Michael Spezio is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Scripps College. Previously he was a postdoctoral scholar in social and affective neuroscience in the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences and at the Brain Imaging Center at the California Institute of Technology. He obtained a doctorate in biochemistry from Cornell University, a doctorate in cognitive/systems neuroscience from the University of Oregon, and a master of divinity degree with a concentration in ethics from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. His work focuses on brain networks involved in the experience of emotions and in social judgment and decision making, combining psychophysics, eyetracking, computational modeling, and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Dr. Spezio is gathering evidence to test a new hypothesis about how the amygdala is involved in understanding the emotions of others. He has investigated social cognition in people who have autism and in people who were born without the major connection between the two hemispheres of the brain. Dr. Spezio is also an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and has published articles on the implications of neuroscience for understanding ethical decision making.
