We take up the study of the Brill-Noether loci $W^r(L,X):=\{\eta \in {\mathrm{Pic}}^0\left(X\right)|h^0(L\otimes \eta )\ge r+1\}$, where $X$ is a smooth projective variety of dimension $>1$, $L\in \mathrm{Pic}\left(X\right)$, and $r\ge 0$ is an integer. By studying the infinitesimal structure of these loci and the Petri map (defined in analogy with the case of curves), we obtain lower bounds for $h^0\left(K_D\right)$, where $D$ is a divisor that moves linearly on a smooth projective variety $X$ of maximal Albanese dimension. In this way we sharpen the results of [Xi] and we generalize them to dimension $>2$. In the $2$-dimensional case we prove an...