THE SOCIAL SYNAPSE: Neuroscience and the roots of human connections

Louise Barrett was trained in both ecology and anthropology and is currently Professor of Psychology and Canada Research Chair in Cognition, Evolution & Behaviour at the University of Lethbridge. She ran a long-term project on baboons in South Africa for twelve years.

Agustín Fuentes, trained in Zoology and Anthropology, is a Professor and Chair of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. His research delves into the how and why of being human.

Kevin Laland is Professor of Behavioural and Evolutionary Biology at the University of St Andrews, where he is a member of the Centre for Biological Diversity, the Centre for Social learning and Cognitive Evolution, the Institute for Behavioural and Neural Sciences, and the Scottish Primate Research Group.

Kevin Ochsner directs the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) Lab at Columbia University, which studies the brain bases of emotion, person perception, and self-control. Ochsner received a Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard and postdoctoral training at Stanford.

Dietrich Stout is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Emory University, and Associate Director of the Emory’s Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture. He received his Ph.D. in Paleoanthropology from Indiana University, Bloomington.