Rebecca Saxe
Encyclopedia
Rebecca Saxe is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) at MIT
. Her research is on the neural basis of social cognition, and in particular she is known for proposing the role of the right temporoparietal junction
in thinking about people's mental states.
Saxe received her BA in psychology and philosophy from Oxford University
in 2000, and her PhD in cognitive science from MIT in 2003. She currently holds the Fred and Carole Middleton Career Development Professorship at MIT.
Saxe has authored 50 peer-reviewed papers on the cognitive neuroscience of social cognition, Theory of Mind, and moral judgement, including 5 papers that have each been cited over 150 times. Her awards include being named a Junior Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows (2003), a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (2006), one of Popular Science Magazine’s “Brilliant 10” scientists under 40 (2008), the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award (2008), the American Psychological Association Robert L. Fantz Award for Young Psychologists (2009), the Society for Experimental Psychology Young Investigator Award (2010), and the MIT Doc Edgerton Junior Faculty Achievement award (2011). Her study using transcranial magnetic stimulation to manipulate moral judgment was named one of Discovery Magazine’s 100 top stories of 2010; her TED talk describing her research has been viewed over 700,000 times and has been translated into 29 languages.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. Her research is on the neural basis of social cognition, and in particular she is known for proposing the role of the right temporoparietal junction
Temporoparietal junction
The temporoparietal junction is an area of the brain where the temporal and parietal lobes meet, at the posterior end of the Sylvian fissure...
in thinking about people's mental states.
Saxe received her BA in psychology and philosophy from Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
in 2000, and her PhD in cognitive science from MIT in 2003. She currently holds the Fred and Carole Middleton Career Development Professorship at MIT.
Saxe has authored 50 peer-reviewed papers on the cognitive neuroscience of social cognition, Theory of Mind, and moral judgement, including 5 papers that have each been cited over 150 times. Her awards include being named a Junior Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows (2003), a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (2006), one of Popular Science Magazine’s “Brilliant 10” scientists under 40 (2008), the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award (2008), the American Psychological Association Robert L. Fantz Award for Young Psychologists (2009), the Society for Experimental Psychology Young Investigator Award (2010), and the MIT Doc Edgerton Junior Faculty Achievement award (2011). Her study using transcranial magnetic stimulation to manipulate moral judgment was named one of Discovery Magazine’s 100 top stories of 2010; her TED talk describing her research has been viewed over 700,000 times and has been translated into 29 languages.