(PHILADELPHIA) - The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia will host “The Vulcanization of the Human Mind: Neuroimaging, Decision-Making, and Ethics,” a panel discussion exploring how humans make complex decisions involving risk, reward, danger and right and wrong. The panelists will discuss the evolutionary origin of emotional responses, the ways in which they have been rendered maladaptive under some circumstances by the continued evolution of the human brain and its influence on social structure and technology, and how these developments might explain the apparent “irrationality” of human decision-making behavior.

For additional information, contact Sarah Lichter at (215) 746-7248 or Kate Olderman at (215) 349-8369.

This event is open to the public.

Refreshments will be served.

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PENN Medicine is a $2.9 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Penn's School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt of NIH research funds; and ranked #3 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.