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

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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