MET – Dezvoltarea unei metodologii de terapie prin teatru cu efect la nivel neurochimic și neurocognitiv

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Denumire proiect: Dezvoltarea unei metodologii de terapie prin teatru cu efect la nivel neurochimic și neurocognitiv – MET

Cod SMIS: 106688
ID proiect: P_37_710
Contract de finanțare: Nr. 147 / 26.10.2016
Beneficiar: Universitatea Națională de Artă Teatrală și Cinematografică „I.L. Caragiale” (UNATC) București
Cadrul de implementare: Centrul CINETic – Laboratorul de Dezvoltare Cognitivă prin Experiențe Imersive (LDCAPEI)
Perioada de implementare: 26 octombrie 2016 – 26 octombrie 2020 (durata: 4 ani)
Valoare totală: 8.636.928,24 lei
Program de finanțare: Programul Operațional Competitivitate 2014-2020 Axa prioritară 1: Cercetare, dezvoltare tehnologică și inovare (CDI) în sprijinul competitivității economice și dezvoltării afacerilor Acțiunea 1.1.4: Atragerea de personal cu competențe avansate din străinătate pentru consolidarea capacității de CD
Obiectiv general: Dezvoltarea și validarea unei metodologii de intervenție preventivă și terapeutică non-invazivă prin teatru, cu efecte demonstrate la nivel neurochimic (ex. oxitocină, cortizol) și neurocognitiv, pentru creșterea comportamentelor pro-sociale și managementul stresului.

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Proiectul MET își propune să dezvolte o metodologie de terapie prin instrumente teatrale, cu efecte la nivel neurochimic și neurocognitiv. În colaborare cu partenerii noștri, utilizăm tehnici comportamentale, electrofiziologice, biochimice și imagistice pentru a determina modul în care practicile teatrale minimaliste influențează nivelul de stres și apropierea socială.

Ipoteza științifică a proiectului este că practicile teatrale modulează activitatea și plasticitatea neuronală prin controlul secreției neurohormonilor oxitocină și cortizol, precum și prin reglarea activității sistemului imunitar. Considerăm că, prin aceste schimbări fiziologice, terapiile prin teatru pot induce comportamente prosociale, pot reduce stresul și pot crește starea generală de bine a indivizilor.

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ARTICOLE

1. Sofonea A, Boldasu R, Papasteri CC, Benescu V, Podina IR, Vasilescu RI, Carcea I and Berceanu AI (2025) Decreased levels of stress and increased group closeness during theatre training exercises. Drama Therapy Review 11(2):157-187.
2. Berceanu AI, Papasteri C, Sofonea A, Boldasu R, Nita D, Poalelungi C, Froemke R and Carcea I (2024) Oxytocin predicts positive affect gains in a role-play interaction. Front. Psychol. 15:1258254. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1258254.
3. Tomescu MI, Van der Donck S, Perisanu EM, Berceanu AI, Alaerts K, Boets B and Carcea I (2024) Social functioning predicts individual changes in EEG microstates following intranasal oxytocin administration: A double-blind, cross-over randomized clinical trial. Psychophysiology 61(8):e14581. doi: 10.1111/psyp.14581.
4. Tomescu MI, Papasteri C, Sofonea A, Berceanu AI and Carcea I (2024) Personality moderates intra-individual variability in EEG microstates and spontaneous thoughts. Brain Topogr. 37(4):524-535. doi: 10.1007/s10548-023-01019-x.
5. Tomescu MI, Papasteri CC, Sofonea A, Boldasu R, Kebets V, Pistol CAD, Poalelungi C, Benescu V, Podina IR, Nedelcea CI, Berceanu AI and Carcea I (2022) Spontaneous thought and microstate activity modulation by social imitation. NeuroImage 247:118807. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.118878
6. Cȋrneci D, Onu M, Papasteri CC, Georgescu D, Poalelungi C, Sofonea A, Puşcaşu N, Tanase D, Rădeanu T, Toader MY, Dogaru AL, Podină IR, Berceanu AI and Carcea I (2022) Neural networks implicated in autobiographical memory training. eNeuro 9(6):ENEURO.0137-22.2022. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0137-22.2022.
7. Berceanu AI, Macavei B and Matu S (2020) Emotional and cognitive responses to theatrical representations of aggressive behavior. Front. Psychol. 11:1785. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01785.
8. Onu M, Cȋrneci D, Papasteri C, Georgescu D, Berceanu AI and Carcea I (2020) Connectivity changes in naturalistic stimulation study: Functional resting state. Management in Health XXIV(3):3-10.
9. Papasteri CC, Sofonea A, Boldasu R, Poalelungi C, Tomescu MI, Pistol CAD, Vasilescu RI, Nedelcea C, Podina IR, Berceanu AI, Froemke RC and Carcea I (2020) Social feedback during sensorimotor synchronization changes salivary oxytocin and behavioral states. Front. Psychol. 11:531046. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.531046.

