Dr. Ben Smith is a neuroscientist and postdoctoral research fellow in the Social Affective Neuroscience Lab at the University of Oregon.

In this episode we talk about Ben’s research on the social neuroscience of risky decision-making, computational modeling of the reward and punishment system during decision-making, the abstract-concrete tangibility axis of the prefrontal cortex, moral and ideological decision-making, and how decision neuroscience connects to habits, health, and effective altruism.

Dr. Emily Jacobs is an Associate Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she studies how sex hormones impact brain structure, function, and cognition, particularly during menopause and across the menstrual cycle. 

In this episode we talk about how the brain is an endocrine organ: one which communicates through hormones. We talk about Emily’s research on brain aging and cognition, how sex hormones change the brain during menopause and across the menstrual cycle, and how sex hormones lead to sex differentiation in the brain. We also talk about Emily’s research for women’s health, historical barriers slowing advancement in our understanding of the female reproductive cycle across the lifespan, and modern research efforts taken to remedy this.

Dr. Roy Baumeister is a renowned social psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Queensland. In this episode we explore a variety of topics about Roy's research on self-control and decision-making, human sexuality, and the need for social belongingness.

Dr. Lindsey Powell is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, San Diego, where she runs the Social Cognition and Learning (SoCal) Lab. 

In this episode we talk about how brain activity is measured in infants and toddlers using methods such as fNIRS, and what neuroimaging research tells us about social cognitive development above and beyond behavioral research. Learn more about Lindsey’s work at: https://socallab.ucsd.edu/