Mind Reading
How do we think about the thoughts of other people? How are some thoughts universal and others specific to a culture or an individual?
Rebecca Saxe is tackling these and other thorny questions surrounding human thought in adults, children, and infants. Leveraging behavioral testing, brain imaging, and computational modeling, her lab is focusing on a diverse set of research questions including what people learn from punishment, the role of generosity in social relationships, and the navigation and language abilities in toddlers. The team is also using computational models to deconstruct complex thought processes, such as how humans predict the emotions of others. This research not only expands the junction of sociology and neuroscience, but also unravels—and gives clarity to—the social threads that form the fabric of society.
Biography
Rebecca Saxe is the John W. Jarve (1978) Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and the Associate Dean of Science at MIT. She is an associate investigator at the McGovern Institute, where she studies the development and neural basis of human cognition, focusing on social cognition. Saxe obtained her PhD from MIT and was a Harvard Junior Fellow before joining the MIT faculty in 2006. She has received the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences, a Guggenheim fellowship, the MIT Committed to Caring Award for graduate mentorship and is a member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Honors and Awards
Honors
- Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Awards
- 2020 – Guggenheim Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
- 2018 – Committed to Caring Award, MIT
- 2018 – Fellow, American Psychological Association
- 2017 – Excellence in Graduate Mentoring, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
- 2017 – Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
- 2015 – Arthur C. Smith Award for dedication to student life and learning, MIT
- 2014 – Troland Award, National Academy of Sciences
- 2012 – Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum
- 2011 – Doc Edgerton Junior Faculty Achievement Award, MIT
- 2009 – Robert L. Fantz Award for Young Psychologists, American Psychological Association
- 2008 – Young Investigator Award, Cognitive Neuroscience Society
- 2008 – “Brilliant 10” Scientists Under 40, Popular Science
Virtual Tour of Saxe Lab
