Flourish - Center for Neuroeconomics Studies - Summer 2008
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Transcript of Flourish - Center for Neuroeconomics Studies - Summer 2008
t h e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r o f t h e f o r
SUMMER 2008
In this issue- Letter from the Director
- Giving back to the community
- Recent & Upcoming research
- Researcher closeup: Jorge Barazza
- Calendar of upcoming events
� INAUGURAL ISSUE �
www.neuroeconomicstudies .org
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A B L E of contents
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Oxytocin Increases Generosity in Humans Paul J. Zak, Angela A. Stanton and Sheila Ahmadi.PLoS ONE 2(11): e1128. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001128, 2007Neuroeconomics StudiesPaul Zak & Jang Woo ParkAnalyse and Kritik 29/2007 p. 47-59.
The Neuroecomics of TrustPaul J. Zak Renaissance in Behavioral Economics, Roger Frantz, editor. Routledge, 2007
The Neurobiology of Trust June, 2008 Scientifi c AmericanThe Mike & Juliet Show June, 2008 FOX
Live show challenging the safety and ethics of using oxytocin in a retail product. http://www.mandjshow.com/videos/discovery-of-a-new-pleasure-potion/
For a complete listing of all publications and media with live links and full downloads,
please visit www.neuroeconomicstudies.org
�
We wish to thank the John Templeton and Kauff man Foundations, as well as the
National Institute for Health for their generous support as well as contributors,
collaborators and reviewers of our ongoing and new neuroeconomics research.
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Back
Letter from the Director Recent Work & Media
The title of our newsletter comes from the central focus of our lab. We are fundamentally interested in
understanding how lives can be improved by discovering the mechanisms that govern the transactions of life. Our research questions come directly from issues all people face, and our fi ndings are directly applicable to individuals and society. We chose Flourish as the title of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies newsletter because our purpose is to understand how the brain works so that we can propel people toward greater prosperity, health, and happiness.
We hope that you will look forward to this quarterly publication as we report exciting new results from our lab and list upcoming events that you can attend. We also encourage you to check our website frequently.
With warm regards,
Paul Zak & the CNS Team
Letter from the Director................................
Recent Work & Media.....................................
CNS Blood Drive..............................................
Home Sweet Home.........................................
Researcher Closeup: Jorge Barazza...........
Upcoming Events............................................
Moral MarketsForward by Michael C. Jensen Edited by Paul ZakTh is book hopes to convince readers that both Alfred Tennyson’s characterization of competition in nature—“red in tooth and claw”—and an uncritical reading about Adam Smith’s selfi sh competition are not so much wrong as incomplete and, in the view of the contributors to this volume, woefully so.
Available on Amazon.com
Books
Publications
Media
43
A number of the
CNS members
giving blood were
fi rst-time donors,
and were surprised
by the ease of the
procedure.
CNS Members Participate in Red Cross Blood Drive
A number of the
CNS members
n
The CNS lab members
coordinated a group
blood donation in conjunction
with the Claremont University
Consortium to support the re-
cent blood drive on campus.
Following a busy semester
involving many experiments
with blood draws, the re-
searchers at the Center for
Neuroeconomics Studies
staff wanted to give back to the community from which it
draws most of its participation for experiments. The CUC-
sponsored event was a perfect opportunity to give back
because the CNS have taken blood samples from over 500
experiment participants in the last 5 years. Prof. Zak be-
lieves that in donating blood together “we balanced the
karmic equation, so to speak.” He and most lab members
gave blood as a group then had lunch together afterward.
The event took place not long after the highly destruc-
tive Southern California fi res that swept through neigh-
boring counties, affecting many professors and students
from the Claremont
University Consor-
tium community.
