Shawn Rhoads, PhD

Dr. Rhoads is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He earned his baccalaureate degree from the University of Southern California and Ph.D. from Georgetown University. As the Principal Investigator of the Social Interaction & Neural Computation Laboratory (SINC Lab), his research program has two primary goals. The first is to achieve a mechanistic understanding of the factors that improve or impair the well-being of the self and others across multiple levels of analysis (e.g., neurobiological, cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, societal). The second is to translate this understanding for direct application in medicine and policy.

His laboratory uses a combination of methods—including computational modeling, functional neuroimaging, and intracranial recordings—to investigate the neurocomputational basis of human social connection and interaction, with a focus on addressing questions such as: What neural and computational processes underlie individual differences in social perception, learning, and decision-making? What drives variability and alignment in shared emotional experiences? How do we represent and understand others’ internal states (i.e., their emotions, beliefs, goals)? How do prosocial and antisocial behaviors impact interpersonal relationships? How does loneliness impact these processes and affect mental health? Under what conditions do external social factors (e.g., context, community, broader societal structures) impact individuals' internal states, including their subjective well-being?

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