Abigail Marsh

Dr. Abigail Marsh is an esteemed professor at Georgetown University's Department of Psychology and the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program and also serves as the director of the Laboratory on Social and Affective Neuroscience. Beyond her work at Georgetown University, Marsh's research on empathy, altruism, and related topics has garnered significant attention. This work, primarily conducted in studies of adolescents and adults, integrates neuroimaging, cognitive and behavioral testing, and pharmacology techniques to explore complex emotional processes.

Marsh's research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation, delves into the role of the amygdala in processing emotions and fear. She has made remarkable findings in the field, notably that altruists have larger amygdalae, while psychopaths have smaller ones. Marsh has also carried out extensive research on the neural workings of children and adults with psychopathic traits and the causes of behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Further studies led by Marsh have explored altruism in kidney and stem cell donors, and her research has even uncovered that Americans are notably successful at distinguishing other Americans from Australians based on visual cues.

Marsh has been recognized for her contributions to the field of neuroscience and psychology, winning the Cozzarelli Prize for her research on altruism. Her book, "The Fear Factor," received the Book Prize for the Promotion of Social and Personality Science. In addition to her academic achievements, Marsh has shared her insights through articles for renowned publications such as Slate, Psychology Today, Business Insider, The Guardian, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and others. Her expertise has been sought out globally, as demonstrated by her TED talk in Banff, Canada, in September 2016.