Joseph LeDoux

Joseph LeDoux

Professor of Science and Director Emotional Brain Institute, NYU

Joseph LeDoux is a professor and a member of the Center for Neural Science and Department of Psychology at NYU. His work is focused on the brain mechanisms of emotion and memory. In addition to articles in scholarly journals, he is author of "The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life" and "Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are." He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the New York Academy of Science, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science, and the recipient of the 2005 Fyssen International Prize in Cognitive Science. LeDoux is also a singer and songwriter in the rock band, The Amygdaloids.

Professor LeDoux is a Big Think Delphi Fellow.

5 min
The neuroscientist recounts some of the breakthroughs that have come out of his world-renowned lab.
3 min
Some rats are naturally more fearful than others. The neuroscientist’s current research focuses on what these outliers can tell us about the psychopathology of fear in humans.
1 min
Animal studies allow neuroscientists to study the brain at the level of individual neurons, unlike human brain-imaging studies.
3 min
The amygdala is responsible for implicit memories, but these are different from what Freud called the unconscious.
6 min
The neuroscientist gives a short primer on the brain’s emotional processor.
3 min
The Amygdaloids’ “Mind over Matter” appears on the band’s newest album, “Theory of my Mind.”