Antonio and Hanna Damasio – who pioneered studies of the human brain and cognition – will join the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences this fall as professors of psychology and neuroscience.

The team will lead the newly created Institute for the Study of the Brain and Creativity, where it will explore the mysteries of the mind.

The Damasios have pioneered studies of the human brain and cognition, most recently at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. Both are internationally recognized for their leading roles in brain studies.

Antonio Damasio has been a leader in cognitive neuroscience; Hanna in the imaging of the human brain. Both are members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Antonio is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

They join USC as part of the college’s Senior Faculty Hiring Initiative, a drive to bring 100 senior level scholars to USC. Just two years after announcing the initiative, the college has recruited 56 senior scholars – many with interdisciplinary expertise – from leading universities around the world

Directed by Antonio Damasio, the interdisciplinary Institute for the Study of the Brain and Creativity will examine how knowledge from modern neurobiology can contribute to the elucidation of the creative process and how such knowledge can assist individuals and institutions in the betterment of human affairs.

“USC College has the sort of vibrant academic environment where one can dream of brain science and the humanities coming together to produce a better future,” Antonio Damasio said.

The institute will approach three themes from a neurobiological perspective.

By looking at the broad theme of governance, the team will examine how social emotions contribute to the understanding of economic, business and political institutions, including their ethical dimensions in the age of globalization.

The theme of artistic and scientific creativity will analyze the creative process that goes into the production of a film, music, literature, the visual arts and architecture.

By approaching this area from a neuroscience standpoint, the Damasios may look at why some people are more creative in these areas than others.

The pair also will investigate how neuroscience can be applied to improve the way classroom curriculum is designed. By studying the learning process from a neurobiological perspective, they may glean new insights that teachers can then adapt to their educational technique and curriculum.

“Creativity is not just about the creation of an art object, or a piece of music, or a film, or the creation of a scientific project, but also about the creation of social relations and of cultural institutions,” Antonio Damasio said.

“People rarely associate these latter areas with creativity, but anytime we produce something new, be it an architectural drawing, classroom curriculum or a new approach to a business problem, the creative process is at work. The possibilities for exploration are practically limitless.”

“The Damasios’ vision, scientific leadership and breadth of knowledge in modern neurobiology will allow us to ask and answer new questions about the human mind and behavior,” said Joseph Aoun, dean of the college.

“They will be vital catalysts in our quest to unlock the mysteries of the mind and to better understand higher brain functions, including creativity, learning, memory, consciousness and language.

“Because the study of the mind and human behavior does not fall within the domain of a single discipline, scholars from across the USC campus, from neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience and the schools of cinema, education and communication, will be actively involved in this cutting-edge area of research that has important societal implications,” Aoun said.

“This highly interdisciplinary approach to brain science will no doubt lead to extraordinary discoveries,” he said.

Antonio Damasio is currently the Van Allen Distinguished Professor and head of the department of neurology at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. Hanna Damasio is currently a Distinguished Professor of Neurology and director of the Laboratory for Human Neuroanatomy and Neuroimaging at the University of Iowa Medical School.

Antonio Damasio occupies an extraordinary position in the world of neuroscience. His research on the neurobiology of the mind has had a major influence on current understanding of the neural systems that underlie emotion, memory, language, decision-making and consciousness.

He is an internationally distinguished physician and scientist, author of many papers in prestigious scholarly journals and a skilled science communicator who has published three best-selling books on mind and brain: “Descartes' Error,” “The Feeling of What Happens” and “Looking for Spinoza.”

Antonio Damasio’s work has shown that emotions play a central role in human decision-making, and has led to a broader integration of emotions into the mainstream explanatory schema of cognitive neuroscience.

He is also a gifted clinician and for decades has cared for patients with brain damage. Through basic research, medical case studies and philosophical analysis, he has investigated the biological roots of consciousness and helped to reveal its role in survival.

His work spans many fields and includes studies of Alzheimer’s and other human diseases. Besides membership in national academies, he is a member of the Neurosciences Research Program and the European Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Hanna Damasio is also a neurologist and neuroscientist who is acclaimed for her contributions to neuroimaging and neuroanatomy.

She has pioneered the use of brain-imaging methods in the study of brain lesions, and developed a number of new imaging techniques. She is the author of “Human Brain Anatomy in Computerized Images,” the first atlas of the human brain based on computerized images, and of “Lesion Analysis in Neuropsychology,” which is widely used in brain imaging work.

Hanna Damasio is the author of numerous papers on the neuroanatomical substrates of higher brain function and of two books. She is a fellow of the American Neurological Association and holds honorary doctorates from the University of Lisbon and the University of Aachen.

The second edition of her atlas will be published early in 2005.

The core of the USC institute is a neuroscience laboratory focused on mind and behavior. Hanna Damasio will direct the laboratory and work closely with the USC Dana and David Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging Center, which she will co-direct.

“The new brain imaging methods offer unprecedented possibilities for the study of human nature,” she said. “But for those studies to succeed, neuroscience must form partnerships with, for example, the social sciences, engineering and psychology. The structure and faculty of USC are ideal for such collaborations.”

The Damasios are graduates of the University of Lisbon Medical School and adjunct professors at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif.