bio

Laboratory of Social Neuroscience and Comparative Development
Pier Francesco Ferrari (Principal Investigator)


Email: pierfrancesco.ferrari@isc.cnrs.fr
Phone: (334) 37 91 12 39


Since 2016 Dr Ferrari is Directeur de Recherche (Director of Research, DR1) at the CNRS in Lyon where he directs the laboratory of Social Neuroscience and Comparative development. Dr Ferrari received his degree in Biology at the University of Parma in 1992. During his Ph.D he conducted part of the research between the University of Parma, Italy, the University of London and the University of Leeds in UK. Soon after he became post-doc fellow at the Tufts University in Boston, USA. On his return to Italy he joined the team led by Giacomo Rizzolatti in Parma investigating the role of mirror neurons in emotional communication and intention. From 2007 to 2008, he served as Adjunct Scientist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, conducting research on brain development in relation to cognitive functions and social behavior in macaque monkeys. He has also been adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland, USA and visiting Professor at the University of Reading, UK. Dr Ferrari has been Associate Professor in Neuroscience at the University of Parma, Italy, until 2016. Among his achievement he received the Willson distinguished lecturer award from the University of Georgia. He has also been president of the Italian Primatological Association, API. Together with Giacomo Rizzolatti, he is Director of the International School of Neurosciences "Sir John Eccles", at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, Italy. Dr Ferrari’s research program is supported by the National Institutes of Health current research is funded mainly by: the National Institutes of Health of the USA (P01 HD064653-01), University of Lyon 1, Fondation de France, Fédération pour la Recherche sur le Cerveau, Univerity of Lyon 1, the Italian Ministry of Health (PRIN), Centro Diagnostico Europeo Dalla Rosa Prati, Fondazione Bassignani, Giocampus.

