PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA  DE CHILE

FACULTAD DE MEDICINA

DIRECCIÓN DE INVESTIGACIÓN

“SEMINARIO INAUGURAL 2014 DE INVESTIGACIÓN y DOCTORADO”

“THE MIRROR MECHANISM IN MONKEYS AND HUMANS: NEW FINDINGS AND CLINICAL APPLICATIONS”

GIACOMO RIZZOLATTI, M.D

PROFESSOR OF HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY

DIPARTAMENTO DI NEUROSCIENZE

UNIVERSITÀ DI PARMA, ITALY

The main focus of Dr. Rizzolatti’s research concerns the motor system and its role in cognitive functions. Over the last several years he has been mostly involved in studies of the mirror neuron system, using the approach of recording the activity of single neurons in non human primates and of brain imaging in humans. The functional role of the mirror neuron system includes several hypotheses such as action understanding, imitation, intention understanding, and empathy. In addition, it has also been suggested that the mirror neuron system represents the basic neural mechanism from which language evolved.

However, mirror neurons probably do not have a unique functional role. Rather, they could represent a mechanism that maps the pictorial description of actions carried out in the higher order visual areas onto their motor counterpart. This matching mechanism may underlie a variety of functions.

JUEVES  10 DE ABRIL DEL 2014

13:00 HORAS

AUDITORIO  HOSPITAL CLÍNICO UC

   (MARCOLETA # 367, SUBTERRÁNEO -2)