People
Dr. Ilaria Berteletti
PEN; Program Director, NENS Director, and Associate Professor
In her role at the Gallaudet University Science of Learning Center called Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2), Dr. Berteletti is also Director of the PEN Distinguished Lecture Series and University Partnerships (MOUs) and Director of her research lab the Numeracy and Educational Neuroscience Laboratory (NENS). In NENS, she investigates the cognitive and neural foundations of numeracy. She examines how humans are able to process exact numerical information, how children learn numbers and become proficient in arithmetical operations, and finally, how this learning process and level of proficiency affect the brain networks supporting number and arithmetical processing. In the unique bilingual-bimodal language environment at Gallaudet University, Dr. Berteletti is specifically interested in understanding the influence of language modality on numerical and arithmetical processing from a behavioral and neurocognitive perspective. Importantly, with her team, she seeks to understand how a visual language supports numerical understanding and exact number acquisition.
Dr. Berteletti earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Università degli Studi di Padova (Italy) after obtaining her BA and MS at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium). She has extensive expertise in developmental numerical cognition. As a graduate student, Dr. Berteletti conducted behavioral studies on numerical cognition with participants ranging from preschoolers to adults. Her research with children aimed at understanding the developmental trajectory of early numerical skills such as number acuity and numerical estimation with a focus on identifying early markers of math learning disability.
As a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University, she first worked on developmental neuroimaging projects studying the brain networks involved in arithmetical processing in preteen children using fMRI, both in typical learners and children with math learning disability. Later, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, she worked on a training project with 2- to 5-year-old children investigating the neural markers of number concept acquisition using the EEG.
Dr. Berteletti brings a strong theoretical background in developmental and neurocognitive aspects of numerical and arithmetical cognition to her role with the PEN Program.