Giacomo Rizzolatti
Giacomo Rizzolatti
Giacomo Rizzolatti, born 28 April 1937 in Ukraine and is Professor of Human Physiology, University of Parma and Director of Parma Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT). He is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Member of Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Foreign member of the Académie Francaise des Sciences, and a Foreign Member National Academy of Sciences, USA.
The main focus of his research concerns the motor system and its role in cognitive functions.
He has been instrumental in identifying and studying the mirror neuron system. A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. The function of the mirror system is an ongoing area of research but may include understanding the intentions of others, learning, and empathy, amongst others. Giocomo Rizzolatti’s experimental approach consists of recording the activity of single neurons in non human primates and of brain imaging in humans. He is also interested in the study of action perception in typically developing children and children with autism.
The Brain Prize 2014 is also awarded to:
