Vittorio Gallese
Encyclopedia
Vittorio Gallese is professor of human physiology
at the University of Parma
, Italy with appointments in the departments of neuroscience
, psychiatry and psychology. He is an expert in neurophysiology
, neuroscience
, social neuroscience
, and philosophy of mind
. Gallese is one of the discoverers of mirror neurons. His research attempts to elucidate the functional organization of brain mechanisms underlying social cognition
, including action understanding, empathy
, and theory of mind
.
at the University of Parma, Parma, Italy, and was awarded an M.D, in Neurology in 1990. He is a Full Professor of physiology in the Department of Neuroscience
of the University of Parma. As a cognitive neuroscientist, his research focuses on the relationship between the sensory-motor system and cognition, both in non-human primates and humans using a variety of neurophysiological and functional neuroimaging
techniques. Among his major contributions is the discovery, together with the colleagues of Parma, of mirror neurons, and the elaboration of a theoretical model of basic aspects of social cognition. He is actively developing an interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of intersubjectivity and social cognition in collaboration with psychologists, psycholinguists and philosophers.
Gallese has been doing research at the University of Lausanne
, Switzerland, and at the Nihon University
, Tokyo, Japan. He has been George Miller visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley. In 2007 he received together with Giacomo Rizzolatti
and Leonardo Fogassi the Grawemeyer Award for Psychology, for the discovery of mirror neurons. He received the Doctor Honoris Causa from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium in 2009. He receiced the Arnold Pfeffer Prize for Neuropsychoanalysis from the International Society of Neuropsychoanalysis, New York, U.S.A in 2010
Gallese has published over 150 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and edited books.
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
at the University of Parma
University of Parma
The University of Parma is one of the oldest universities in the world, founded in the 11th century. It is organised in twelve faculties. The University of Parma has currently about 30,000 students.-History:...
, Italy with appointments in the departments of neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
, psychiatry and psychology. He is an expert in neurophysiology
Neurophysiology
Neurophysiology is a part of physiology. Neurophysiology is the study of nervous system function...
, neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
, social neuroscience
Social neuroscience
Social neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding how biological systems implement social processes and behavior, and to using biological concepts and methods to inform and refine theories of social processes and behavior. Humans are fundamentally a social species, rather...
, and philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
. Gallese is one of the discoverers of mirror neurons. His research attempts to elucidate the functional organization of brain mechanisms underlying social cognition
Social cognition
Social cognition is the encoding, storage, retrieval, and processing, in the brain, of information relating to conspecifics, or members of the same species. At one time social cognition referred specifically to an approach to social psychology in which these processes were studied according to the...
, including action understanding, empathy
Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
, and theory of mind
Theory of mind
Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one's own...
.
Background
Vittorio Gallese studied medicineMedicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at the University of Parma, Parma, Italy, and was awarded an M.D, in Neurology in 1990. He is a Full Professor of physiology in the Department of Neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
of the University of Parma. As a cognitive neuroscientist, his research focuses on the relationship between the sensory-motor system and cognition, both in non-human primates and humans using a variety of neurophysiological and functional neuroimaging
Functional neuroimaging
Functional neuroimaging is the use of neuroimaging technology to measure an aspect of brain function, often with a view to understanding the relationship between activity in certain brain areas and specific mental functions...
techniques. Among his major contributions is the discovery, together with the colleagues of Parma, of mirror neurons, and the elaboration of a theoretical model of basic aspects of social cognition. He is actively developing an interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of intersubjectivity and social cognition in collaboration with psychologists, psycholinguists and philosophers.
Gallese has been doing research at the University of Lausanne
University of Lausanne
The University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of theology, before being made a university in 1890. Today about 12,000 students and 2200 researchers study and work at the university...
, Switzerland, and at the Nihon University
Nihon University
Nihon University is the largest university in Japan. Akiyoshi Yamada, the minister of justice, founded Nihon Law School in October 1889....
, Tokyo, Japan. He has been George Miller visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley. In 2007 he received together with Giacomo Rizzolatti
Giacomo Rizzolatti
Giacomo Rizzolatti is an Italian Neurophysiologist who works at the University of Parma. He is the Senior Scientist of the research team that discovered mirror neurons in the frontal and parietal cortex of the macaque monkey, and has written many scientific articles on the topic. He is a past...
and Leonardo Fogassi the Grawemeyer Award for Psychology, for the discovery of mirror neurons. He received the Doctor Honoris Causa from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium in 2009. He receiced the Arnold Pfeffer Prize for Neuropsychoanalysis from the International Society of Neuropsychoanalysis, New York, U.S.A in 2010
Gallese has published over 150 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and edited books.
Editorial duties
- Associate Editor, Emotion Review
- Editorial Board, International Journal of Psychophysiology
- Editorial Committee of Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences
- Consulting Editor of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
- Member of the International Neuropsychological Symposium
- Member of the Scientific Committee of the Fondation Fyssen, Paris, France
Selected books
- Stamenov, N.I., and Gallese, V. (2002). Mirror Neurons and the Evolution of Brain and Language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Some articles
- Gallese, V., Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L. and Rizzolatti, G. (1996). Action recognition in the premotor cortex. Brain 119: 593-609.
- Gallese, V. and Goldman, A. (1998) Mirror neurons and the simulation theory of mind-reading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12:493-501.
- Gallese, V. (2000) The inner sense of action: agency and motor representations. Journal of Consciousness Studies: 7; 23-40.
