Gregory Berns
Encyclopedia
Gregory S. Berns is a distinguished American neuroeconomist
, neuroscientist
, professor of psychiatry
, psychologist
and writer. He lives with his family in Atlanta
, Georgia
, USA
.
Berns holds the Distinguished Chair of Neuroeconomics in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine
in Atlanta where he is a professor of both psychiatry and economics
. He is Director of the Center for Neuropolicy; the author of the books Satisfaction: The Science of Finding True Fulfillment and Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently, and has made numerous media appearances.
, holding a university professorship in both psychiatry
and economics
.
Berns holds the Distinguished Chair of Neuroeconomics in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine
, Atlanta
, Georgia
, USA
where he is a professor of both psychiatry and economics. He is Director of the Center for Neuropolicy, and has made numerous media appearances.
Berns has written numerous academic papers and two books. He has appeared on the ABC News
Primetime
television series; CNN and PBS and in newspapers including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
. In 1990 he went on to study for a Ph.D. in Biomechanical engineering
, and then for an M.D. Medicine
in 1994, both at the University of California
.
After graduating, Berns was a Research Assistant / Postdoctoral Fellow at Salk Institute for Biological Studies
from 1990 to 1994; had a General Psychiatry and Medicine Internship at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic from 1994 to 1995, followed by an Adult Psychiatry Residency there from 1995 to 1998.
to pursue pleasure and avoid pain (see pleasure principle
, for example). He argues instead that true satisfaction comes from novel experiences which are undergone in the process of achieving an aim, rather than the achievement itself, and this involves an active striving rather than a "passive feeling of happiness."
Berns' second book Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently continues the theme developed in Satisfaction and the exploration of the neurological
bases of human creativity
. It describes and investigates iconoclasts
: innovative
and creative people who break with the established, tradition
al way of thinking or of doing things; 'break' cultural icons, and manage to do what others say cannot be done. The work profiles a number of famous 'free-thinkers' such as Warren Buffett
; Dale Chihuly
; the Dixie Chicks
; Richard Feynman
; Henry Ford
; Steve Jobs
; Martin Luther King, Jr.
and Picasso.
Berns argues that iconoclasts manage to break through three major 'mental roadblocks' which he enumerates as (a) perception
(often having insights triggered through visual imagery
); (b) the human fear
response (fear of failure, of the unknown, and of ridicule), and (c) social skills, social intelligence
and social network
ing abilities. Berns' work is mainly interested in successful iconoclasts, not with those who show such innovation in their 'log cabin in the woods' but do not go on to market the idea.
involves the study of "the relationship of neural systems
to decision-making
by using a combination of computational and functional imaging
techniques" and particularly "the role of the basal ganglia
in processing novelty and reward and how this region guides decision-making" and in "risky decision-making."
magazine.
Writing in CNN Money's
Fortune
magazine, John Simons sums up the main thrust of Satisfaction by quoting Berns: "The sense of satisfaction after you've successfully handled unexpected tasks or sought out unfamiliar, physically and emotionally demanding activities is your brain's signal that you're doing what nature designed you to do." Though the reviewer found that Berns can be "somewhat professorial, Satisfaction is no plodding textbook". He noted that "nothing escapes the author's investigative eye" and concluded that "Berns's gumshoe approach to scientific theory offers its own proof that a fresh take on the familiar can be most gratifying".
of failure, of the unknown, and of ridicule. Third, be socially intelligent
: Figure out how to interest people in your ideas and how to sell those ideas to opinion leaders." Sternburg also points out that iconoclasts' brains are wired differently. For example, the amygdala
, situated within the medial temporal lobe
s of the brain, of the iconoclast tends to reduce their emotional reactions and fear response.
Sternberg is of the opinion that Berns gives insufficient credit to the role played by intelligence
; analytical thinking
; and several aspects of creative thinking, particularly conformity
arising from family and cultural background. Sternberg also feels that the author gives undue emphasis to the faculty of sight in the innovative iconoclastic process. The reviewer objects to Berns' contention that "imagination comes from the visual system", pointing out that blind people can be creative (e.g. the author and political activist Helen Keller
) and that other senses may be used creatively (e.g. the composer Mozart).
Overall, however, Sternberg concludes that Iconoclast is "a technically sound and inspiring book". The reviewer writes that Iconoclast "not only analyzes the nature of iconoclasm in fascinating detail, but also serves as a guide for people who feel trapped by conventional
thinking and want to escape. The keys out of their prisons are in this book. It is up to these readers to use them to escape and open new doors."
