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Humans evolved with psychological motives such as self-interest and prosociality. How can one be generous, helpful, and cooperative and yet also be self-absorbed, rude, or abusive? What neurobiological and psychological mechanisms guide social decision-making and moral reasoning? How do these abilities develop in children, and how are they shaped by life experiences, resource scarcity, and group dynamics? Why do some people develop strong moral convictions that can lead to dogmatism, intolerance, and violent collective actions?
I investigate these real-world questions with the multi-level approach that characterizes social neuroscience, using structural and functional MRI, high-density EEG/ERP, eye-tracking, and cognitive and social psychology, and behavioral economics.
To encourage human cooperation on a global level, I believe that our naturally emerging prosocial tendencies, which are further cultivated by parents and social institutions, are best balanced with a healthy dose of reasoning. Finally, I highly value teaching, especially undergraduate students, as it encourages me to think about the long road, the big picture, and find meaningful links with other disciplines such as biology, evolutionary theory, economics, mental health, education, sociology and political science.
I have been on the University of Chicago faculty since 2006. Before that, I was a professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, and research director at the National Medical Research Institute (INSERM) in Lyon, France. I received my Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Université Claude Bernard in Lyon, France in 1990, followed by a post-doctoral scholarship for two years at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm (Sweden) in the Departments of Neurophysiology and Neuroradiology.