Giacomo Rizzolatti

Giacomo Rizzolatti

Giacomo Rizzolatti will serve as Visiting Distinguished Fellow starting March 2007.

Giacomo Rizzolatti is currently a Professor of Human Physiology at the University of Parma. He was President of the European Brain Behavior Society and Italian Society for Neuroscience. He is a member of Academia Europaea, Accademia dei Lincei and an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His distinguished awards include the Golgi Prize for Physiology, the George Miller Award, and the Feltrinelli Prize for Medicine.

Professor Rizzolatti's initial research studied the functional organization of the superior colliculus and corpus collosum. More recently, he has conducted revolutionary work on the role of the motor system in cognition, including action understanding, imitation, and even language.

Professor Rizzolatti's visit comes at a critical turning point in the mind sciences --- the biological basis of our social nature is beginning to be discovered. Professor Rizzolatti's own experimental observations in primates and humans hold promise in helping us solve this fascinating scientific problem.

Further details on Professor Rizzolatti's visit to the center will appear on this site shortly.