Iconoclast was reviewed by Alden M. Hayashi in an article entitled Why Picasso Outearned van Gogh in MIT Sloan Management Review
.
Iconoclast featured in a CBC
item by Richard Handler entitled Learning how to see the world differently.
Danielle Graham also interviewed Berns about Iconoclast for Superconsciousness Magazine
.
Neuroeconomics
Neuroeconomics is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to explain human decision making, the ability to process multiple alternatives and to choose an optimal course of action. It studies how economic behavior can shape our understanding of the brain, and how neuroscientific discoveries can...
, neuroscientist
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
, professor of psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
and writer. He lives with his family in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Berns holds the Distinguished Chair of Neuroeconomics in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine, a component of Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center, is ranked among the nation’s institutions for biomedical education and research...
in Atlanta where he is a professor of both psychiatry and economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. He is Director of the Center for Neuropolicy; the author of the books Satisfaction: The Science of Finding True Fulfillment and Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently, and has made numerous media appearances.
Life and career
Gregory Berns is a distinguished neuroeconomistNeuroeconomics
Neuroeconomics is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to explain human decision making, the ability to process multiple alternatives and to choose an optimal course of action. It studies how economic behavior can shape our understanding of the brain, and how neuroscientific discoveries can...
, holding a university professorship in both psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
and economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
.
Berns holds the Distinguished Chair of Neuroeconomics in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine, a component of Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center, is ranked among the nation’s institutions for biomedical education and research...
, Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where he is a professor of both psychiatry and economics. He is Director of the Center for Neuropolicy, and has made numerous media appearances.
Berns has written numerous academic papers and two books. He has appeared on the ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
Primetime
Primetime (TV series)
Primetime is an American news magazine show which debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title Primetime Live.-Early history:...
television series; CNN and PBS and in newspapers including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
Education
In 1986, Berns studied for an A.B. in Physics at Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. In 1990 he went on to study for a Ph.D. in Biomechanical engineering
Biomechanical engineering
Biomechanical Engineering is a bioengineering subdiscipline which applies principles of mechanical engineering to biological systems and stems from the scientific discipline of biomechanics. Many cases are related to Biomedical engineering and Agricultural engineering.- Research Groups:...
, and then for an M.D. Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
in 1994, both at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
.
After graduating, Berns was a Research Assistant / Postdoctoral Fellow at Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a premier independent, non-profit, scientific research institute located in La Jolla, California. It was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine; among the founding consultants were Jacob Bronowski and Francis Crick. Building...
from 1990 to 1994; had a General Psychiatry and Medicine Internship at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is an $9 billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 54,000 employees, 20 hospitals, 4,200 licensed beds, 400 outpatient sites and doctors’ offices, a 1.5 million-member health insurance division, as well as commercial and...
's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic from 1994 to 1995, followed by an Adult Psychiatry Residency there from 1995 to 1998.
Authorship
To date, Berns has written two books. In his first book Satisfaction: the science of finding true fulfillment, published in 2005, Berns challenges the theory that people are drivenDrive theory
The terms drive theory and drive reduction theory refer to a diverse set of motivational theories in psychology. Drive theory is based on the principle that organisms are born with certain physiological needs and that a negative state of tension is created when these needs are not satisfied...
to pursue pleasure and avoid pain (see pleasure principle
Pleasure principle (psychology)
In Freudian psychology, the pleasure principle is the psychoanalytic concept describing people seeking pleasure and avoiding suffering in order to satisfy their biological and psychological needs...
, for example). He argues instead that true satisfaction comes from novel experiences which are undergone in the process of achieving an aim, rather than the achievement itself, and this involves an active striving rather than a "passive feeling of happiness."
Berns' second book Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently continues the theme developed in Satisfaction and the exploration of the neurological
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
bases of human creativity
Creativity
Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
. It describes and investigates iconoclasts
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
: innovative
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
and creative people who break with the established, tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
al way of thinking or of doing things; 'break' cultural icons, and manage to do what others say cannot be done. The work profiles a number of famous 'free-thinkers' such as Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
; Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly is an American glass sculptor and entrepreneur.-Biography:Chihuly graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington. He enrolled at the College of the Puget Sound in 1959...