The lab is plan-
ning to participate
regularly in Red
Cross events to and help increase awareness and partici-
pation through outreach and support.
t
4
Right: Amos
Nadler signing in
at the Red Cross
table
Left: Th e CNS
team fi lling
out paperwork
before donating
blood
Below: Professor
Paul Zak shares
a laugh with a
Red Cross team
member as he
prepares to give
blood
For more information on donating blood to the American Red
Cross, please contact www.redcross.org
The CNS is
home to a
dedicated team
of researchers
and academics
from economics,
behavioral
and cognitive
psychology,
neuroscience,
business, English,
philosophy and
religion.
5 6
Home, sweet home
The Center for Neuro-
economics Studies has
received funding by Cla-
remont Graduate Univer-
sity and the John Templeton
and Kauff man Foundations,
as well as other agencies and foundations and is in its sixth year
of operation. We have seen tremendous growth in our team as
well as in interest from the broader scientifi c community in the
work done in the lab.
As Prof. Zak likes to put it, “we’ll try anything that might help
people—as long as we’re not hurting anyone;—‘crazy’ ideas are
always welcome.”
Th e Center frequently hosts visitors from all over the world
and from other educational institutions; Clarissa Berman, a
graduate student from Brazil will join us for a number of ex-
periments this summer.
ResearcherCloseup Jorge Barazza
Background
I came to CGU because of its Applied Psychology program. I had been heavily involved in volunteer leadership as an undergraduate and wanted to work on applying psychology research to assisting volunteer organizations. Th is is what started my interest in human prosocial behavior. I joined the CNS once I was exposed to the work being done at the lab. My neuro background and interest in prosocial behavior pulled me into joining the CNS. I have been part of the lab now for about two and and a half years and am in my fourth year in the social psychology PhD program.
Current research
I’m fi nishing up a couple of projects, one of which involves narratives and decision-making. Th e narratives project was designed to study how OT levels are aff ected by emotional narratives. We have all experienced intense emotions
through stories, like of fi ctional characters in movies. Th is study will see if oxytocin levels spike when we feel for the plight of others. It may seem like an obvious fi nding, but surprisingly no study has actually tested this.
What you like about the CNS?
Its inclusiveness. Th ere are lab members from psychology, political science, economics, neuroscience, and other dyanmic fi elds. It makes for an environment that is not bound by the constraints of a
single discipline, one that is question-oriented.
Future plans
Keep doing what I’m doing of course. I love what I do. I have one more year at CGU. However, I will continue my involvement with the CNS, no matter what I do. I have one major study that is waiting for funding on the role of oxytocin in aging.
C N S S E N I O R R E S E A R C H E R S
C N S G R A D U AT E S T U D E N T S
Dr. Paul Zak
Jorge Barazza
Amos Nadler Beth Terris George Sarraf Javier Alcantar
Karen Redwine Laura Beavin Levan Efremidze Moana Vercoe
Dr. Richard Peterson
Dr. William Matzner
Dr. Robert Kurtzban
Dr. Jang Park
There are lab members
from psychology,
political science,
economics, neuroscience,
and other dynamic
fi elds. It makes for an
environment that is not
bound by the constraints
of a single discipline, one
that is question-oriented.
“T ere ar
from
CalendarofEvents SUMMER2008JULY 9 Clinical applications of virtue research
Loma Linda Univ.
11-12 Moral Leadership and the Brain Drucker School of Business & Manage-
ment
28-29 Th e Biology of Morality Australian Nat. Univ.,
Canberra, AUS
AUG 2-5 Virtue and the Law USC Law School
22-23 Moral Leadership and the Brain Drucker School of Business & Manage-
ment
SEP 24-27 Society for NeuroeconomicsPark City, UT
25-28 Psychosurgery: Implications for Liberty Cleveland Clinic, OH
Save the date: CNS Advisory Board Meeting Octo-ber 22nd
Prof. James Konow of Loyola Mary-mount Univ. on fairness and justice
Claremont, CA
Center for Neuroeconomics Studies
160 E. 10th St.
Claremont Graduate University
Claremont, CA 91711-6165
www.neuroeconomicstudies.org
t h e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r o f t h e f o r