Katalin Gothard

Dr. Katalin Gothard is a professor in the Departments of Physiology and Neuroscience. Her research focuses on uncovering the neural basis of emotion and social behavior, using rhesus monkeys as a model due to their shared social behaviors and hierarchical societal structures with humans. Dr. Gothard's work emphasizes brain activity during natural or semi-natural behaviors, such as monitoring neural responses in the amygdala and somatosensory cortex during social grooming and non-social tactile interactions. By simultaneously tracking neural activity and autonomic responses, her research reveals real-time interactions between brain regions involved in social perception, decision-making, and the regulation of social behavior.