The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies’ Center for Neurotechnology Studies
Cordially Invites You to Attend  a Special Lunchtime Lecture:

Neuroscience Insights Applied to Morals, Values, and Political Ideologies

January 25, 2010
Noon – 1:30 pm

On January 25, the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies will present a guest lecture by Gregory S. Berns, MD/PhD, on how neuroscience can be used as a tool to enhance our understanding of political actions and public policy. Dr. Berns is the Distinguished Chair of Neuroeconomics and Director of the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University, as well as a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine.  Dr. Berns will speak on "The Use and Application of Neuroimaging to Understand Biological Correlates of Ideological Decision Making." Lunch will be provided.
The presentation will explore the hypothesis that when ideological or "sacred" values are involved in motivating behavior, they cause individuals to behave differently than they would if operating in accordance with the values of the marketplace or normal social interactions.  Given the importance of ideological decision making, and its potential for triggering violent conflict, it is important to understand how sacred values become intertwined in decision making.  Recent advances in functional brain imaging make it possible to use this technology to uncover biological signatures in the brain for sacred values and the neural systems that come online when they are violated.  These findings suggest an intriguing possibility: that moral outrage, especially in response to violation of sacred values, is fundamentally a physiological event.
 
The program is sponsored by the Center for Neurotechnology Studies of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, under the direction of James Giordano, PhD.  More information about CNS and Dr. Giordano may be found at www.potomacinstitute.org and www.neurobioethics.org. The event will be held at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, 901 North Stuart Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA, in the M level conference room.