International Prize for Biology
The 41st (2025) recipient
The 41st (2025) International Prize for Biology is awarded
to
Dr. Giacomo Rizzolatti
to
Dr. Giacomo Rizzolatti
Emeritus Professor, Full Professor of Human Physiology – University of Parma, Italy
On August 5, the Committee on the International Prize for Biology (chaired by Dr. FUJIYOSHI Yoshinori, Distinguished Professor, Institute of Science Tokyo) decided to award the 41st (2025) International Prize for Biology to Dr. Giacomo Rizzolatti, Emeritus Professor, Full Professor of Human Physiology – University of Parma, Italy.This year’s Prize is awarded in the field of the Neurobiology.
Dr. Giacomo Rizzolatti
DATE OF BIRTH: April 28, 1937
NATIONALITY: Italy
PRESENT POSITION: Emeritus Professor, Full Professor of Human Physiology – University of Parma
Biography and research achievements of the recipient
DATE OF BIRTH: April 28, 1937
NATIONALITY: Italy
PRESENT POSITION: Emeritus Professor, Full Professor of Human Physiology – University of Parma
Biography and research achievements of the recipient
A neurobiologist at the University of Parma, Italy, Dr. Rizzolatti is known worldwide for discovering mirror neurons, which play a crucial role in enabling higher animals to understand the behavior of others, and for proposing the mirror mechanism. He has published more than 500 papers in international journals, and these papers have been cited 161,600 times, leading to an h-index of 144.
Mirror neurons are a class of neuron that are activated equally when we perform an action and when we observe the same action performed by others, literally “mirroring” the observed action. They were first discovered in the ventral premotor cortex of macaque monkeys. Subsequent research also found these neurons in the monkey inferior parietal lobule. The brain mechanism enabling the activation is called the “mirror mechanism.” The discovery of mirror neurons and the mirror mechanism was a groundbreaking moment, opening up a whole new field in systems neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience—social neuroscience, which explores the neural structures underlying the understanding of others’ actions.
Dr. Rizzolatti has also addressed the human mirror mechanism, using brain imaging to demonstrate that the human ventral premotor cortex and inferior parietal lobule are activated when we observe others’ actions. He has shown that the human mirror mechanism is involved in imitation behavior through strong activation of the frontal lobe where the mirror neuron system is located, during an imitation task. In terms of the relation to emotions too, he has demonstrated that the parts of the brain that are activated, for example, when an unpleasant odor elicits feelings of disgust (the anterior insular cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex) are activated in the same way when observing someone else expressing disgust, thereby revealing that the mirror mechanism is also involved in human understanding of the emotions of others. Further development of this research has also given rise to the hypothesis that the mirror mechanism also contributed substantially to the evolution of language.
Through his discovery of mirror neurons, Dr. Rizzolatti has elucidated the neural basis for understanding others at various levels, behavior included. Where all prior neuroscience research focused on the individual, the discovery of mirror neurons expanded the realm of neuroscience to include relationships among multiple individuals, or, in other words, society. Dr. Rizzolatti’s work has consequently not only contributed significantly to the advance of the new field of social neuroscience, but has also had a major impact on cognitive neuroscience along with biology as a whole. In light of these research achievements, Dr. Rizzolatti was deemed to be the most appropriate recipient of the 41st International Prize for Biology.
Mirror neurons are a class of neuron that are activated equally when we perform an action and when we observe the same action performed by others, literally “mirroring” the observed action. They were first discovered in the ventral premotor cortex of macaque monkeys. Subsequent research also found these neurons in the monkey inferior parietal lobule. The brain mechanism enabling the activation is called the “mirror mechanism.” The discovery of mirror neurons and the mirror mechanism was a groundbreaking moment, opening up a whole new field in systems neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience—social neuroscience, which explores the neural structures underlying the understanding of others’ actions.
Dr. Rizzolatti has also addressed the human mirror mechanism, using brain imaging to demonstrate that the human ventral premotor cortex and inferior parietal lobule are activated when we observe others’ actions. He has shown that the human mirror mechanism is involved in imitation behavior through strong activation of the frontal lobe where the mirror neuron system is located, during an imitation task. In terms of the relation to emotions too, he has demonstrated that the parts of the brain that are activated, for example, when an unpleasant odor elicits feelings of disgust (the anterior insular cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex) are activated in the same way when observing someone else expressing disgust, thereby revealing that the mirror mechanism is also involved in human understanding of the emotions of others. Further development of this research has also given rise to the hypothesis that the mirror mechanism also contributed substantially to the evolution of language.
Through his discovery of mirror neurons, Dr. Rizzolatti has elucidated the neural basis for understanding others at various levels, behavior included. Where all prior neuroscience research focused on the individual, the discovery of mirror neurons expanded the realm of neuroscience to include relationships among multiple individuals, or, in other words, society. Dr. Rizzolatti’s work has consequently not only contributed significantly to the advance of the new field of social neuroscience, but has also had a major impact on cognitive neuroscience along with biology as a whole. In light of these research achievements, Dr. Rizzolatti was deemed to be the most appropriate recipient of the 41st International Prize for Biology.
To mark the award to Dr.Rizzolatti, a Commemorative Symposium for the 41st International Prize for Biology, is scheduled to be held on 20‒21 December, 2025 in Tokyo.Dr. Rizzolatti will be joined by researchers working at the forefront of neurobiology from both Japan and overseas.
More details will be posted at a later date.
More details will be posted at a later date.