- Gallese, V. (2001) The "Shared Manifold" Hypothesis: from mirror neurons to empathy. Journal of Consciousness Studies: 8, N° 5-7; 33-50.
- Umiltà, M.A., Kohler, E., Gallese, V., Fogassi, L., Fadiga, L., Keysers, C., and Rizzolatti, G. (2001) "I know what you are doing": a neurophysiological study. Neuron: 32; 91-101.
- Kohler, E., Keysers, C., Umiltà, M.A., Fogassi, L., Gallese, V. and Rizzolatti, G. (2002) Hearing sounds, understanding actions: action representation in mirror neurons. Science, 297: 846-848.
- Gallese, V. (2003) A neuroscientific grasp of concepts: From control to representation. Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. London, B., 358: 1231-1240.
- Gallese, V. (2003). The manifold nature of interpersonal relations: The quest for a common mechanism. Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. London B., 358: 517-528.
- Wicker, B., Keysers, C., Plailly, J., Royet, J-P., Gallese, V., and Rizzolatti, G. (2003). Both of us disgusted in my insula: The common neural basis of seeing and feeling disgust. Neuron, 40: 655-664.
- Metzinger, T., Gallese, V. (2003). The emergence of a shared action ontology: Building blocks for a theory. Consciousness and Cognition, 12: 549-571.
- Keysers, C., Wicker, B., Gazzola, V., Anton, J.-L., Fogassi, L., and Gallese, V. (2004). A touching sight: SII/PV activation during the observation and experience of touch. Neuron, 42: 335-346.
- Gallese, V., Keysers, C. and Rizzolatti, G. (2004). A unifying view of the basis of social cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8: 396-403.
- Gallese, V., and Lakoff, G. (2005). The Brain’s Concepts: The Role of the Sensory-Motor System in Reason and Language. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 22: 455-479.
- Gallese, V. (2005). Embodied simulation: from neurons to phenomenal experience. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 4: 23-48.
- Gallese, V. (2006). Intentional attunement: A neurophysiological perspective on social cognition and its disruption in autism. Brain Res. Cog. Brain Res., 1079: 15-24.
- Rizzolatti G., Fogassi L., and Gallese V. (2006). Mirrors in the mind. Sci Am. Nov 295(5): 54-61.
- Gallese V. (2007). Before and below 'theory of mind': embodied simulation and the neural correlates of social cognition.Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci., 362: 659-669.
- Freedberg D., and Gallese V. (2007). Motion, emotion and empathy in esthetic experience. Trends in Cognitive Sciences,11: 197-203.
- Gallese, V., Eagle M.E., and Migone P. (2007). Intentional attunement: Mirror neurons and the neural underpinnings of interpersonal relations. J. of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 55: 131-176.
- Umiltà, M.A., Escola, L., Intskirveli, I., Grammont, F., Rochat, M., Caruana, F., Jezzini, A., Gallese, V., and Rizzolatti, G. (2008). How pliers become fingers in the monkey motor system. PNAS, 105: 2209-2213.
See also
- Mirror neurons
- EmpathyEmpathyEmpathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
- Motor cognitionMotor cognitionThe concept of motor cognition grasps the notion that cognition is embodied in action, and that the motor system participates in what is usually considered as mental processing, including those involved in social interaction...
- Common coding theoryCommon coding theoryCommon coding theory is a cognitive psychology theory describing how perceptual representations and motor representations are linked. The theory claims that there is a shared representation for both perception and action...
- Affective neuroscienceAffective neuroscienceAffective neuroscience is the study of the neural mechanisms of emotion. This interdisciplinary field combines neuroscience with the psychological study of personality, emotion, and mood.-Brain areas related to emotion:...
- PsychoanalysisPsychoanalysisPsychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
- Philosophy of mindPhilosophy of mindPhilosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
- Theory of mindTheory of mindTheory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one's own...
- NeuroscienceNeuroscienceNeuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
- Social neuroscienceSocial neuroscienceSocial neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding how biological systems implement social processes and behavior, and to using biological concepts and methods to inform and refine theories of social processes and behavior. Humans are fundamentally a social species, rather...
Selected References
- Rochat, M., Serra, E., Fadiga, L., and Gallese, V. (2008). The evolution of social cognition: Goal familiarity shapes monkeys’ action understanding. Current Biology,18: 227-232.
- Ebisch, S.J.H., Perrucci, M.G., Ferretti, A., Del Gratta, C., Romani, G.L., and Gallese, V. (2008). The sense of touch: embodied simulation in a visuo-tactile mirroring mechanism for the sight of any touch. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20: 1611-1623.
- Gallese, V. (2008). Mirror neurons and the social nature of language: The neural exploitation hypothesis. Social Neuroscience, 3: 317-333.
External links
- Vittorio Gallese Lab http://www.unipr.it/arpa/mirror/english/staff/gallese.htm
- University of Parma http://www.unipr.it/
- Acting and Mirror Neurons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loB-Lg0X1qo).
- The Eye of the Beholder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6IyGSEOLtY).
- Festival della Mente Sarzana, Italia: "Il corpo nella mente. Neuroscienze ed esperienza estetica" (http://www.festivaldellamente.it/eventi_dettaglio.asp?id=111).
- Interview on Mirror Neurons (in Italian) (http://www.associazioneasia.it/adon.pl?act=doc&doc=481)
- Radio WNYC, The Leonard Lopate Show: "Mirror neurons and personality" (http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2007/04/23/segments/77704).
- ASSC II Conference : "From neurons to meaning: Mirror neurons and social understanding" (http://assc.caltech.edu/assc2/HiFi/gallese.mp3).