Born in Parma in 1959, he is a neurologist and Full Professor of Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology at the University of Parma. He is considered one of the most prominent neuroscientists of our time, and much of his fame stems from the discovery of mirror neurons, made between the 1980s and 1990s by a research team including, alongside Gallese, Giacomo Rizzolatti, Leonardo Fogassi, and Luciano Fadiga. Primarily engaged in the fields of neurophysiology and cognitive neuroscience, he has developed an interdisciplinary approach to understanding intersubjectivity, social cognition, and the relationship between cognition and the perception of action. He has received several awards, including the Grawemeyer Award in Psychology (2007) and the Pfeffer Prize for Neuropsychoanalysis (2010). In 2013, the Italian Psychoanalytic Society awarded him the Musatti Prize. He has published numerous articles in academic journals and several essays. Among his most recent works, along with the co-editorship of the volume Oltre la tecnofobia (with Stefano Moriggi and Pier Cesare Rivoltella, Raffaello Cortina, 2025), prominent examples include the essays Cosa significa essere umani (with Ugo Morelli, Raffaello Cortina, 2024) and Il Sé digitale. Dai neuroni specchio alla mediazione tecnologica (Raffaello Cortina, 2026).

(photo: © Giliola Chistè)