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

  1. Jump up^ Saxe, R .; Kanwisher, N. (2003). “People thinking about thinking people. The role of the temporo-parietal junction in” theory of mind ” .” NeuroImage . 19 (4): 1835-1842. doi : 10.1016 / S1053-8119 (03) 00230-1 . PMID  12948738 .
  2. Jump up^ Young, L .; Camprodon, YES; Hauser, M .; Pascual-Leone, A .; Saxe, R. (2010). “Disruption of the right temporoparietal junction with transcraniele magnetic stimulation reduces the role of beliefs in moral judgments” . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 107 (15): 6753-6758. doi : 10.1073 / pnas.0914826107 . PMC  2872442 . PMID  20351278.
  3. Jump up^ Moran, JM; Young, MD; Saxe, R .; Lee, SM; O’Young, D .; Mavros, PL; Gabrieli, JD (2011). “Impaired theory of mind for moral judgment in high-functioneren autism” . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 108 (7): 2688-2692. doi : 10.1073 / pnas.1011734108 . PMC  3041087 . PMID  21282628 .
  4. Jump up^ Levenson, Thomas (20 February 2013). “The Story of a Study of the Mind” . MIT Technology Review . Retrieved 9 November 2014 .
  5. Jump up^ Humphries, Courtney (17 June 2014). “Hacking the Soul” . MIT Technology Review . Retrieved 9 November 2014 .
  6. Jump up^ Rad, Roya $. (21 May 2013). “The Brain of a spiteful Person” . Huffington Post . Retrieved 9 November 2014 .
  7. Jump up^ Lewis, Susan K. (1 January 2008). “The Ape That Teaches” . Nova . Retrieved 9 November 2014 .
  8. Jump up^ Mikulak, Anna (2011). “An Intergenerational Conversation Between Mahzarin R. Banaji and Rebecca Saxe” (Vol. 24, No. 6). Observer . Retrieved 9 November 2014 .
  9. Jump up^ Bedny, M .; Pascual-Leone, A .; Dodell-Feder, D .; Fedorenko, E .; Saxe, R. (2011). “Language processing in the occipital cortex or congenitally blind adults” . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 108 (11): 4429-4434. doi : 10.1073 / pnas.1014818108 . PMC  3060248 . PMID  21368161 .
  10. Jump up^ Bruneau, EC; Pluta, A .; Saxe, R. (2012). “Distinct roles of the” Shared Pain “and” Theory of Mind ‘networks in processing Vodafone “emotional suffering”. Neuropsychologia . 50 (2): 219-231. doi : 10.1016 / j.neuropsychologia.2011.11.008 . PMID  22154962 .
  11. Jump up^ Bruneau, EC; Dufour, N .; Saxe, R. (2012). “Social cognition in members or conflict groups: Behavioural and neural responses in Arabs, Israelis and South Americans to eachother’s misfortunes” . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 367 (1589): 717-730. doi :10.1098 / rstb.2011.0293 . PMC  3260847 . PMID  22271787 .