Authors@Google: Marco Iacoboni

Marco Iacoboni is one of the better known neuroscientists - he helped popularize the discovery of mirror neurons a few years back (the neurons were originally discovered by Iaccomo Rizzolati). This is an old lecture (June, 2008) from the Google talks series, but it's still interesting.

Marco Iacoboni, a leading neuroscientist whose work has been covered in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal, explains the groundbreaking research into mirror neurons, the "smart cells" in our brain that allow us to understand others. From imitation to morality, from learning to addiction, from political affiliations to consumer choices, mirror neurons seem to have properties that are relevant to all these aspects of social cognition.

Marco Iacoboni is a neurologist and neuroscientist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He has appeared on Good Morning America, the Early Show, and Morning Edition, among other TV and radio programs.

This event took place on June 6, 2008, as a part of the Authors@Google series.

Tags: brain, empathy, consciousness, Authors@Google, Marco Iacoboni, mirror neurons, neuroscience, imitation, morality, learning, addiction, political affiliations, consumer choices