; the Dixie Chicks
Dixie Chicks
The Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...
; Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
; Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
; Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
; Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
and Picasso.
Berns argues that iconoclasts manage to break through three major 'mental roadblocks' which he enumerates as (a) perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
(often having insights triggered through visual imagery
Mental image
A mental image is an experience that, on most occasions, significantly resembles the experience of perceiving some object, event, or scene, but occurs when the relevant object, event, or scene is not actually present to the senses...
); (b) the human fear
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
response (fear of failure, of the unknown, and of ridicule), and (c) social skills, social intelligence
Social intelligence
Social intelligence describes the exclusively human capacity to use very large brains to effectively navigate and negotiate complex social relationships and environments....
and social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
ing abilities. Berns' work is mainly interested in successful iconoclasts, not with those who show such innovation in their 'log cabin in the woods' but do not go on to market the idea.
Research
According to Berns' academic home page, his work in the field of neuroeconomicsNeuroeconomics
Neuroeconomics is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to explain human decision making, the ability to process multiple alternatives and to choose an optimal course of action. It studies how economic behavior can shape our understanding of the brain, and how neuroscientific discoveries can...
involves the study of "the relationship of neural systems
Neural network
The term neural network was traditionally used to refer to a network or circuit of biological neurons. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial neural networks, which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes...
to decision-making
Decision making
Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.- Overview :Human performance in decision terms...
by using a combination of computational and functional imaging
Neuroimaging
Neuroimaging includes the use of various techniques to either directly or indirectly image the structure, function/pharmacology of the brain...
techniques" and particularly "the role of the basal ganglia
Basal ganglia
The basal ganglia are a group of nuclei of varied origin in the brains of vertebrates that act as a cohesive functional unit. They are situated at the base of the forebrain and are strongly connected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus and other brain areas...
in processing novelty and reward and how this region guides decision-making" and in "risky decision-making."
Satisfaction
Berns' book Satisfaction was reviewed by Jonathan Beard in the December 2005 edition of the Scientific American MindScientific American Mind
Scientific American Mind is a bimonthly American popular science magazine concentrated on psychology, neuroscience, and related fields. By analyzing and revealing new thinking in the cognitive sciences, the magazine tries to focus on the biggest breakthroughs in these fields...
magazine.
Writing in CNN Money's
CNNMoney.com
CNNMoney.com is the world's largest business website. The site is the online home of Fortune and Money, and serves as CNN.com's exclusive business site. The site, edited by Chris Peacock, together with the three titles, is part of the Fortune|Money Group, and attracts more than 10.8 million unique...
Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
magazine, John Simons sums up the main thrust of Satisfaction by quoting Berns: "The sense of satisfaction after you've successfully handled unexpected tasks or sought out unfamiliar, physically and emotionally demanding activities is your brain's signal that you're doing what nature designed you to do." Though the reviewer found that Berns can be "somewhat professorial, Satisfaction is no plodding textbook". He noted that "nothing escapes the author's investigative eye" and concluded that "Berns's gumshoe approach to scientific theory offers its own proof that a fresh take on the familiar can be most gratifying".
Iconoclast
Writing in the Winter 2009 edition of Stanford Social Innovation Review and reviewing Iconoclast, Robert J. Sternberg points to the three major mental roadblocks that people need to overcome if they wish to be iconoclasts. "First, see things differently from other people—see what others do not see. Second, conquer your fearFear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
of failure, of the unknown, and of ridicule. Third, be socially intelligent
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is a skill or ability in the case of the trait EI model, a self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups. Various models and definitions have been proposed of which the ability and trait EI models are the most...
: Figure out how to interest people in your ideas and how to sell those ideas to opinion leaders." Sternburg also points out that iconoclasts' brains are wired differently. For example, the amygdala
Amygdala
The ' are almond-shaped groups of nuclei located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans. Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system.-...
, situated within the medial temporal lobe
Temporal lobe
The temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex that is located beneath the Sylvian fissure on both cerebral hemispheres of the mammalian brain....
s of the brain, of the iconoclast tends to reduce their emotional reactions and fear response.
Sternberg is of the opinion that Berns gives insufficient credit to the role played by intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
; analytical thinking
Critical thinking
Critical thinking is the process or method of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. The origins of critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic...
