Dr. Robert Chavez is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Oregon, where he directs the Computational Social Neuroscience Lab. https://csnl.uoregon.edu/

In this episode, Rob and I discuss our shared background in cognitive science and statistics, our mutual interests in neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, social cognition, personality, behavioral genetics, artificial intelligence, and philosophy, and the divergence in research. Where my interests turned more developmental, Rob’s turned computational. We discuss Rob’s research using a variety of advanced neuroimaging analysis and machine learning techniques in order to understand individual differences in social cognitive traits, how to interpret diffusion MRI, white matter structure, and connectivity. We also discuss how evolutionary theory and animal research informs our understanding of social cognition, introspection, and consciousness, and speculate about these traits in artificially intelligent systems.

00:00 Exploring Shared Interests and the Essence of the Podcast
04:37 From Childhood Curiosity to Computational Neuroscience
05:54 The Evolutionary Psychology Pathway and Computational Turn
13:08 Grad School Adventures and the Birth of a Neuroscientist
16:16 Diving Deep into Personality Neuroscience
21:22 The Complexities of Brain Structure, Function, and Computational Neuroscience
26:48 Exploring Consciousness and Neuroscience
27:40 The Skepticism Around Theories of Consciousness
29:09 AI and the Mimicry of Consciousness
32:58 Individual Differences and Theory of Mind
33:36 The Complexity of Heritability and Personality Traits
40:03 Neural Processes in Social Cognition
47:20 Implications for Empathy and Behavior
54:50 Innovative Research Directions in Neuroscience and AI