Professor of Neuroscience at the Center for Mind-Brain Sciences at the University of Trento, of which he was also director, for many years he was an adjunct professor at the School of Biological, Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at the University of New England in Australia.

One of the most internationally recognized neuroscientists, he is among the sharpest and most creative minds in the study of neural mechanisms in animal cognition. He is the author of more than 300 scientific articles in international journals (with over 30 000 citations) and of numerous educational books, including the most recent Pensieri della mosca con la testa storta (Adelphi, 2021) translated into English by Routledge under the title The Origins of Consciousness; as well as Born Knowing (MIT Press, 2021) published by Adelphi in 2023 in Italy in a revised and updated version under the title Il pulcino di Kant.

A recipient of the Geoffroy Saint Hilaire International Prize for Ethology and an honorary degree from the University of Ruhr, Germany, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and is among the few European researchers to have been awarded the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant twice.

In addition to his scientific research, he is also extremely prolific in popular education, contributing to the cultural pages of various journalistic magazines and reviews, including Il Sole 24 Ore, Prometeo, La Lettura del Corriere della Sera and Le Scienze.