Growing evidence suggests that empathy is a relevant psychological trait to face the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but at the present very little is known on whether this multi-dimensional construct has been affected by the pandemic outbreak differently in its separate components. Here, we aimed at filling this gap by capitalizing on the opportunity of having collected data from different self-report measures and cognitive tasks assessing the main dimensions of empathy immediately before the beginning of the global pandemic and about one year later. The results showed a detrimental impact of the pandemic outbreak on empathic social skills but not on both cognitive (perspective-taking) and emotional empathy that instead significantly improved. Thus, reduced empathic social skills could be a weakness to be targeted in psychological interventions to help people cope with the mental health challenges related to COVID-19 pandemic, whereas the ability of understanding another’s mental states and emotions could represent a strength in dealing with the current long-lasting crisis.

Background: We developed the Italian version of the adult developmental co-ordination disorders/dyspraxia checklist (ADC), providing reliability and concurrent validity data for the scale (Aim 1). In addition, we investigated the relationships between motor coordination difficulties and different autistic traits (Aim 2). Methods: 498 participants (341 females; age range = 18–34) underwent the Italian version of the ADC, as well as a handwriting speed test, the autism spectrum quotient, the empathy quotient, and the systemizing quotient. Results: The distinction between three main factors (A, B, and C) identified in the original version of the ADC was confirmed here. Internal consistency of the ADC subscales was adequate, as well as the correlation with the handwriting speed test used to assess concurrent validity. No substantial sex differences on the ADC scores were found. Furthermore, data revealed that poor autistic-related communication skills and lower levels of systemizing tendencies were, among all the investigated autistic traits, those more strongly associated with higher motor coordination difficulties. Conclusions: The Italian ADC seems a valuable tool for assessing motor coordination difficulties in adults and can reveal the nuanced impact exerted by different autistic traits on self-reported motor functioning.

Background: Spatial analysis encompasses the ability to perceive the visual world by arranging the local elements (“the trees”) into a coherent global configuration (“the forest”). During childhood, this ability gradually switches from a local to a global precedence, which contributes to changes in children’s spatial construction abilities, such as drawing or building blocks. At present, it is not clear whether enhanced global or local processing or, alternatively, whether switching between these two levels best accounts for children’s spatial constructional abilities. Methods: We assessed typically developing children 7 to 8 years old on a global/local switching task and on two widely used spatial construction tasks (the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure and the Block Design test). Results: The ability to switch from global to local level, rather than a global or a local advantage, best accounted for children’s performance on both spatial construction tasks. Conclusions: The present findings contribute to elucidate the relationship between visual perception and spatial construction in children showing that the ease with which children switch perception from global to local processing is an important factor in their performance on tasks requiring complex drawing and block assembling.

Background: Recent evidence has converged in showing that the lateral occipitotemporal cortex is over-recruited during implicit motor imagery in elderly and in patients with neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. These data suggest that when automatically imaging movements, individuals exploit neural resources in the visual areas to compensate for the decline in activating motor representations. Thus, the occipitotemporal cortex could represent a cortical target of non-invasive brain stimulation combined with cognitive training to enhance motor imagery performance. Here, we aimed at shedding light on the role of the left and right lateral occipitotemporal cortex in implicit motor imagery. Methods: We applied online, high-frequency, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left and right lateral occipitotemporal cortex while healthy right-handers judged the laterality of hand images. Results: With respect to the sham condition, left hemisphere stimulation specifically reduced accuracy in judging the laterality of right-hand images. Instead, the hallmark of motor simulation, i.e., the biomechanical effect, was never influenced by rTMS. Conclusions: The lateral occipitotemporal cortex seems to be involved in mental representation of the dominant hand, at least in right-handers, but not in reactivating sensorimotor information during simulation. These findings provide useful hints for developing combined brain stimulation and behavioural trainings to improve motor imagery.

We investigated the role of humanisation in Visual Perspective-Taking (VPT) by testing whether and how agent’s human-likeness and attractiveness (“hedonic quality”) interact with social cues (action and eye gaze) in influencing the participants’ disposition to embody another’s perspective. In a VPT task, participants viewed scenes displaying an actor (human or robotic) grasping, gazing (or both) a target object, or adopting a still posture, and were required to judge the left/right location of the target, without receiving any instruction on the perspective to be assumed. Across two studies, we selected human and robotic agents to use as actors in the VPT task. Results consistently demonstrated that participants could be effectively clustered by a data-driven method into two perspective-taking styles, depending on the presence of a systematic tendency to locate the target object in the VPT scenarios from own (egocentric) or the actor’s (altercentric) point of view. The human versus nonhuman nature of the agent seemed able to affect the participants’ egocentric or altercentric tendency whereas both the agent’s hedonic quality and social cues were not able to influence this propensity. Identifying the factors influencing altercentrism during human–robot interactions can be essential for developing artificial agents favouring user’s acceptance and willingness to interact. In this respect, considering differences among individuals in their propensity to take another’s point of view may be of central importance. Clustering approaches can represent a useful means to capture interindividual differences in this central aspect of human social cognition.

Objectives: In the present study, we adopted a trait-based approach to neurodivergence to test a model conceptualizing different patterns of associations through which ADHD traits relate to anxiety and depressive symptoms by considering interoceptive processing and dispositional mindfulness as potential contributing factors. Of note, we kept inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive ADHD traits separate, as these two core domains may differentially relate to psychopathological symptoms. Method: In a cross-sectional study on neurotypical young adults ( n = 213), path analysis was used to test the direct and indirect relationships between ADHD traits and anxiety and depressive symptoms, examining the possible involvement of interoceptive awareness and dispositional mindfulness in these associations. Results: Considering inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity traits separately, the analysis identified three associations linking ADHD traits to anxiety and depressive symptoms. One association was shared between the two ADHD traits, whereas two other associations were specifically related to hyperactive/impulsive traits. Conclusions: Our results underscore the potential of a trait-based approach that incorporates interoception and mindfulness to better understand the relationships between ADHD and psychopathology. Preregistration: This study is not preregistered.