Dr. Jean Decety is professor at the University of Chicago and the College with a primary appointment in the
Department of Psychology and a secondary appointment in the Department Psychiatry, and an executive committee member of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience.
He is the co-director of the Brain Research Imaging Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Dr. Decety is the editor of Social Neuroscience, the first journal dedicated to this topic, which was launched in March 2006. Check out two special issues of this journal; one on Theory of Mind and one on Interpersonal Sensitivity.
Educational Background:
- Habilitation as Director of Research in Cognitive Neurosciences. University Claude Bernard Lyon I, France (1994).
- Ph.D., cum laude, University Claude Bernard Lyon I, France (Neurobiology, 1989).
- Advanced M.S., University Claude Bernard Lyon I, France (Biological and Medical Engineering Sciences, 1987).
- Advanced M.A., University Lumière Lyon II, France (Cognitive Psychology, 1986).
- Advanced M.S., University Claude Bernard Lyon I, (Neurosciences, 1985).
- Bachelor, University Lumière Lyon II, (Psychology 1983 - with Major in Neuropsychology, and Minor in Psychopathology).
- Baccalaureate section D (Natural Sciences and Mathematics, 1978).
Research skills:
- Affective social neuroscience
- Psychopathology
- Human neuroanatomy and neurophysiology
- Functional brain imaging (PET, fMRI, DTI, ERPs, MEG)
- Neuropsychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Social neuroscience
Research interests:
- Anthropology (physical and social)
- Developmental neuroscience
- Empathy and intersubjectivity
- Evolutionary biology
- Altruism and moral reasoning
- Mimicry and imitation
- Mirror-neuron systems
- Intentionality and theory of mind
- Interpersonal processes
- Social psychology
Main Research Projects:
- Empathy deficits in children with conduct disorder, 2007-present.
- The cognitive neuroscience of empathy and sympathy, 2001-present.
- Cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in imitation and intersubjectivity, 1999-present.
- Neural underpinnings of perspective taking, 1999-present.
- The perception of causation in healthy subjects and schizophrenic patients, 1999-2003.
- Theory of mind in normal subjects and schizophrenic patients, 1998-2003.
- The perception and the understanding of human actions, 1996-2000.
- The neurophysiological basis of mental simulation of action in healthy subjects and neurological patients, 1991-1996.
Past Appointments:
- Head of Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Washington, Seattle, 2001-2005.
- Head of Neurophysiology of Intentionality at INSERM unit 280 (Dr. Jacques Pernier, Director), Lyon, France, 1997-2001.
- Junior and then Senior researcher at INSERM unit 94 (Prof. Marc Jeannerod, Director), Bron, France, 1991-1996.
- Post doctoral fellow at the Karolinska Hospital and Institute, Stockholm, Sweden in the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology and Neuroradiology, PET-Division (Prof. Per E. Roland, Director), 1990-1991.
- Ph.D. student at Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden in the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, SPECT-section (Prof. David H. Ingvar, Director), 1988-1990.
Professional Memberships:
If you happen to know French, you might like to read the article,
"Le sens des autres" [The Sense of Others] that was published in Le Monde in November 2002.
|
