Research
My work focuses on how small mammals adapt to a fast-changing world — especially how their brains and behavior respond to environmental pressures.
I’m particularly interested in seasonal brain plasticity, environmental adaptations and their cumulative effects on cognitive flexibility. Much of this work revolves around a unique little animal: the common shrew.
Explore how the common shrew copes with winter by shrinking and regrowing its brain, and what this teaches us about brain plasticity and cognition!
Open Science
Open science is about building a scientific culture that values accessibility, transparency, reproducibility, and collaboration.
This is something I care about deeply and try to reflect in my daily work.
My contributions to open science span different levels, from personal practices to community involvement and infrastructure.
I see open science as a way of working, not just a set of rules. It affects how I design studies, write code, share results, and support others in doing the same.
I make my data, analysis scripts, and visualizations publicly available whenever possible.
Here is a list of resources where you can find my data and code:
- GitHub: my profile and open repositories, it includes some presentations for talks and workshops I organised. See Talks & Workshop for more!
- OSF - Open Science Framework: my profile and materials from ongoing or not-yet-published projects.
- Edmond – Max Planck Society Repository: in here you can find my data and scripts associated with peer-reviewed articles.
OS Community & Initiatives
I am an Open Science Ambassador in the Max Planck Society, helping build local awareness and promote transparent research practices across the Max Planck Institutes.
I am an active member of SORTEE (Society for Open, Reliable, and Transparent Ecology and Evolution), where I serve on the Member Engagement Committee.
In 2025, I am organising the SORTEE Code Club, a monthly online meetup exploring practical tools and workflows for open science.
→ You can find the list of events I’m currently organising here.I also work as a Data Editor for PCI Ecology, where I check the accessibility and reproducibility of data and code associated with recommended preprints.
Selected Publications
Shrews shrink their brains to survive winter... and their hypothalamus helps pull it off! This study reveals seasonal gene shifts tied to energy balance, brain remodeling, and even some genes linked to human neurological disorders.
Captivity alters behaviour but not seasonal brain size change in semi-naturally housed shrews (2025)
Captive shrews still shrink their brains seasonally... but their behavior tells a different story! Despite semi-natural captive conditions, they showed signs of chronic stress, with higher activity and lower motivation to learn, compared to wild ones. It shows how captivity can quietly reshape research outcomes.
Gene expression comparisons between captive and wild shrew brains reveal captivity effects (2025)
Captivity alters how shrew brains work at the molecular level: hundreds of genes changed expression after just two months! These shifts echo patterns seen in human disorders like depression and neurodegeneration, raising caution for interpreting data from captive animals.
The common shrew is one of the few mammals that shrinks and regrows its brain... and now it has its own detailed brain atlas! This openly available resource combines histology, MRI, and gene expression to unlock the shrew brain.
Workshops and Talks
Workshops:
What is Open Science Anyway? - 🔗link event and Open Quarto presentation
SORTEE Code Club - find the list of events I am organising here
Personal Knowledge Management and Note-Taking Apps - Open Resources
Talks:
Baldoni C.,
Invited Seminar Talk - Messerli Institute Vienna, Austria
Shrinking Shrews: Cognitive Challenges in a Changing Brain
Baldoni C., Farantouri M., Raptis K., Nourani E., Dechmann D.
ISBE: Melbourne, Australia, 2024
Seasonal Brain Size Variation and Its Impact on Spatial Navigation and Learning in the Common Shrew (Sorex araneus)
Baldoni C., von Elverfeldt D., Dechmann D.
MPIAB - RADO Seminar: Radolfzell, Germany, 2023
News from the Shrews: insight from brain structure during Dehnel’s phenomenon from Neuroimaging
Baldoni C., Farantouri M., Raptis K., Nourani E., Dechmann D.
Animal Behaviour: Bielefeld, Germany, 2023
Brain size and spatial learning: the case of the common shrew (Sorex araneus)
Baldoni C., Nourani E., Dechmann D.
IV Convegno Nazionale sui Piccoli Mammiferi: Grosseto, Italy, 2023
Seasonal change in brain size affects spatial learning skills in common shrews (Sorex araneus)
Baldoni C., Dechmann D.
Animal Behaviour Society: San Josè, Costa Rica, 2022
Seasonal change in brain size affects associative learning skills in common shrews (Sorex araneus)
Baldoni C., Scaravelli D., Priori P., Carpentari S., Torboli C., Franzoi A., Pedrini P.
IV Italian Bat Conference: Padova, Italy, 2019
Diversity and consistency of nocturnal migration of bats at the bird ringing station ‘Bocca di Caset’
Baldoni C., Cicero M., Pasini A., Caselli N., Scaravelli D.
XX Italian Conference of Ornithology: Naples, Italy, 2019
Assessing the distribution of the Ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri) in Bologna, Italy: a citizen-science approach
Baldoni C., Brucks D., Krasheninnikova A., Petelle M., von Bayern A.
ASAB Summer conference: Konstanz, Germany, 2019
Let it go: two macaw species are able to wait for a better reward in a rotating self-control paradigm
Baldoni C., Giglio G., Scaravelli D.
II European Meeting of Young Ornithologists: Torino, Italy, 2018
An approach to the study of effects of fire on birds in Mediterranean woods.