Paola Tognini

Over the past 6–7 years, Paola Tognini’s research has focused on understanding how metabolic states, circadian rhythms, and environmental factors interact to shape brain function and plasticity. Her work integrates systems neuroscience, molecular biology, and metabolism, with a strong emphasis on identifying mechanisms linking peripheral physiological signals to central nervous system function. A major line of research has investigated the impact of fasting and dietary interventions on brain activity and gene regulation. Using advanced approaches such as in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, she demonstrated that fasting enhances neuronal responsiveness in the visual cortex, while chronic metabolic alterations, such as high-fat diet exposure, impair cortical function. At the molecular level, her studies uncovered a novel epigenetic mechanism whereby fasting-induced increases in β-hydroxybutyrate lead to widespread chromatin modifications (histone β-hydroxybutyrylation), particularly affecting circadian gene regulation. Another key contribution concerns the role of circadian rhythms in coordinating metabolic and brain processes. Her work has shown that metabolic cues can directly influence circadian gene expression and brain function, highlighting the bidirectional interaction between timekeeping systems and metabolism. More recently, her research has expanded to the gut–brain axis, providing evidence for a causal role of the gut microbiota in regulating brain plasticity. Through fecal microbiota transplantation and microbiome profiling, she demonstrated that microbiota composition can modulate experience-dependent plasticity in the adult brain, identifying specific bacterial taxa associated with enhanced neural plasticity. In parallel, she has contributed to research on neurodevelopmental disorders, including CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD), a severe early-onset encephalopathy characterized by impaired synaptic development, epilepsy, and cognitive dysfunction. Dr Tognini has generated evidence of microbiota alterations in both CDD patients and mouse models, and she is currently investigating how these changes impact metabolic pathways, including indole metabolism, and contribute to neurological comorbidities. More broadly, her research program has expanded to include key comorbid domains of CDD, such as sleep disturbances and circadian dysfunction, with the goal of identifying integrated pathophysiological mechanisms. Dr Tognini has developed expertise in multi-omics approaches, including transcriptomics and epigenomics (ChIP-seq), as well as cell-type-specific analyses, to dissect molecular pathways underlying neuro-metabolic interactions. Her ongoing work further explores how metabolic and microbiota-driven signals influence brain function, neuoro-immune response and neuroplasticity.

INVITED TALKS: -2025 Invited Speaker, “Circadian Rhythms in Heart-Brain Crosstalk: Chronobiological and Therapeutic Perspectives in Heart Failure”, MDPI Biology Webinar, Chronobiology and Chronomedicine: From Bench to Bedside, November 29 2025. -2025 Invited Speaker, “Exploring the role of circadian rhythms in neurodevelopmental disorders”, European Biological Rhythms Society (EBRS) congress 2025, August 24-29 2025, Lubeck, Germany. -2025 Invited Speaker, “Interplay between metabolism, nutrition and epigenetics in shaping neural function”, European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Academy meeting, April 28-30 2025, Pisa, Italy -2025 Invited Speaker, “Microbiota: Friend or Foe”, Heartabolism meeting, April 7-8 2025 Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy -2024 Invited Speaker, “Decoding Brain-Body Communication: Gut Microbiota, Lifestyle, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders”, Scuola Normale Superiore- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN, University of Tokyo, Japan) meeting, December 17 2024, Pisa, Italy -2024 Invited Speaker, and Chair, “Time restricted feeding in metabolism”, MASLD-EGIR Study Group Meeting 2024, December 4-6 2024, University of Lille, Lille, France. -2024 Invited Speaker, “Microbiota and liver transplantation”, Conference: 3000 Times Yes, The gift of life in liver transplantation, September 21 2024, Camera di Commercio, Pisa, Italy -2024 Invited Speaker, “The intestine can influence the brain: role of the microbiota in CDKL5 deficiency disorder”, CDKL5 Insieme Verso la Cura, Family Days 2024, May 31- June 2 2024, Rome, Italy. -2024 Invited seminar, “Changing the gut, changing the brain: exploring the role of the intestinal microbiota in Neural Function and Plasticity”, DKFZ Heidelberg, April 24 2024, Heidelberg, Germany. -2024 Invited Speaker, “Beyond Brain Borders: Unveiling the Impact of Gut Microbiome and Metabolic Signals on Neuroplasticity and Behavior”, PhD Day University of Calabria, April 10 2024 Rende, Italy. -2023 Invited Seminar, “Changing the gut, changing the