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» Vittorio Gallese
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» Leonardo Fogassi
» Lucia Riggio
» Roberto Tirindelli

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» Giovanni Buccino
» Pierfrancesco Ferrari
» Stefano Rozzi
» Lucia Silvotti
» M.Alessandra Umiltà

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» Laura Sparaci
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» Paolo Rossi

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» Marco Bimbi
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» Paola Pettenati

Doctor Giovanni Buccino
~ Researcher ~

-::- Born in Rotello (Molise), Italy.

-::- Education

• Degree in Medicine and Surgery (MD) at the University of Parma, 1989;
• Degree in Neurology at the University of Parma, 1993;
• PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Parma, 1999;

-::- Professional experience

• 1990-1995: Medical assistant at the Institute of Neurology - University of Parma;
  
• 1995-1999: PhD student at the Institute of Human Physiology - University of Parma;
• 1999-2001: Assistant at the Institute of Human Physiology - University of Parma;
• May 1997 - June 1998: Visiting Researcher at the Department of Neurology - Heinrich Heine University, Duesseldorf (Germany);
• January 1999 - July 1999: Visiting Researcher at the Department of Neurology - Heinrich Heine University, Duesseldorf (Germany);
• February 2000 - July 2000: Visiting Researcher at the Department of Neurology - Heinrich Heine University, Duesseldorf (Germany) for a joint research program between the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and Comitato Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR);
• June 2002-July 2002: Visiting researcher at the Forschungszentrum - Juelich (Germany);
• Present position: Researcher at the Department of Neuroscience, Section of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine – University of Parma.

-::- Teaching

• 1993 - 1994: Assistant professor of Neurology at the School for Nursery - Parma;
• October 2000 - October 2003: Assistant professor of Neurophysiology at the Faculty of Psychology - University of Parma;
• October 1999 - (in progress): Assistant professor of Human Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine - University of Parma.
  

(+39) 0521-903947

giovanni.buccino@unipr.it

I am involved in studying the organization of motor areas in humans by means of different techniques (transcranial magnetic stimulation and brain imaging techniques). More in details my research field concerns the organization of mirror neuron system and its involvement in cognitive functions (action understanding, imitation and language).

As a neurologist, I am also interested in defining the role of acquired and inherited thrombophilic conditions in the pathogenesis of stroke and in neurorehabilitation.

I am author or co-author of about 50 peer reviewed papers and edited book chapters.

Ertelt D., Small S., Solodkin A., McNamara A., Binkofski F., Buccino G.
Action observation has a positive impact on rehabilitation of motor deficits after stroke.
Neuroimage, in press.

Glenberg A., Sato M., Cattaneo L., Riggio L., Palumbo D., Buccino G.
Processing Abstract Language Modulates Motor System Activity.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, in press.

Buccino G., Baumgaertner A., Colle L., Buechel C., Rizzolatti G., Binkofski F.
The neural basis for understanding non- intended actions.
Neuroimage, in press.

Baumgaertner A., Buccino G., Lange R., McNamara A., Binkofski F.
Polymodal conceptual processing of human biological actions in the left inferior frontal lobe.
Eur J Neurosci., 25 (3):881-889, 2007.

Buccino G., Riggio L.
The role of the mirror neuron system in motor learning.
Kinesiology, 38:5-15, 2006.

Riggio L., Patteri I., Oppo A., Buccino G., Umiltà C.
The role of affordances in inhibition of return.
Psychonomics Bullettin and Review, 13:1085-1090, 2006.

Binkofski F., Buccino G.
The role of ventral premotor cortex in action execution and action understanding.
Journal of Physiology, 99:396-405, 2006.

Buccino G., Solodkin A., Small S.
Functions of the mirror neuron system: implications for neurorehabilitation.
Cogn Behav Neurol, 19:55-63, 2006.

Iacoboni M., Molnar-Szakacs I., Gallese V., Buccino G., Mazziotta J.C., Rizzolatti G.
Grasping the intentions of others with one's own mirror neuron system.
PLoS Biol, 3:e79 Epub 2005 Feb22.

Buccino G., Riggio L., Melli G., Binkofski F., Gallese V., Rizzolatti G.
Listening to action-related sentences modulates the activity of the motor system: a combined TMS and behavioral study.
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res, 24:355-363.

Tettamanti M., Buccino G., Saccuman M.C., Gallese V., Danna M., Scifo P., Fazio F., Rizzolatti G., Cappa S.F., Perani D.
Listening to action related sentences activates fronto-parietal motor circuits.
J. Cogn Neurosci, 17:273-281, 2005.

Buccino G., Cossu G., De Fanti A., Manotti C.,  Izzi G.C., Mancia D.
Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in childhood: clinical aspects and neurological and cognitive long-term outcome in three cases.
Neurol Sci, Neurol Sci, 25:296-300, 2004.

