The Neuroscience of Compassion
Friday September 16 from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM.
Symposium from 11:30 on in Lecture Hall 1
Sponsored by Stony Brook University's Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics
Several independent lines of scientific inquiry that suggest humans are compassionate by nature, and that those who are compassionate have better heath and live longer compared to those who do not help others. Some efforts to understand the health effects of compassion have turned to neurobiology for answers, as way to study and understand how compassionate behavior involves bodily processes that influence morbidity and mortality. Our presenters consist of faculty and students who began their efforts to study the neuroscience of compassion at the University of Michigan, and who will discuss some of the key methodological and substantive issues surrounding this emerging new field, with an eye toward understanding the relevance to health and medical education.
Workshop 9:00-11:15 Please contact Dr. Brown (stephanie.brown@stonybrook.edu) if you would like to attend
Trends in Social Science and Medicine: Value and Feasibility of Combining Neuroendocrine,
Cardiovascular, Facial EMG, and Neuroimaging methods for studying Compassion
9:00-9:30 Stephanie Brown & David Reinhard
Measuring Oxytocin and Progesterone (Compassion Hormones) in a Laboratory vs Ecological
Setting and Results from Recent Studies
9:30- 9:45 Dylan Smith
How Genetic Testing Can inform the Science of Compassion
9:45 – 10:00 Michael Poulin
Studying Compassion in the Scanner: Tasks, protocols, and pitfalls
10:00-10:15 Shaun Ho
The Parental Brain informs Compassionate Motivation and Behavior
10:15 - 10:45 James Swain
Declining Empathy in the United States
10:45-11:15 Sara Konrath
Symposium: Neuroscience of Compassion and Implications for Health 11:30-1:00
Pizza will be served
Neuroscience and Health: Relevance of Oxytocin, Progesterone and Stress Regulation
11:30 – 11:45 Heather Cameron
Using Evolutionary Theories of Altruism and Neurobiological Models of Parenting to
Inform the Compassion and the Teaching of Compassionate Care
11:45-12:00 (Stephanie Brown)
Linking Compassionate Behavior to Physical and Mental Health: Volunteering and Mortality;
Compassionate Behavior, Stress, and Health; Parenting Responses and Mental Health
12:00 - 1:00 (Sara Konrath, Michael Poulin & James Swain)