Hanna Damásio
Encyclopedia
Hanna Damasio is Dana Dornsife Chair in Neuroscience
and Professor
of Psychology
and Neurology
at the University of Southern California
where she directs the Dornsife Neuroimaging Center. She is also an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California
. Until 2005, she was a Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the University of Iowa
College of Medicine, where she directed the Human Neuroanatomy
and Neuroimaging
Laboratory. Using computerized tomography and magnetic resonance scanning
, she developed methods of investigating human brain
structure and studied functions such as language
, memory
, and emotion
, using both the lesion
method and functional neuroimaging
. This work resulted in numerous scientific articles which appeared in leading journals. In 1989, she published "Lesion Analysis in Neuropsychology" (Oxford University Press
), a classic textbook for which she received the Prize for Outstanding Book of the Year in Bio and Medical Sciences from the Association of American Publishers
. Her continued interest in human neuroanatomy led her to develop the first atlas of the human brain based on computer tomography images: "Human Brain Anatomy in Computerized Images", also published by Oxford University Press
. The book is a recognized reference now in its second edition.
Damasio received an M.D.
from the University of Lisbon Medical School
in 1969, where she also trained in Neurology
. She began her studies in cognitive neuroscience
with Norman Geschwind
at the Aphasia Research Center, in Boston.
She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
and of the American Neurological Association
. In 2004, she shared the Signoret Prize in cognitive neuroscience
for pioneering work in social cognition
. In 2010 she was a co-recipient of the Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences
, attributed to the best article in behavioral neuroscience
published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
in 2009. She holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Lisbon and Aachen. She is married to Antonio Damasio
, an internationally-renowned neurologist
and expert in the relationship between emotion and cognition, with whom she co-directs the Brain and Creativity Institute
at US
In the spare time she does not have, she is a sculptor.
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,...
and Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and Neurology
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,...
at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
where she directs the Dornsife Neuroimaging Center. She is also an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Until 2005, she was a Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
College of Medicine, where she directed the Human Neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy is the study of the anatomy and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defined nervous systems, and thus we can begin to speak of...
and Neuroimaging
Neuroimaging
Neuroimaging includes the use of various techniques to either directly or indirectly image the structure, function/pharmacology of the brain...
Laboratory. Using computerized tomography and magnetic resonance scanning
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
, she developed methods of investigating human brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
structure and studied functions such as language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
, and emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
, using both the lesion
Lesion
A lesion is any abnormality in the tissue of an organism , usually caused by disease or trauma. Lesion is derived from the Latin word laesio which means injury.- Types :...
method and functional neuroimaging
Functional neuroimaging
Functional neuroimaging is the use of neuroimaging technology to measure an aspect of brain function, often with a view to understanding the relationship between activity in certain brain areas and specific mental functions...
. This work resulted in numerous scientific articles which appeared in leading journals. In 1989, she published "Lesion Analysis in Neuropsychology" (Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
), a classic textbook for which she received the Prize for Outstanding Book of the Year in Bio and Medical Sciences from the Association of American Publishers
Association of American Publishers
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP has more than 300 members, including most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly...
. Her continued interest in human neuroanatomy led her to develop the first atlas of the human brain based on computer tomography images: "Human Brain Anatomy in Computerized Images", also published by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
. The book is a recognized reference now in its second edition.
Damasio received an M.D.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
from the University of Lisbon Medical School
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
in 1969, where she also trained in Neurology
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,...
. She began her studies in cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates of mental processes. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by the brain...
with Norman Geschwind
Norman Geschwind
Norman Geschwind pioneered behavioral neurology in America. He is best known for his exploration of behavioral neurology through disconnection models based on lesion analysis.- Early life :...
at the Aphasia Research Center, in Boston.
She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
and of the American Neurological Association
American Neurological Association
The American Neurological Association, is a professional society with a mission of educating neurologists and physicians as well as increasing knowledge and enhancing treatment of diseases of the nervous system. It was founded in June 1875.-Officers:...
. In 2004, she shared the Signoret Prize in cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates of mental processes. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by the brain...
for pioneering work in social cognition
Social cognition
Social cognition is the encoding, storage, retrieval, and processing, in the brain, of information relating to conspecifics, or members of the same species. At one time social cognition referred specifically to an approach to social psychology in which these processes were studied according to the...
