Nature & Nurture #50: Dr. Abigail Marsh - The Neuroscience of Empathy & Altruism

Dr. Abigail Marsh is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Georgetown University, where she directs the Laboratory on Social and Affective Neuroscience. She is also the author of The Fear Factor: How One Emotion Connects Altruists, Psychopaths, and Everyone In-Between.

In this episode, we discuss Abby's background in social psychology, and a life-changing experience of hers that motivated inquiry into the nature of costly altruism. In a wide-ranging conversation we discuss the neural correlates of empathy (or lack thereof) in psychopaths and altruistic kidney donors, animal research on care and evolutionary theories of empathy, the role of oxytocin in governing care, how social media hijacks our systems of reward and fear, and how mindfulness and in-person interactions may improve trust and well-being.