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ECHIPA

We have a multidisciplinary team of neuroscientists, artists, psychologists, and biochemists:

Ioana Carcea, MD/Ph.D., Principal Investigator

Ioana is Assistant Professor at Rutgers University, where she investigates social communication and social buffering of stress in rodents. At CINETic, Ioana aims to address similar topics in human subjects.

Robert C. Froemke, Ph.D., Scientific Director

Rob is Associate Professor at New York University School of Medicine, where his lab investigates the neural substrates for maternal behavior in animal models, in particular the role of oxytocin. His expertise greatly contributes to the successful development of the MET project.

Alexandru I. Berceanu, Ph.D., Scientific Coordinator

Razvan I. Vasilescu, Project Manager

Emil Banea, Project implementation expert

Emilia Alexandru, Financial expert

Horea Murgu, Ph.D.

Adrian I. Titieni, Ph.D.

Catalin Nedelcea, Ph.D.

Dragos Cirneci, Ph.D., Researcher

Dragos is Associate Professor at the Spiru Haret University where he teaches neuroscience, behavioral genetics and clinical neuropsychology. In the MET project he studies the impact of autobiographical retrieval on stress, well-being and immune system.

Mihaela Onu Ph.D.

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POSTDOCS

Claudiu Papasteri Ph.D.

Claudiu is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and teaching assistant at the University of Bucharest. In the MET project he is responsible with psychological assessment, computerized behavioral experiment programming, and psychological and psychophysiology (EEG, EDA, HRV) data processing and analysis.

Miralena I. Tomescu Ph.D.

Miralena received her license in psychology at the University of Bucharest followed by a Master degree in Neuroscience at the University of Geneva. She continued her career in Neuroscience at the University of Geneva and received her Ph.D. within a project conducted in collaboration with the Functional Brain Mapping laboratory under the supervision of Prof. Christoph M. Michel. Using electroencephalography (EEG) as a neuroimaging technique, Miralena is a specialist in the analysis of the spontaneous and event-related electrical activity of the brain. The major research interest is understanding the temporal fast dynamics of brain patterns in healthy development and across brain disorders. More recently Miralena was awarded the IBRO Return Home Fellowship to investigate psycho-social stress resilience and coping mechanisms in students training to become actors at UNATC.

Ioana Podina Ph.D.

Ioana is a licensed clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, currently a senior lecturer at the University of Bucharest. In the MET project, she is responsible with psychological assessment and socio-cognitive theoretically driven input on MET studies and methodology.

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PhD STUDENTS

Constantin Augustin-Dan Pistol

Alexandra Sofonea

Alexandra is a PhD student of the Theater Doctoral School of Cluj-Napoca, and assistant professor at the National University of Theater and Film in Bucharest. Her thesis and personal research is on the psychology of stage performers, mainly on the mental health of professional actors.

Romina Boldașu

Romina is an actress and a PhD student within the UNATC Doctoral School; she undertook her artistic career and professional training in Romania, as well as abroad. At the moment, she is part of the UNATC Junior coordinating team and the MET project research team, CINETic center, developing a series of research projects focusing on theatre pedagogy and applied theatre. As part of the MET project, she is involved in the experiments and protocols that imply working with subjects (non actors and actors); testing and analysing various drama exercises that relate to objective of the project.

Catalina Poalelungi

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TECHNICAL PERSONNEL

Nicoleta Puscasu

Dumitru Tanase 

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SECRETARIAT

Doina Strat

Mirela Rusu

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The Project „Developing a methodology of therapy through theatre with an effect at the neurochemical and neurocognitive levels (MET)” is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)  through Competitiveness Operational  Programme  2014-2020,  SMIS code 106688 and implemented by UNATC „I.L. Caragiale”, CINETic Centre, LDCAPEI LAB
The content of this study does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union or the Romanian Government. 

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