Prof. Vittorio Gallese was born in Parma, where he later graduated in Medicine and in Neurology. He is Professor of Physiology at the Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Surgery of Parma University. He is coordinator of the PhD programme in Neuroscience and director of the Graduate School of the Parma University School of Medicine.
Professor Gallese has conducted research work at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan, and the University of California at Berkeley, USA. In 2002, he was Visiting Professor at the Brain and Mind Institute at UC Berkeley.
Professor Gallese is a member of the Italian Society of Physiology, the Italian Society of Neuropsychology, the European Brain and Behavior Society, and the International Neuropsychological Symposium of the Scientific Committee of the Fondation Fyssen in Paris, France. Professor Gallese is Associate Editor of the journal Psychopathology and member of the Editorial Board of the journals Social and Affective Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Biological Theory, and Intelligent Systems.
Among his main research contributions is the discovery, together with his colleagues in Parma, of mirror neurons and of the visual-tactile resonance mechanism in humans. He also developed a neuroscientific model of intersubjectivity called “embodied simulation”. He is the author of over 150 internationally published scientific articles and books.
Awards and Recognition:
George Miller Visiting Professor Fellowship – University of California at Berkeley, USA, 2002. Grawemeyer Award for Psychology – University of Louisville, KY, USA, 2007.
Paul Harris Fellow – Rotary Club Milano Scala, 2009.
Doctor Honoris Causa – Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, 2010.
Arnold Pfeffer Prize for Neuropsychoanalysis. International Neuropsychoanalysis Society, New York, USA, 2010.