; and several aspects of creative thinking, particularly conformity
Conformity
Conformity is the process by which an individual's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by other people.Conformity may also refer to:*Conformity: A Tale, a novel by Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna...
arising from family and cultural background. Sternberg also feels that the author gives undue emphasis to the faculty of sight in the innovative iconoclastic process. The reviewer objects to Berns' contention that "imagination comes from the visual system", pointing out that blind people can be creative (e.g. the author and political activist Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
) and that other senses may be used creatively (e.g. the composer Mozart).
Overall, however, Sternberg concludes that Iconoclast is "a technically sound and inspiring book". The reviewer writes that Iconoclast "not only analyzes the nature of iconoclasm in fascinating detail, but also serves as a guide for people who feel trapped by conventional
Convention (norm)
A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom....
thinking and want to escape. The keys out of their prisons are in this book. It is up to these readers to use them to escape and open new doors."
Iconoclast was reviewed by Alden M. Hayashi in an article entitled Why Picasso Outearned van Gogh in MIT Sloan Management Review
MIT Sloan Management Review
MIT Sloan Management Review is a web site and magazine focused on the management of innovation. Published at the MIT Sloan School of Management, MIT Sloan Management Review’s mission is to lead the conversation among thinkers, professors, and managers about the coming sea changes in management...
.
Iconoclast featured in a CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
item by Richard Handler entitled Learning how to see the world differently.
Danielle Graham also interviewed Berns about Iconoclast for Superconsciousness Magazine
SuperConsciousness Magazine
SuperConsciousness Magazine is an independent, quarterly, theme-based magazine devoted to evidence-based human potential, practical spirituality, and an inspired, visionary future. The publication is available in Print or Digital formats and is internationally distributed. SuperConsciousness also...
.
Academic honours and awards
Berns has won numerous academic awards during his career:- Princeton University Department of Physics: Allen G. Shenstone Prize for Outstanding Work in Experimental Physics, 1986
- University of California, Davis: University of California Regents' Fellowship, 1989–90
- American Society of Biomechanics: Postdoctoral Young Scientist Award, 1991
- Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh, PA: Thomas Detre Prize for Outstanding Medical Student Paper in General Psychiatry, 1993
- American Psychiatric Association: APA/Lilly Resident Research Award, 1995–96
- National Institute of Mental Health: NIMH Outstanding Resident Award, 1996
- Society of Biological Psychiatry: SOBP/Lilly Fellowship Award, 1997
- Organon: Excellence in Psychiatry Residency Award, 1998
- Anxiety Disorders Association of America: Senior Travel Award, 1999
- American Psychiatric Association: APA/SmithKline Beecham Young Faculty Award, 1999
- Emory University School of Medicine: Dean's Clinical Investigator Award, 2001–2004
- World Economic Forum: Forum Fellow, 2004, 2009
Research articles
Berns' and the work of his colleagues has been featured in many academic and specialist journals:- Berns MW, Aist J, Edwards J, Strahs K, Girton J, McNeill P, Rattner JB, Kitzes M, Hammer-Wilson M, Liaw L-H, Siemens A, Koonce M, Peterson S, Brenner S, Burt J, Walter R, Bryant PJ, van Dyk D, Coulombe J, Cahill T, Berns GS: Laser microsurgery in cell and developmental biology. ScienceScience MagazineScience Magazine was a half-hour television show produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1975 to 1979.The show was hosted by geneticist David Suzuki, who previously hosted the daytime youth programme Suzuki On Science...
213:505-513, 1981. - Berns GS and Berns MW: Computer-based tracking of living cells. Exp. Cell Res. 142:103-109, 1982.
- Berns MW, Berns GS, Coffey J, Wile AG: Exposure (dose) tables for hematoporphyrin derivative photoradiation therapy. Lasers in Surgery & Med. 4:107-131, 1984.
- Berns GS, Hull ML, Patterson HA: Implementation of a five degree of freedom automated system to determine knee flexibility in vitro. J. Biomech. Eng. 112:392-400, 1990.
- Howell SM, Berns GS, Farley TE: Unimpinged and impinged anterior cruciate ligament grafts: MR signal intensity measurements. Radiology 179:639-643, 1991.
- Berns GS, Hull ML, Patterson HA: Strain in the anteromedial bundle of the anterior cruciate ligament under combination loading. J. Orthop. Res. 10:167-176, 1992.
- Berns GS, Howell SM, Farley TE: The accuracy of signal intensity measurements in magnetic resonance imaging as evaluated within the knee. Magn. Reson. Imag. 10:573-578, 1992.
