lab Wuerzburg

@gamerlab.bsky.social

5 June

Replying to @gamerlab.bsky.social

@francescotortora.bsky.social focusses on dissecting contextual representations in human threat learning and memory in an immersive virtual reality setup (Poster Session 2, #573)

Francesco Tortora reposted

Ecem Tavacioglu

@ecemtavacioglu.bsky.social

4 May

Huge applause to @francescotortora.bsky.social for presenting our study “Gradual Extinction via US Intensity Reduction: a Translational Test of Fear Memory Updating in Humans” at #EMHFC2026 👏 Great teamwork, exciting study and results!

Francesco Tortora reposted

Jörn Alexander Quent

@jaquent.bsky.social

12 Jan

‪ Evidence for item-in-context cells in humans from @humansingleneuron.bsky.social: Distinct neuronal populations in the human brain combine content and context Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Francesco Tortora reposted

Anna Ciaunica PhD

@annaciaunica.bsky.social

14 Nov 2025

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comTime, space, memory and brain–body rhythms - Nature Reviews NeuroscienceUnderstanding how the brain represents experienced time and how representations of space and time are integrated to form episodic memories has been a goal of much neuroscientific research. In this Per...

Francesco Tortora reposted

tal boger

@talboger.bsky.social

19 Aug 2025

On the left is a rabbit. On the right is an elephant. But guess what: They’re the *same image*, rotated 90°! In @currentbiology.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I show how these images—known as “visual anagrams”—can help solve a longstanding problem in cognitive science. bit.ly/45BVnCZ

Francesco Tortora

@francescotortora.bsky.social

21 June 2025

What a great experience! Glad to have taken part in this amazing symposium #PUG2025

Ecem Tavacioglu@ecemtavacioglu.bsky.social

I had pleasure of co-organizing my very first symposium together with my supervisor @gamerlab.bsky.social. A heartfelt thank you to all the amazing speakers @ondrejzika.bsky.social, @francescotortora.bsky.social, @ldeserno.bsky.social, @floriansch and participants for their contributions. #PUG2025

Francesco Tortora reposted

Ecem Tavacioglu

@ecemtavacioglu.bsky.social

15 June 2025

Only a few days left until @pug2025.bsky.social – our symposium, organized together with @gamerlab.bsky.social 🧠⚡ 🎤 Join us for exciting talks by: @ondrejzika.bsky.social @francescotortora.bsky.social @ldeserno.bsky.social @florianschlagenhauf #PUG2025 #psychophysiology #reinforcementlearning

Francesco Tortora reposted

Gamer Lab Wuerzburg

@gamerlab.bsky.social

25 Oct 2024

Replying to @gamerlab.bsky.social

…and @francescotortora.bsky.social showing his work on conjunctive and elemental processing during threat confrontation 👇

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