Michael L. Platt of University of Pennsylvania

Brains evolved to solve problems in the wild, not the laboratory. Accordingly, my research program begins with long-term studies of free-ranging rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago and then moves into the laboratory, using wireless electrophysiology, computer vision, and unconstrained social interactions to uncover the neural computations supporting adaptive social behavior. These studies reveal distributed cortical representations that integrate information about self, others, relationships, and context to guide perception, prediction, decision-making, and learning. I then extend these principles beyond individual brains to interacting nervous systems. Recent work demonstrates that trust, cooperation, and effective collective decision-making are accompanied by measurable physiological and neural synchrony, suggesting that successful teams emerge by constructing increasingly accurate shared models of one another and their environment. Finally, I will argue that neuroscience advances not only by applying its insights to the real world, but also by recognizing the real world as a source of discovery. The workplace, the marketplace, and everyday relationships have become natural laboratories for discovering how brains learn, adapt, coordinate, and flourish together. By studying adaptive intelligence in the wild, we not only apply neuroscience to human performance—we uncover new principles of neuroscience itself.

Biography:

Michael Platt, PhD, is a leading neuroscientist whose work examines the biological mechanisms underlying decision-making, social behavior, and human interaction. He is the Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and the Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, James S. Riepe University Professor, Professor of Neuroscience, Professor of Psychology, and Professor of Marketing at the  at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Platt's interdisciplinary research bridges neuroscience, psychology, economics, business, and society. His laboratory studies how the brain supports decision-making and social interaction, with broad implications for improving health, welfare, business, and human performance worldwide. His current work applies insights and technologies from brain science to domains such as branding, marketing, management, finance, innovation, elite performance, and professional sports.

Dr. Platt has authored The Leader’s Brain and has published more than 170 peer-reviewed papers and over 60 review and opinion articles. His research has been supported by major organizations including the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Klingenstein Foundation, the McDonnell Foundation, and the Simons Foundation. He has also received a MERIT Award from the National Institute of Mental Health and was named an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow.

Beyond academia, Dr. Platt is widely recognized for translating neuroscience into real-world impact. He has advised companies, professional sports teams, and other organizations; served on scientific advisory boards; contributed scientific expertise to major motion pictures and media productions; and appeared frequently as a keynote speaker, podcast guest, and radio commentator. His work has been featured in outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Geographic, NPR, BBC, CBC, and ABC’s Good Morning America.

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