Giovanni Berlucchi
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Giovanni Berlucchi is an Italian
physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...
, academic, and author. He is a professor
Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...
in the Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine, and Movement Sciences at the
University of Verona The University of Verona () is a university located in Verona, Italy. It was founded in 1982 and is organized in 12 Departments. The Italian business newspaper ''Il Sole 24 Ore'' ranked it as the best non-private university in Italy in 2014, 2015 ...
.


Biography

Berlucchi was born in the Lombard city of
Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...
on 25 May 1935, to Carlo Berlucchi, a clinical neurologist, and Elsa Baraldi. After earning a degree in medicine from the
University of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...
in 1959, Berlucchi began his career at the
University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...
under the neurophysiologist Giuseppe Moruzzi. From 1964 to 1965, he did postdoctoral work at the
California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...
as a fellow of the U.S. National Health Institute and under
Roger Wolcott Sperry Roger Wolcott Sperry (August 20, 1913 – April 17, 1994) was an American neuropsychologist, neurobiologist, cognitive neuroscientist, and Nobel laureate who, together with David H. Hubel and Torsten Nils Wiesel, won the 1981 Nobel Prize in M ...
, who introduced him to the corpus callosum and to the functions of the brain hemispheres. In 1968, he joined as a research associate the Department of Anatomy of the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
. After becoming a full professor of
physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...
at the
University of Siena The University of Siena (, abbreviation: UNISI), located in Siena, Tuscany, holds the distinction of being Italy's first publicly funded university as well as one of the oldest, originally established as ''Studium Senese'' in 1240. As of 2022, it ...
in 1975, he occupied the same position at the
University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...
from 1976 to 1983 and at the University of Verona from 1983 until retirement in 2010. Following an initial involvement in the physiological study of the
sleep-wake cycle A circadian rhythm (), or circadian cycle, is a natural oscillation that repeats roughly every 24 hours. Circadian rhythms can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., endogenous) and responds to the environment (is entrai ...
, Berlucchi's research work has centered on the neural bases of cognition and behavior, with contributions to areas including the interactions and functional differences between the
cerebral hemispheres The vertebrate cerebrum (brain) is formed by two cerebral hemispheres that are separated by a groove, the longitudinal fissure. The brain can thus be described as being divided into left and right cerebral hemispheres. Each of these hemispheres ...
,
vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...
and visuospatial attention, and the representation of the body by the brain. He has also conducted research on the historical development of
neuropsychology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology focus on how injuries or illnesses of the brai ...
and particularly of the neuroscientific thinking about
cerebral Cerebral may refer to: * Of or relating to the brain * Cerebrum, the largest and uppermost part of the brain * Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the cerebrum * Retroflex consonant, also referred to as a cerebral consonant, a type of consonant so ...
organization and its plasticity. Berlucchi was the editor-in-chief of ''Neuropsychologia'' from 1993 to 1998. He was among the founders of the European Neuroscience Association and its journal, ''The European Journal of Neuroscience''. He has co-authored the book ''Neurofobia'' with Salvatore Aglioti. He has contributed to handbooks including ''Handbook of Sensory Physiology'', ''Handbook of Psychobiology'', ''Handbook of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology'', ''Handbook of Clinical Neurology''. Berlucchi is a national fellow of
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei The (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed"), anglicised as the Lincean Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. Founded in ...
and an elected member of
Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...
from 1990. He is a member of other scientific and cultural institutions, including the Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana, the Istituto Lombardo di Scienze Lettere ed Arti and the Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti. His autobiography is published in The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography, a book series of the Society for Neuroscience.


Awards and honors

*1963 – Prize of the Società Italiana di Elettroencefalografia e Neurofisiologia clinica *1971 – Annual Lecture, European Brain and Behaviour Society *1972 – Elected Member, International Neuropsychology Symposium *1990 – Elected Member, Academia Europaea *1992 – Elected Member, Accademia dei Lincei *2001 – Caruso Prize of the Società italiana di Neurofisiologia clinica *2001 – Herlitzka Prize for Physiology, Accademia delle Scienze di Torino *2007 – Honorary degree in psychology, University of Pavia *2010 – Triennal Prize, Literary Society of Verona *2014 – Eranos-Jung Lecture, Monte Verità Ascona


Bibliography


Books

*''Handbook of Sensory Physiology'' (1973) *''Handbook of Psychobiology'' (1975) *''Encyclopaedia of Ignorance'' (1977) *''Structure and Functions of the Cerebral Commissures'' (1979) *''Handbook of Neuropsychology'' (2003) *''Handbook of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology'' (1999) *''Handbook of Clinical Neurology'' (2007) ISBN 978044464150 *''Encyclopedia of Neuroscience'' (2009) *''Neurofobia'' (2013)


Selected articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlucchi, Giovanni 1935 births Living people Italian neuroscientists Italian physiologists University of Pavia alumni University of Pisa alumni Academic staff of the University of Siena Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the University of Verona Members of the Lincean Academy Members of Academia Europaea Scientific journal editors