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Nicolas Silvestrini

Office 5157, Uni-Mail

Phone: +41 (0)22 379 9268
Fax: +41 (0)22 3799219
University of Geneva
40, Bd. du Pont d'Arve
CH-1211 Geneva 4
Switzerland

Research Interests

Effortful cognitive processes, automaticity and implicit cognitive processes
Pain and reciprocal influences of pain and cognitive processes
Self-regulation, affect
Psychophysiology and cardiovascular measures of mental effort


Education

October 2004 License in psychology, University of Geneva, Switzerland
June 2008 Ph.D. from the University of Geneva, Switzerland
Advisors: Prof. Guido H.E. Gendolla

Professional experience

August 2021-Present Senior Lecturer, University of Geneva, Switzerland
August 2016-January 2023 Senior Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Geneva, Switzerland
October 2015-July 2016 Substitute Senior Lecturer, University of Geneva, Switzerland
October 2012-September 2015 Senior Research Associate, project entitled “Motivational Perspectives on the Reciprocal Influence of Cognitive Control and Pain”, Ambizione grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (n°PZ00P1_142458/1)
September 2011-September 2012 Post-Doc, project "Primed Affect and Effort-Related Cardiovascular Response", University of Geneva, Switzerland
September 2010-August 2011 Fellowship for Prospective Researcher, granted by the Swiss National Science Foundation, project "The Impact of Cognitive Resource Depletion on Pain", advisor: Prof. P. Rainville, University of Montreal, Canada
September 2008-August 2010 Post-Doc, project "Primed Affect and Effort-Related Cardiovascular Response", University of Geneva, Switzerland
September 2005-August 2008 Doctoral Student, project "Mood and Mental Effort", advisor: Prof. G.H.E. Gendolla, University of Geneva, Switzerland
November 2004-Mai 2005 Research Assistant at the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Geneva University Hospital, advisor: Dr. V. Piguet, Switzerland
September 2003-2004 Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Geneva, Switzerland

Publications

Books

Silvestrini, N. (2008). De la justification de l'effort par la motivation de régulation des humeurs. University of Geneva: http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:622

Journal articles

Silvestrini, N., & Corradi-Dell’Acqua, C. (2023). Distraction and cognitive control independently impact parietal and prefrontal response to pain. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 18(1), nsad018, https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsad018.

Riontino, L., Fournier, R., Lapteva, A., Silvestrini, N., Schwartz, S., & Corradi-Dell’Acqua, C. (2023). Cognitive exertion affects the appraisal of one’s own and other people’s pain. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 8165. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35103-w

Cancela, T., Gendolla, G.H.E., & Silvestrini, N. (2023). Pain and gain: Monetary incentive moderates pain's impact on effort-related cardiac response. Psychophysiology, 60, e14231, https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14231

Silvestrini, N., Musslick, S., Berry, A., & Vassena, E. (2023). An integrative effort: Bridging motivational intensity theory and recent neurocomputational and neuronal models of effort and control allocation. Psychological Review, 130(4), 1081-1103. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000372

Silvestrini, N., & Corradi-Dell’Acqua, C. (2023). The impact of pain on subsequent effort and cognitive performance. The Journal of Psychophysiology, 37(2), 67-78. https://doi.org/10.1027/0269-8803/a000308

Cancela, T., & Silvestrini, N. (2021). Impact of pain on mental effort assessed as cardiovascular reactivity. PAIN Reports, 6(1), e917. https://doi.org/10.1097/PR9.0000000000000917

Bernard,L. C., Cieciuch, J., Lac, A., Zuro, B., Krupic, D., Richter, M., Silvestrini, N., & von Helversen, B. (2021). A cross-cultural study of purposive “traits of action”: measurement invariance of scales based on the action–trait theory of human motivation using exploratory structural equation modeling. Studia Psychologica: Theoria et Praxis, 21, 5-29. https://doi.org/10.21697/sp.2019.19.1.01

Silvestrini, N., Chen, J.-I, Piché, M., Roy, M., Vachon-Presseau, E., Woo, C.-W., Wager, T.D., & Rainville, P. (2020). Distinct fMRI patterns colocalized in the cingulate cortex underlie the after-effects of cognitive control on pain. NeuroImage. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116898

Silvestrini, N., Vuignier, E., Matthey, A., & Piguet, V. (2019). The perception of available resources influences the after-effect of cognitive control on cognitive performance and pain. Social Psychology, 50, 332-344. doi: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000386

Silvestrini, N., Gendolla, G.H.E. (2019). Affect and cognitive control: Insights from research on effort mobilization. International Journal of Psychophysiology. (Special issue on “What is Cognitive Control Without Affect?”), 143, 116-125. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.07.003

Silvestrini, N. (2018). On the implicit influence of pain cues on cognitive effort: Evidence from cardiovascular reactivity. Biological Psychology, 132, 45-54. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.11.002

Silvestrini, N. (2017). Psychological and neural mechanisms associated with effort-related cardiovascular reactivity and cognitive control: An integrative approach. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 119, 11-18. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2016.12.009

Chatelain, M., Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2016). Task difficulty moderates implicit fear and anger effects on effort-related cardiac response. Biological Psychology, 115, 94-100. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.01.014

Quirin, M., Wróbel, M., Pala, A. N., Stieger, S., Shanchuan, D., Hicks, J. A., Mitina, O., Brosschot J., Kazén, M., Lasauskaite-Schüpbach, R., Silvestrini, N., Steca, P., & Padun, M. A. (2016). A cross-cultural validation of the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT): Results from ten nations across three continents. European Journal of Psychological Assessment.doi: 10.1027/1015-5759/a000315

Silvestrini, N. (2015). The effort-related cost of implicit pain. Motivation Science, 1(3), 151-164. doi: 10.1037/mot0000020

Lasauskaite Schüppbach, R., Gendolla, G.H.E., & Silvestrini, N. (2014). Contrasting the effects of sub optimally versus optimally presented affect primes on effort-related cardiac response. Motivation and Emotion, 38, 748-758. doi:10.1007/s11031-014-9438-x

Silvestrini, N. (2014). Implication de la capacité de contrôle cognitif dans l'expérience de la douleur [Implication of cognitive control capacity in pain experience]. Revue Médicale Suisse, 10(436), 1378-1381.