. In 2010 she was a co-recipient of the Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, attributed to the best article in behavioral neuroscience
Behavioral neuroscience
Behavioral neuroscience, also known as biological psychology, biopsychology, or psychobiology is the application of the principles of biology , to the study of physiological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in human and non-human animals...
published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
The 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...
in 2009. She holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Lisbon and Aachen. She is married to Antonio Damasio
Antonio Damasio
Antonio Damasio is David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Southern California, where he heads USC's Brain and Creativity Institute and Adjunct Professor at the Salk Institute. Prior to taking up his posts at USC, in 2005, Damasio was M.W...
, an internationally-renowned neurologist
Neurologist
A neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
and expert in the relationship between emotion and cognition, with whom she co-directs the Brain and Creativity Institute
Brain and Creativity Institute
Headed by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, the Brain and Creativity Institute is a research unit of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California, which aims to "gather new knowledge about the human emotions, decision-making, memory, and communication, from a...
at US
In the spare time she does not have, she is a sculptor.
Selected Books and Articles
- Damasio H: Human Brain Anatomy in Computerized Images, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, New York, 2005.
- Immordino-Yang MH, McColl A, Damasio H, Damasio A. Neural correlates of admiration and compassion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 106, no. 19: 8021 – 8026, 2009.
- Bechara, A, Tranel, D, and Damasio, H. Characterization of the decision-making deficit of patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions. Brain, 132: p. 1289, 2000. 2009.
- Allen JS, Bruss, J, Mehta S, Grabowski T, Damasio H. Effects of spatial transformation on regional brain volume estimates. Neuroimage, 42: 535 – 547, 2008.
- Naqvi N, Rudrauf D, Damasio H, Bechara A: Damage to the insula disrupts addiction to cigarette smoking. Science, Vol 315: 531 – 534, 2007.
- Fiez JA, Tranel D, Seager-Frerichs D, Damasio H: Specific reading and phonological processing deficits are associated with damage to the left frontal operculum. Cortex, 4: 1 – 20, 2006.
- Allen JS, Bruss J, Brown CK, Damasio H: Normal neuroanatomical variation due to age: The major lobes and parcellation of the temporal region. Neurobiology of Aging, 26: 1245 – 1260, 2005.
- Tranel D, Damasio H, Denburg N, Bechara A: Does gender play a role in functional asymmetry of ventromedial prefrontal cortex? Brain, 128: 2872 – 2881, 2005.
- Tranel D, Grabowski TJ, Lyon J, Damasio H: Naming the same entities from visual or from auditory stimulation engages similar regions of left inferotemporal cortices. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17(8): 1293 – 305, 2005.
- Damasio H, Tranel D, Grabowski TJ, Adolphs R, Damasio AR: Neural systems behind word and concept retrieval. Cognition, 92: 179 – 229, 2004.
- Semendeferi K, Lu A, Schenker N, Damasio H: Humans and great apes share a large frontal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 5: 272 – 276, 2002.
- Semendeferi K, Damasio H. The brain and its main anatomical subdivisions in living hominoids using magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Human Evolution, 38: 317 – 332, 2000.
- Anderson SW, Bechara A, Damasio H, Tranel D, Damasio AR. Impairment of social and moral behavior related to early damage in human prefrontal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 2: 1032 – 1037, 1999.
- Bechara A, Damasio H, Tranel D, Damasio AR. Deciding advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy. Science, 275: 1293 – 1294, 1997.
- Damasio H, Grabowski TJ, Tranel D, Hichwa R, Damasio AR: A neural basis for lexical retrieval. Nature, 380: 499 – 505, 1996.
- Damasio H, Grabowski, T, Frank R, Galaburda AM, Damasio AR. The return of Phineas Gage: Clues about the brain from the skull of a famous patient. Science, 264: 1102 – 1105, 1994.
- Damasio H, Frank R. Three-dimensional in vivo mapping of brain lesions in humans. Archives of Neurology, 49: 137 – 143, 1992.
- Damasio AR, Damasio H. Brain and Language. Scientific American, 267: 89 – 95, 1992.