- Berns GS and Howell SM: Roofplasty requirements in vitro for different tibial hole placements in anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions. Am. J. Sports Med. 21:292-298, 1993.
- Berns GS, Dayan P, Sejnowski TJ: A correlational model for the development of disparity selectivity in visual cortex that depends on prenatal and postnatal phases. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAProceedings of the National Academy of SciencesThe Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences...
90:8277-8281, 1993. PDF. - Hull ML, Berns GS, Varma H, Patterson HA: Strain in the medial collateral ligament of the human knee under single and combined loads. J. Biomech. 29:199-206, 1996.
- Berns GS, Cohen JD, Mintun MA: Brain regions responsive to novelty in the absence of awareness. Science, 276:1272-1275, 1997. PDF
- Berns GS and Sejnowski TJ: A computational model of how the basal ganglia produce sequences. J. Cogn. Neurosci.Journal of Cognitive NeuroscienceThe Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience is a peer-reviewed academic journal for scientific research on cognitive neuroscience and the interaction between brain and behavior...
, 10:108-121, 1998. PDF. - Nemeroff CB, Kilts CD, Berns GS: Functional brain imaging: Twenty-first century phrenology or psychobiological advance for the millennium? Am. J. PsychiatryAmerican Journal of PsychiatryThe American Journal of Psychiatry is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of psychiatry and the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. The first volume was issued in 1844, at which time it was known as the American Journal of Insanity...
156:671-673, 1999. - Berns GS, Song AW, Mao H: Continuous functional magnetic resonance imaging reveals dynamic nonlinearities in "dose-response" curves for finger opposition. J. Neurosci.Journal of NeuroscienceThe Journal of Neuroscience is a weekly scientific journal published by the Society for Neuroscience. The journal publishes peer-reviewed empirical research articles in the field of neuroscience...
19:RC17:1-6, 1999. PDF. - Bischoff-Grethe A, Proper SM, Mao H, Daniels KA, Berns GS: Conscious and unconscious processing of nonverbal predictability in Wernicke's area. J. Neurosci. 20(5):1975-1981, 2000. PDF.
- Berns GS, McClure SM, Pagnoni G, Montague PR: Predictability modulates human brain response to reward. J. Neurosci., 21:2793-2798, 2001. PDF.
- Bischoff-Grethe A, Martin M, Mao H, Berns GS: The context of uncertainty modulates the subcortical response to predictability. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 13:986-993, 2001. PDF.
- Berns GS, Martin M, Proper S: Limbic hyperreactivity in bipolar II disorder. Am. J. Psychiatry, 159:304-306, 2002. PDF.
- Pagnoni G, Zink CF, Montague PR, Berns GS: Activity in human ventral striatum locked to errors of reward prediction. Nat. Neurosci.Nature NeuroscienceNature Neuroscience is a monthly scientific journal published by Nature Publishing Group. Its focus is original research papers relating specifically to neuroscience and was established in May 1998. According to the Journal Citation Reports, Nature Neuroscience has a 2009 impact factor of 14.345,...
, 5:97-98, 2002. PDF. - Dhamala M, Pagnoni G, Wiesenfeld K, Berns GS: Measurements of brain activity complexity for varying mental loads. Phys. Rev. E., 65:041917(7), 2002. PDF.
- Rilling JK, Gutman DA, Zeh TR, Pagnoni G, Berns GS, Kilts CD: A neural basis for social cooperation. NeuronNeuron (journal)Neuron is a neuroscience scientific journal published by Cell Press. It has been in continuous publication since 1988....
, 35:395-405, 2002. PDF. - Montague PR, Berns GS, Cohen JD, McClure SM, Pagnoni G, Dhamala M, Wiest M, Karpov I, King RD, Apple N, Fisher RE: Hyperscanning: Simultaneous fMRI during linked social interactions, NeuroimageNeuroImageNeuroImage is a scientific journal in the neuroimaging field. It publishes neuroscientific as well as methodological papers, often about functional neuroimaging and functional human brain mapping. When Karl J...
16:1159-1164, 2002. PDF. - McClure SM, Berns GS, Montague PR: Temporal prediction errors in a passive learning task activate human striatum. Neuron 38: 339-346, 2003. PDF.