Binkofski F., Ertelt D., Dettmers C., Buccino G.
Das Spiegelneuronensystem und seine Rolle in der neurologischen Rehabilitation.
Neurol Rehabil , 10:113-120, 2004.

Binkofski F., Buccino G., Zilles K., Fink G.R.
Supramodal representation of objects and actions in the human inferior temporal and ventral premotor cortex.
Cortex, 40:159-161, 2004.

Buccino G., Vogt S., Ritzl A., Fink G.R., Zilles K., Freund H.J., Rizzolatti G.
Neural circuits underlying imitation learning of hand actions: an event related fMRI study.
Neuron, 42: 323-334, 2004.

Binkofski F., Buccino G.
Motor functions of Broca’s region.
Brain and Language, 89:362-369, 2004.

Nitschke M.F., Binkofski F., Buccino G., Posse S., Erdmann C., Kompf D., Seitz RJ., Heide W.
Activation of cerebellar hemispheres in spatial memorization of saccadic eye movements: an fMRI study.
Hum Brain Map 22: 155-164, 2004.

Buccino G., Binkofski F., Riggio L.
The mirror neuron system and action recognition.
Brain and Language, 89:370-376, 2004..

Buccino G., Lui F., Canessa N., Patteri I., Lagravinese G., Benuzzi F., Porro C.A., Rizzolatti G.
Neural circuits involved in the recognition of actions performed by non-conspecifics: an fMRI study.
J. Cogn. Neurosci., 16:114-126, 2004.

Binkofski F., Butler A., Buccino G., Heide W., Fink G.R., Freund H.J., Seitz R.J.
Mirror apraxia affects the peripersonal mirror space. A combined lesion and cerebral activation study.
Exp Brain Res 153: 210-219, 2003.

Stoeckel C., Weder B., Binkofski F., Buccino G., Shah N.J., Seitz R.J.
A fronto-parietal circuit for tactile object discrimination: an event-related fMRI study.
Neuroimage, 19:1103-1114, 2003.

Buccino G., Scoditti U., Patteri I., Bertolino C., Mancia D.
Neurological and cognitive long-term outcome in patients with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis.
Acta Neurol. Scand., 107:330-335, 2003.

Binkofski F., Fink G.R., Geyer S., Buccino G., Gruber O., Shah N.J., Taylor J.G., Seitz R.J., Zilles K., Freund H.J.
Neural activity in human primary motor cortex areas 4a and 4p is modulated differentially by attention to action.
J. Neurophysiol 88:514-519, 2002.

Fadiga L., Craighero L., Buccino G., Rizzolatti G.
Speech listening specifically modulates the excitability of tongue muscles: a TMS study.
European Journal of Neuroscience 15:1-5, 2002.

Fogassi L., Gallese V., Buccino G., Craighero L., Fadiga L., Rizzolatti G.
Cortical mechanism for the visual guidance of hand grasping movements in the monkey: a reversible inactivation study.
Brain 124:571-586, 2001.

Buccino G., Binkofski F., Fink G.R., Fadiga L., Fogassi L., Gallese V., Seitz R.J., Zilles K., Rizzolatti G., Freund H.J.
Action observation activates premotor and parietal areas in a somatotopic manner: an fMRI study.
European Journal of Neuroscience 13:400-404, 2001.

Buccino G., Scoditti U., Pini M., Menozzi R., Piazza P., Zuccoli P., Mancia D.
Loco-regional thrombolysis in the treatment of cerebral venous and sinus thrombosis: report of two cases.
Acta Neurol. Scand. 103:59-63, 2001.

Fadiga L., Buccino G., Craighero L., Fogassi L., Gallese V., Pavesi G.
Corticospinal excitability is specifically modulated by motor imagery: a magnetic stimulation study.
Neuropsychologia 37: 147-158, 1999.

Buccino G., Scoditti U., Pini M., Tagliaferri A.R., Manotti C., Mancia D.
Low oestrogen oral contraceptives as a major risk factor for cerebral venous and sinus thrombosis: evidence from a clinical series.
Ital. J. Neurol. Sci. 20: 231-235, 1999.

Binkofski F., Buccino G., Posse S., Seitz R.J., Rizzolatti G., Freund H.J.
A fronto-parietal circuit for object manipulation in man: evidence from an fMRI study.
European Journal of Neuroscience, 11:3276-3286, 1999.

Binkofski F., Buccino G., Dohle C., Seitz R.J., Freund H.J.
Mirror agnosia and mirror ataxia constitute different parietal lobe disorders.
Ann. Neurol., 46:51-61, 1999.

Binkofski F., Buccino G., Stephan K.M., Rizzolatti G., Seitz R.J., Freund H.J.
A parieto-premotor network for object manipulation: evidence from neuroimaging.
Exp. Brain Res. 128:210-213, 1999.