Papers
  • Fabrizia Festante, Pier Francesco Ferrari, Samuel G. Thorpe, Robert W. Buchanan, Nathan A. Fox
    Intranasal oxytocin enhances EEG mu rhythm desynchronization during execution and observation of social action: An exploratory study
    Psychoneuroendocrinology, 104467, Vol: 111, (2020), doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104467
  • Elisa De Stefani, Francesca Rodá, Elio Volta, Vincenzo Pincolini, Andrea Farnese, Stefano Rossetti, Federica Pedretti, Pier Francesco Ferrari
    Learning new sport actions: Pilot study to investigate the imitative and the verbal instructive teaching methods in motor education
    PLOS ONE, e0237697, Vol: 15, (2020), doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237697
  • E.De Stefani, M.Ardizzi, Y.Nicolini, M.Belluardo, A.Barbot, C.Bertolini, G.Garofalo, B.Bianchi, G.Coudè, L.Murray, P.F.Ferrari
    Children with facial paralysis due to Moebius syndrome exhibit reduced autonomic modulation during emotion processing.
    Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders, 12, Vol: 11, (2019), doi: 10.1186/s11689-019-9272-2
  • G.Coudè, G.Toschi, F.Festante, M.Bimbi, J.Bonaiuto, P.F.Ferrari
    Grasping Neurons in the Ventral Premotor Cortex of Macaques Are Modulated by Social Goals.
    Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 299--313, Vol: 31, (2019), doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_01353
  • M.Bimbi, F.Festante, G.Coudè, R.E.Vanderwert, N.A.Fox, P.F.Ferrari
    Simultaneous scalp recorded EEG and local field potentials from monkey ventral premotor cortex during action observation and execution reveals the contribution of mirror and motor neurons to the mu-rhythm.
    NeuroImage, 22--31, Vol: 175, (2018), doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.03.037
  • M.Baker, S.G.Lindell, C.A.Driscoll, Z.Zhou, Q.Yuan, M.L.Schwandt, I.Miller-Crews, E.A.Simpson, A.Paukner, P.F.Ferrari, R.K.Sindhu, M.Razaqyar, W.H.Sommer, J.F.Lopez, R.C.Thompson, D.Goldman, M.Heilig, J.D.Higley, S.J.Suomi, C.S.Barr
    Early rearing history influences oxytocin receptor epigenetic regulation in rhesus macaques
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 11769--11774, Vol: 114, (2017), doi: 10.1073/pnas.1706206114
  • P.F. Ferrari, M. Gerbella, G. Coudé, S. Rozzi
    Two different mirror neuron networks: The sensorimotor (hand) and limbic (face) pathways
    Neuroscience, 300 - 315, Vol: 358, (2017), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.06.052
  • A.M.Dettmer, S.S.K.Kaburu, E.A.Simpson, A.Paukner, V.Sclafani, K.L.Byers, A.M.Murphy, M.Miller, N.Marquez, G.M.Miller, S.J.Suomi, P.F.Ferrari
    Neonatal face-to-face interactions promote later social behaviour in infant rhesus monkeys
    Nature Communications, 11940, Vol: 7, (2016), doi: 10.1038/ncomms11940
  • Ryan J. Morrill, Annika Paukner, Pier F. Ferrari, Asif A. Ghazanfar
    Monkey lipsmacking develops like the human speech rhythm
    Developmental Science, 557--568, Vol: 15, (2012), doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2012.01149.x
  • Pier Francesco Ferrari, Ross E. Vanderwert, Annika Paukner, Seth Bower, Stephen J. Suomi, Nathan A. Fox
    Distinct EEG Amplitude Suppression to Facial Gestures as Evidence for a Mirror Mechanism in Newborn Monkeys
    Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1165--1172, Vol: 24, (2012), doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00198
  • Gino Coudè, Pier Francesco Ferrari, Francesca Rodá, Monica Maranesi, Eleonora Borelli, Vania Veroni, Fabio Monti, Stefano Rozzi, Leonardo Fogassi
    Neurons Controlling Voluntary Vocalization in the Macaque Ventral Premotor Cortex
    PLoS ONE, e26822, Vol: 6, (2011), doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026822
  • Frans B.M. de Waal, Pier Francesco Ferrari
    Towards a bottom-up perspective on animal and human cognition
    Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 201--207, Vol: 14, (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2010.03.003
  • Pier Francesco Ferrari, Annika Paukner, Consuel Ionica, Stephen J. Suomi
    Reciprocal Face-to-Face Communication between Rhesus Macaque Mothers and Their Newborn Infants
    Current Biology, 1768--1772, Vol: 19, (2009), doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.08.055
  • E. Palagi, A. Leone, G. Mancini, P. F. Ferrari
    Contagious yawning in gelada baboons as a possible expression of empathy
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 19262--19267, Vol: 106, (2009), doi: 10.1073/pnas.0910891106
  • A. Paukner, S. J. Suomi, E. Visalberghi, P. F. Ferrari
    Capuchin Monkeys Display Affiliation Toward Humans Who Imitate Them
    Science, 880--883, Vol: 325, (2009), doi: 10.1126/science.1176269
  • Luca Bonini, Stefano Rozzi, Francesca Ugolotti Serventi, Luciano Simone, Pier F. Ferrari, Leonardo Fogassi
    Ventral Premotor and Inferior Parietal Cortices Make Distinct Contribution to Action Organization and Intention Understanding
    Cerebral Cortex, 1372--1385, Vol: 20, (2009), doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhp200
  • Pier F Ferrari, Elisabetta Visalberghi, Annika Paukner, Leonardo Fogassi, Angela Ruggiero, Stephen J Suomi
    Neonatal Imitation in Rhesus Macaques
    PLoS Biology, e302, Vol: 4, (2006), doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0040302
  • Pier Francesco Ferrari, Stefano Rozzi, Leonardo Fogassi
    Mirror Neurons Responding to Observation of Actions Made with Tools in Monkey Ventral Premotor Cortex
    Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 212--226, Vol: 17, (2005), doi: 10.1162/0898929053124910
  • Pier Francesco Ferrari, Vittorio Gallese, Giacomo Rizzolatti, Leonardo Fogassi
    Mirror neurons responding to the observation of ingestive and communicative mouth actions in the monkey ventral premotor cortex
    European Journal of Neuroscience, 1703--1714, Vol: 17, (2003), doi: 10.1046/j.1460-9568.2003.02601.x

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