Vision

The SINC Laboratory is located at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York, NY). We are part of the Department of Psychiatry and the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience.

Our research program has two primary goals. The first is to achieve a mechanistic understanding of the factors that improve or impair the well-being of the self and others across multiple levels of analysis (e.g., neurobiological, cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, societal). The second is to translate this understanding for direct application in medicine and policy.

We use a combination of methods—including computational modeling, functional neuroimaging, and intracranial recordings—to investigate the neural, cognitive, and computational processes underlying human social connection and interaction.

Primary Research Questions

What neural and computational processes underlie individual differences in social perception, learning, and decision-making?

What drives variability and alignment in shared emotional experiences? How do we represent and understand others’ internal states (i.e., their emotions, beliefs, goals)?

How do prosocial and antisocial behaviors impact interpersonal relationships?

How does loneliness impact these processes and affect mental health?

Under what conditions do external social factors (e.g., context, community, broader societal structures) impact individuals’ internal states, including their subjective well-being?

Ongoing Projects

Values

We are deeply committed to advancing inclusive, collaborative science through mentorship, training, teaching, and resource sharing. We do so by fostering a welcoming and supportive environment and respecting contributions from all individuals, regardless of race, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, religion, or cultural background. We also reflect critically on how our work informs mental health, keeping in mind the needs of those our research seeks to benefit. We prioritize equitable representation in the populations we study and the scientists we reference, ensuring inclusivity in both practice and scholarship. We also seek to build meaningful, reciprocal relationships with community partners in the regions where we conduct research, ensuring our work aligns with and supports local priorities and needs when possible. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for harassment or discrimination of any kind. We promote open science practices whenever possible, including ensuring that our research is rigorous and reproducible and findings are accessible to the public. We will champion sharing resources, including code and software when feasible, especially in supporting the growth of trainees and early career scientists.