Lasauskaite, R., Gendolla, G.H.E., & Silvestrini, N. (2013). Do sadness-primes make me work harder because they make me sad? Cognition and Emotion, 27, 158-165. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2012.689756

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2013). Automatic effort mobilization and the principle of resource conservation: One can only prime the possible and justified. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104, 803-816 doi: 10.1037/a0031995

Silvestrini, N., & Rainville, P. (2013). After-Effects of Cognitive Control on Pain. European Journal of Pain, 17, 1225-1233. doi: 10.1002/j.1532-2149.2013.00299.x

Freydefont, L., Gendolla, G.H.E., & Silvestrini, N. (2012). Beyond valence: The differential effect of masked anger and sadness stimuli on effort-related cardiac response. Psychophysiology, 49, 665-671. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01340.x

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G. H. E. (2011). Masked affective stimuli moderate task difficulty effects on effort-related cardiovascular response. Psychophysiology, 48, 1157-1164. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01181.x
   Link to the article.

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G. H. E. (2011). Beta-adrenergic impact underlies the effect of mood and hedonic instrumentality on effort-related cardiovascular response. Biological Psychology, 87, 209-217. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.02.017
   Link to the article.

Gendolla, G.H.E., & Silvestrini, N. (2011). Smiles make it easier and so do frowns: Masked affective stimuli influence mental effort. Emotion, 11, 320-328. doi: 10.1037/a0022593
   Link to the article.

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G. H. E. (2011). Do not prime too much: Prime frequency effects of masked affective stimuli on effort-related cardiovascular response. Biological Psychology, 87, 195-199. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.01.006
   Link to the article.

Silvestrini, N., Piguet, V., Cedraschi, C, & Zentner, M.R. (2011). Music and auditory distraction reduce pain: Emotional or attentional effects? Music and Medicine, 3, 264-270. doi:10.1177/1943862111414433
   Link to the article.

Gendolla, G.H.E., & Silvestrini, N. (2010). The implicit “Go”: Masked action cues directly mobilize mental effort. Psychological Science, 21, 1389-1393. doi:10.1177/0956797610384149
   Link to the article.

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2009). Mood-regulative hedonic incentive interacts with mood and task difficulty to determine effort-related cardiovascular response and facial EMG. Biological Psychology, 82, 54-63. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.05.005
   Link to the article.

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2009). The joint effect of mood, task valence, and task difficulty on effort-related cardiovascular response and facial EMG. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 73, 226-234. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2009.03.004
   Link to the article.

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2007). Mood effects on autonomic activity in mood regulation. Psychophysiology, 44, 650-659. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2007.00532.x
   Link to the article.

Chapters in edited books and series

Gendolla, G.H.E., & Silvestrini, N. (2015). Bounded effort automaticity: A drama in four parts. In G.H.E. Gendolla, M. Tops, & S. Koole. (Eds.), Handbook of biobehavioral approaches to self-regulation (pp. 271-286). New York, NY: Springer.

Gendolla, G.H.E., Brinkmann, K., & Silvestrini, N. (2012). Gloomy and lazy? On the impact of mood and depressive symptoms on effort-related cardiovascular response. In R.A. Wright & G.H.E. Gendolla (Eds.), How motivation affects cardiovascular response: Mechanisms and applications (pp. 139-155). Washington DC: APA Press.

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2010). L’humeur, l’affect implicite et la mobilisation de l’effort mental. In S. Masmoudi & A. Naceur (Eds.), Du percept à la décision: Intégration de la cognition, l'émotion et la motivation (pp. 140-156). Bruxelles, Belgium : De Boeck.

Published conference contributions:

Silvestrini, N., & Cancela, T. (2021). Task difficulty moderates the impact of pain on cognitive effort. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 168, S40-S41.

Silvestrini, N., & Corradi Dell'Acqua, C. (2016). The impact of pain on subsequent effort mobilization and performance. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 108, 15.

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2013). Implicit affect and cardiovascular response. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics [Supplement], 82, 376.

Lasauskaite, R., Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2010). Informational impact of masked affective stimuli on mental effort intensity. Psychophysiology [Supplement], 47, S56.

Gendolla, G.H.E., & Silvestrini, N. (2009). Unconscious affect and unconscious effort: Effects on cardiovascular reactivity. Psychophysiology [Supplement], 46, S3.

Gendolla, G.H.E., & Silvestrini, N. (2009). L’affect non-conscient et l’effort mental. In S. Masmoudi & A. Naceur (Eds.), Cognition, Emotion, Motivation : Percept – Concept – Decision. Abstracts of CEM09 (pp. 63-66). Tunis, Tunisie: CNIPRE.

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2009). Mood, hedonic incentive, and effort-related cardiovascular reactivity. Psychophysiology [Supplement], 46, S72.

Gendolla, G.H.E., & Silvestrini, N. (2008). Mood regulation facilities as incentive for effort mobilization. Psychophysiology [Supplement], 45, S103.

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2008). Mood regulation facilities as incentive for effort mobilization. Psychophysiology [Supplement],45, S103.

Silvestrini, N., & Gendolla, G.H.E. (2007). Mood, task valence, and difficulty effects on cardiovascular and facial EMG reactivity. Psychophysiology [Supplement],44, S107.