Maria Mataro is a professor at the department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology at the University of Barcelona. She obtained her PhD in Psychology in 1995 at the University of Barcelona. After some years of clinical and research work as a postdoctoral researcher in Neuropsychology, she got a tenure position at the faculty of Psychology at the University of Barcelona in 2005. She was a visiting professor at the New York University Langone Medical Center in 2013 and at the University of Pittsburgh in 2015 and in 2017 as a Fulbright visiting scholar.  She has published 3 books and over 60 manuscripts in International journals. She has been principal investigator of 4 consecutive projects funded by the National plan and participated in 2 European projects. 

Research interests

Her research interest focus in healthy aging and cerebrovascular disease. Her study of the neurobiological bases of the cognitive deficits associated with vascular risk factors has contributed to the identification of cognitive-related cerebrovascular markers that might be critical in the early detection of individuals at high risk of cognitive decline. These include neuroimaging, sonographic and blood markers.

The need for prevention and treatment of brain and cognitive decline associated with normal aging and disease led to the development of her current research projects. They aim to provide new evidence of the impact and effectiveness of neuroprotective non-pharmacological interventions -physical exercise, cognitive training and mindfulness-, to understand their molecular and neural mechanisms and to promote the development of novel strategies in the field of neurorehabilitation.

Keywords

Neuropsychology, neuroimaging, neuroplasticity, aging, cerebrovascular disease, physical activity