Rebecca Saxe

Rebecca Saxe is a professor of cognitive neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT . She is ook een associate member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research . She is Berninahaus for re research on the neural basis of social cognition. She is the granddaughter of Canadian coroners and politician Morton Shulman .

Scientific contributions

As a graduate student, Saxe demonstrated dat a brain region known as the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) is specifiek activated at theory of mind ‘tasks dat requirement understanding the mental states of other people. ^[1]She Continues to study this brain region, and has demonstrated Recently therein rTPJ is involved in moral judgments; in a task where subjects hear stories and review the permissibility of the characters’ behavior, Disruption of the rTPJ Causes subjects to place less weight on the character’s intentions, and greater weight on the actual outcomes or hun action. ^[2] Individuals with autism show a similar pattern of responses, suggesting a role for skies rTPJ in the etiology of autism. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}

In addition under to re work on theory of mind, Saxe ook studies the plasticity of the cortex ^[9] and the neural Substrates of empathy ^[10] and group conflict. ^[11]

Awards and recognition

Before joining the MIT faculty, Saxe was a junior fellow of Harvard University’s Society of Fellows . In 2008 she was named one of Popular Science magazine’s “Brilliant 10” scientists under 40, and in 2012 the World Economic Forum named re a Young Global Leader . Her 2009 TED talk has leg viewed almost 2.5 million times.

References