Human Nature:
A lecture based on Dr. Sapolsky’s dual-focus on neurobiology and primatology, in which he considers the nature of humans from both of these perspectives. What are we to make of human violence, empathy, theory of mind, mental illness, competition, personality, creativity and spirituality? Are we just another primate, on a smooth continuum with all the others, or are we really different in the most fundamental of ways? Are we complex beyond anything in the universe but, nonetheless, still the sum of our neurons, or are we ultimately beyond being defined by that sort of reductionism? (Powerpoint visuals)
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: Stress, Disease and Coping:
A lecture on stress and where stress-related diseases come from. It is based on Dr. Sapolsky's book by the same title. (Powerpoint visuals)
Sushi and Middle Age:
This lecture is based on a New Yorker magazine essay that Dr. Sapolsky wrote a few years ago, examining why we are less interested in novelty as we grow older.
The Biology of Our Individuality: How to Make Sense of Our Behavior in the Context of Brains, Genes and Hormones:
This lecture gives a broad overview of behavioral biology, nature/nurture elements, including a digression into some history of science with some sociopolitical implications. (Powerpoint visual
The Biology of Religious Belief:
This lecture is derived from the final essay in Dr. Sapolsky's book, The Trouble With Testosterone. In this provocative talk, Dr. Sapolsky considers, among other topics, the neurobiological roots of “metamagical” thinking in religion, and of religious ritualism.
The Biology and Psychology of Depression:
In this talk, Dr. Sapolsky considers the latest findings in both fields regarding this devastating, and devastatingly common disorder, showing how it is impossible to understand what this disease is about without appreciating the interactions between biology and psychology. (Powerpoint visuals)
A Bunch of Dead Baboons and No Villains in Sight: Navigating Ethics in Africa:
Dr. Sapolsky has studied a population of wild baboons in East Africa for nearly thirty years. He will talk about his work in the context of how difficult it is to transport Western values and judgments into a world that different, a lesson that came home with a vengeance when a medical disaster befell his animals. (Powerpoint visuals)
Who Gets Sick? Lessons from a troop of baboons:
Dr. Sapolsky has spent close to thirty years studying wild baboons in the Serengeti of East Africa, and this talk summarizes that work in asking: What does personality, social rank and patterns of affiliation have to do with who gets sick in a complex, competitive, hierarchical society? (Powerpoint visuals)
The Biology of Memory:
This lecture focuses on diseases of memory, starting at the level of the whole person down to the molecular level. (Powerpoint visuals)
Dr. Sapolsky also lectures on:
Schizophrenia
Aggression
Alzheimer's Disease
Mad Cow Disease
Successful Brain Aging