brain: exploring the role of the intestinal microbiota in Neural Function and Plasticity”, Xsmas Seminar 2023, La Sapienza Università di Roma, December 18 2023, Rome, Italy. -2023 Invited Speaker, “Exploring the role of the gut- microbiota-brain axis in CDKL5 deficiency disorder”, Second CDKL5 Asia Meeting, University of Tokyo, September 21-22 2023, Tokyo, Japan. -2023 Invited Speaker, “Exploring the role of the gut- microbiota-brain axis in CDKL5 deficiency disorder”, Workshop "Disease modifying therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders", Scuola Normale Superiore, August 31st 2023, Pisa, Italy -2023 Invited Speaker, “The impact of environmental enrichment and nutritional challenges in brain plasticity and behavior”, part of the symposium: Environmental Enrichment and gene-environment interactions modulating brain function and behavior, and Poster Judge (Poster session 2). International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS) meeting 2023, June 25-30 2023, Niagara Falls (CA). -2023 Invited Seminar, “Gut microbiota, Nutrition and Brain plasticity”, online lecture for the PhD program in Space Science and Technology, February 14 2023. -2022 Invited Speaker, “Brain-body communication: exploring the effects of metabolic challenges on brain function and plasticity”, European Group of the study of insulin resistance EGIR virtual meeting November 7-9 2022. -2022 Invited Speaker, “Neural Plasticity, Nutrition and Metabolic diseases”, European Association for the Study of Diabetes Meeting 2022, September 19-23 2022, Stockholm, Sweden. -2022 Invited Speaker, “Gut microbiota and CDKL5 deficiency syndrome: new perspectives for future therapeutic strategies”, Italian CDKL5 families meeting, June 18 2022, Rome, Italy. -2022 Invited Speaker, “The increase in physical activity and sensory stimuli driven by environmental enrichment modulate the gut microbiota promoting cortical plasticity”, ACSIAN-ALLERGOLINE nutrition meeting, June 11 2022, Roma, Italy. -2022 Invited Speaker, “Targeting the gut microbiota as a new therapeutic strategy for neurodevelopmental disorders”, AIRETT annual meeting “Let’s restart, present and future from research in Rett syndrome, June 10-11 2022, Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy. -2022 Invited Speaker, “Influence of the gut microbiota on metabolism and neuronal plasticity”, SIO Wednesday on line conference, Italian Society of Obesity, May 25 2022, Italy. -2022 Invited Speaker, “Role of the gut-microbiota-brain-axis in neurodevelopmental plasticity”, Gordon Conference Satellite Workshop: Mechanisms, Therapies and Biomarkers in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Scuola Normale Superiore, May 21 2022, Pisa, Italy. -2022 Invited Seminar, “Brain-body communication: how signals coming from the body periphery influence neural plasticity”. Neuroscience group meeting, University of Pisa, May 6 2022, Pisa, Italy. -2021 Invited Seminar, “Changing the gut changing the brain: the gut microbiota mediates the action of environmental enrichment on brain plasticity”. The University of Texas Huston (USA), Virtual IMM seminar series, February 12 2021. -2019 Invited Speaker, “Impact of the gut microbiota on neurodevelopment and plasticity”, Symposium organized by Angelini: Brain disorders in pediatric age. 39th Meeting of the Italian Society of Pharmacology, November 20-23, Florence, Italy. -2019 Speaker, Organizer and Chair at the symposium “Metabolism influence on neuronal plasticity: from physiology to neuropsychiatric disorders”. 18th National Congress of the Italian Society for Neuroscience, September 26-29 2019, Perugia, Italy. -2019 Invited Speaker: “Influence of nutrition on cerebral plasticity”. VII convegno nazionale di neuroscienze, neuropsicologia e psicoterapia, April 13 2019, Pisa Convention Center, Pisa, Italy. -2019 Invited Speaker: “The link between circadian rhythms and metabolism”. The ticking heart in Chronobiology, April 12 2019, TECIP, Pisa, Italy. -2018 Invited Speaker: “Transcriptional reprogramming of peripheral clocks driven by a ketogenic diet”. Gut-liver axis II ETN-Foie-Gras Summer School, National Research Council, July 3-5th 2018, Pisa, Italy. 2018 Invited Seminar: “The intestinal microbiota contributes to circadian metabolism under nutritional stress”. School of Medicine, University of Pisa, May 10th 2018, Pisa, Italy. -2017 Invited Seminar: “Reprogramming of the circadian clock: linking metabolism, epigenetics and the gut microbiota ”. Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, December 13th 2017, Pisa, Italy. -2017 Invited Speaker: “The Intestinal Microbiota Influences Physiology in Distal Tissues”. IPA World Congress + Probiota Americas 2017, June 7-9 2017, San Francisco, CA, USA. -2016 Invited Seminar: “Intrinsic and extrinsic factors regulating plasticity during development and beyond” European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), February 29 2016, Monterotondo, Roma, Italy.