Joseph LeDoux
Center for Neural Science
New York University
Fearful Brains in an Anxious World
March 7, 2008
Lecture Hall 8, 4:00 PM
Abstract
What goes on in the brain when we are fearful? How does this lead to the bodily expression of fear? What relation does it have to the feelings of fear that we experience? What goes wrong in the brain in fear related disorders? None of these questions will be answered completely, but each will be discussed in light of what we currently know.
Biography
Joseph LeDoux is a University Professor and Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science, and a member of the Center for Neural Science and Department of Psychology at NYU. His 1977 PhD is in Psychology from the State University of Stony Brook. He was a postdoctoral fellow and then an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Cornell University Medical College. In 1989 he joined New York University. His work is focused on the brain mechanisms of emotion and memory. In addition to articles in scholarly journals, he is author of The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life and Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow of the New York Academy of Science, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science, and the recipient of the 2005 Fyssen International Prize in Cognitive Science.