Education and Career

He finished his school education at the European School, Munich

European School, Munich

The European School Munich is one of 14 European Schools and was established in 1977. There are currently 1457 students enrolled at the school...

 and studied psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

 and biology

Biology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

 at the University of Konstanz

University of Konstanz

The University of Konstanz is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was founded in 1966, and the main campus on the Gießberg was opened in 1972. As one of nine German Excellence Universities today University of Konstanz is counted among Germany's most prestigious...

, the Ruhr University Bochum, University of Massachusetts

University of Massachusetts

This article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...

 at Boston, the Shepens eye research Institute of the Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

 as well as with Marvin Minsky

Marvin Minsky

Marvin Lee Minsky is an American cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence , co-founder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts on AI and philosophy.-Biography:...

 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

. He then started his research career at the University of St Andrews

University of St Andrews

The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...

 by investigating cells in the Temporal cortex with David Perrett

David Perrett

David Perrett is a professor of psychology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where he leads the Perception Lab. The main focus in his team's research is on face perception, including facial cues to health, effects of physiological conditions on facial appearance, and facial preferences...

, and described cells that respond when the monkey views particular faces in a way that correlates with conscious perception. After that, he moved to the University of Parma

University of Parma

The University of Parma is one of the oldest universities in the world, founded in the 11th century. It is organised in twelve faculties. The University of Parma has currently about 30,000 students.-History:...

 where he was part of the team that discovered auditory mirror neurons in the frontal of the macaque monkey. He then expanded the notion of mirror neurons to emotions and sensations, by showing that your somatosensory cortex is active not only when you are being touched, but also if you see someone else being touched, and that your insular cortex

Insular cortex

In each hemisphere of the mammalian brain the insular cortex is a portion of the cerebral cortex folded deep within the lateral sulcus between the temporal lobe and the frontal lobe. The cortical area overlying it towards the lateral surface of the brain is the operculum...

 is active not only if you feel disgusted, but also if you see someone else being disgusted. Most recently, he has looked at the neural basis of abnormal empathy in schizophrenia, autism and psychopathy. Currently, Keysers is a full Professor for the Social Brain at the medical faculty of the University of Groningen

University of Groningen

The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...

 and University Medical Center Groningen

University Medical Center Groningen

The University Medical Center Groningen, or UMCG , formerly Groningen University Hospital, is the main hospital of the city of Groningen....

 and the Head of the Social Brain Lab of the prestigious Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences is an organisation dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands...

 leads the Social brain lab.

He has recently published a book called 'The Empathic Brain' which explains his research to a wider public.

He is married to Neuroscientist

Neuroscientist

A neuroscientist is an individual who studies the scientific field of neuroscience or any of its related sub-fields...

 Valeria Gazzola and a long standing friend of the German writer Bas Kast

Bas Kast

Bas Kast is a German writer. He studied psychology and biology at the University of Konstanz and with Marvin Minsky at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kast was a fellow of the prestigious Studienstiftung. After completing his studies, he refused a PhD position to devote himself to writing...

.

Current Research Focus

While we watch a movie, we share the experiences of the actors we observe: our heart for instance starts beating faster while we see an actor slip from the roof of a tall building. Why? Specific brain areas are involved when we perform certain actions or have certain emotions or sensations. Interestingly, some of these areas are also recruited when we simply observe someone else performing similar actions, having similar sensations or having similar emotions. These areas called 'shared circuits' transform what we see into what we would have done or felt in the same situation. With such brain areas, understanding other people is not an effort of explicit thought but becomes an intuitive sharing of their emotions, sensations and actions. Through the investigation of shared circuits, he attempts to understand the neural basis of empathy and its dysfunctions in autism, schizophrenia and sociopathy.

Awards and Grants

Christian Keysers has received the prestigious Marie Curie Excellence Grant http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp6/index_en.cfm?p=10_curie of the European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

 and a VIDI Grant of the Dutch National Science Foundation http://www.nwo.nl/subsidiewijzer.nsf/pages/NWOP_5VTGQW_Eng. He also received the highly competitive Marie Curie Excellence Award and the Research Prize of the University Medical Center Groningen

University Medical Center Groningen

The University Medical Center Groningen, or UMCG , formerly Groningen University Hospital, is the main hospital of the city of Groningen....

. As a student he was a member of the Studienstiftung

Studienstiftung

The German National Academic Foundation is Germany's largest organisation sponsoring students of outstanding academic achievements.It is non-political and non-denominational....

, Germany's most prestigious foundation for the promotion of excellence in study.

External links

• Website of the social brain lab at the NIN http://www.nin.knaw.nl/research_groups/keysers_group
• Website of the social brain lab at the UMCG http://www.bcn-nic.nl/socialbrain.html