Neurodiversity and Cognition

Our research explores how adolescents and adults—both autistic and non-autistic—understand and enjoy humour, a complex and fascinating part of human social life.

To do this, we combine different methods: we record brain activity with EEG, look at facial expressions using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), and carry out psychological and behavioural assessments.

We follow the neurodiversity approach, which values autism as a natural variation of human minds, rather than focusing on deficits.

Our goal is to highlight and support the unique strengths of autistic people. In particular, we work to encourage and nurture autistic adolescents’ sense of humour and their ways of experiencing and sharing it.

Prof. Dr. Mirella Manfredi