- Dhamala M, Pagnoni G, Wiesenfeld K, Zink CF, Martin M, Berns GS: Neural correlates of the complexity of rhythmic finger tapping. Neuroimage 20:918-926, 2003. PDF.
- Zink CF, Pagnoni G, Martin ME, Dhamala M, Berns GS: Human striatal response to salient non-rewarding stimuli. J. Neurosci. 23:8092-8097, 2003. PDF. Accompanying editorial.
- Zink CF, Pagnoni G, Martin-Skurski ME, Chappelow JC, Berns GS: Human striatal response to monetary reward depends on saliency. Neuron 42:509-517, 2004. PDF.
- Capuron L, Pagnoni G, Demetrashvili M, Woolwine BJ, Nemeroff CB, Berns GS, Miller AH: Anterior cingulate activation and error processing during interferon-alpha treatment. Biol. PsychiatryBiological PsychiatryBiological Psychiatry is an international, peer-reviewed scientific journal of psychiatric neuroscience and therapeutics published by Elsevier and the Society of Biological Psychiatry...
58:190-196, 2005. PDF. - Berns GS, Chappelow JC, Zink CF, Pagnoni G, Martin-Skurski ME, Richards R: Neurobiological correlates of social conformity and independence during mental rotation. Biol. Psychiatry 58:245-253, 2005. PDF.
- Zink CF, Pagnoni G, Chappelow JC, Martin-Skurski ME, Berns GS: Human striatal activation reflects degree of stimulus saliency. Neuroimage 29:977-983, 2006. PDF.
- Berns GS, Chappelow J, Cekic M, Zink CF, Pagnoni G, Martin-Skurski ME: Neurobiologic substrates of dread. Science, 312:754-758, 2006. PDF. Supporting Materials.
- Capuron L, Pagnoni G, Demetrashvili MF, Lawson DH, Fornwalt FB, Woolwine B, Berns GS, Nemeroff CB, Miller AH: Basal ganglia hypermetabolism and symptoms of fatigue during interferon-alpha therapy. NeuropsychopharmacologyNeuropsychopharmacology (journal)Neuropsychopharmacology is a scientific journal published by the Nature Publishing Group. Since 1994, Neuropsychopharmacology has been the official publication of the ....
32:2394-2392 , 2007. - Berns GS, Capra CM, Moore S, Noussair C: A shocking experiment: new evidence on probability weighting and common ratio violations. Judgment & Decision MakingSociety for Judgment and Decision MakingThe Society for Judgment and Decision Making is an interdisciplinary academic organization dedicated to the study of normative, descriptive, and prescriptive theories of decision. Its members include psychologists, economists, organizational researchers, decision analysts, and other decision...
2:234-242, 2007. PDF. - Chandrasekhar PVS, Capra CM, Moore S, Noussair C, Berns GS: Neurobiological regret and rejoice functions for aversive outcomes. Neuroimage 39:1472-1484 (epub Nov 2007). PDF.
- Berns GS, Capra CM, Chappelow J, Moore S, Noussair C: Nonlinear neurobiological probability weighting functions for aversive outcomes. Neuroimage 39:2047-2057, 2008 (epub Nov 2007). PDF.
- Engelmann JB, Capra CM, Noussair C, Berns GS: Expert financial advice neurobiologically "offloads" financial decision-making under risk. PLoS ONEPLoS ONEPLoS ONE is an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science since 2006. It covers primary research from any discipline within science and medicine. All submissions go through an internal and external pre-publication peer review but are not excluded on the...
4:e4957, 2009. Link. PDF. - Berns GS, Moore S, Capra CM: Adolescent engagement in dangerous behaviors is associated with increased white matter maturity of frontal cortex. PLoS One 4(8):e6773, 2009. Link. PDF.
- Berns GS, Capra CM, Moore S, Noussair C: Neural mechanisms of the influence of popularity on adolescent ratings of music. Neuroimage 49:2687-2696, 2010. PDF.
See also
- Behavioural sciencesBehavioural sciencesThe term behavioural sciences encompasses all the disciplines that explore the activities of and interactions among organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behaviour through controlled and naturalistic observation, and disciplined...
- MotivationMotivationMotivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation...
- PleasurePleasurePleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...
- Pleasure principlePleasure principle (psychology)In Freudian psychology, the pleasure principle is the psychoanalytic concept describing people seeking pleasure and avoiding suffering in order to satisfy their biological and psychological needs...