Antonio Damasio

University Professor
David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience
Director, Brain and Creativity Institute

Research Topics
The neurobiology of mind and behavior, with an emphasis on emotion, decision-making,
memory, communication, and creativity.
Research Images

Research Overview
Antonio Damasio is University Professor, David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience,
and Director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern
California; he is also an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.
Damasio has made seminal contributions to the understanding of brain processes
underlying, emotions, feelings, decision-making and consciousness. He is the author
of numerous scientific articles (his Web of Knowledge H Index is 83; over 32,000
citations) and his research has received continuous Federal funding for 30 years. He
is the recipient of many awards (including the Grawemeyer Award, 2014; the Honda
Prize, 2010; the Asturias Prize in Science and Technology, 2005; and the Signoret
Prize, 2004, which he shared with his wife Hanna Damasio). Damasio is a member of
the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, and the
European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He has been named Highly Cited
Researcher by the Institute for Scientific Information, and also holds Honorary
Doctorates from several Universities.
He has described his discoveries in several books (Descartes Error, The Feeling of
What Happens, Looking for Spinoza. and Self Comes to Mind) translated and taught
in universities worldwide.
(For more information go to the Brain and Creativity Institute website at
http://www.usc.edu/bci/ and the Dornsife Imaging Center website at
http://brainimaging.usc.edu )
Contact Information
Email

damasio@usc.edu
Mailing Address
3420A McClintock Avenue Suite 265
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2921
Office Location: DNI 265
Office Phone: (213) 740-3462
Lab Location: DNI 265
Lab Phone: (213) 821-2377
Fax: (213) 821-3099
Web Sites
Brain and Creativity Institute
Dana and David Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging Center
Education

MD University of Lisbon Medical School, 01/1969

Ph.D. University of Lisbon, 01/1974

Selected Publications
View a complete PubMed search
View a complete Google Scholar search
Araujo HF, Kaplan J, Damasio A. Cortical Midline Structures and
Autobiographical-Self Processes: An Activation-Likelihood Estimation MetaAnalysis.Front Hum Neurosci. 2013 Sep 4;7:548. eCollection 2013. Review. -PubMed
Man K, Kaplan J, Damasio H, Damasio A., Neural convergence and
divergence in the mammalian cerebral cortex: from experimental neuroanatomy to
functional neuroimaging., J Comp Neurol. 2013 Dec 15;521(18):4097-111. doi:
10.1002/cne.23408. -PubMed
Damasio A, Carvalho GB.The nature of feelings: evolutionary and
neurobiological origins.Nat Rev Neurosci. 2013 Feb;14(2):143-52. doi:
10.1038/nrn3403. Review. -PubMed
Man K, Kaplan JT, Damasio A, Meyer K., Sight and sound converge to form
modality-invariant representations in temporoparietal cortex., J Neurosci. 2012 Nov
21;32(47):16629-36. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2342-12.2012. -PubMed
Philippi CL, Feinstein JS, Khalsa SS, Damasio A, Tranel D, Landini
G, Williford K, Rudrauf D., Preserved self-awareness following extensive
bilateral brain damage to the insula, anterior cingulate, and medial prefrontal
cortices., PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e38413. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038413. Epub
2012 Aug 22. -PubMed
Damasio A, Damasio H, Tranel D., Persistence of feelings and sentience after
bilateral damage of the insula., Cereb Cortex. 2013 Apr;23(4):833-46. doi:
10.1093/cercor/bhs077. Epub 2012 Apr 3. -PubMed
Meyer K, Kaplan JT, Essex R, Damasio H, Damasio A., Seeing touch is
correlated with content-specific activity in primary somatosensory cortex., Cereb
Cortex. 2011 Sep;21(9):2113-21. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhq289. Epub 2011 Feb 17.
-PubMed
Meyer K, Damasio A. (2009) Convergence and divergence in a neural
architecture for recognition and memory. Trends in Neuroscience. Jul;32(7):37682. -PubMed

Immordino-Yang MH, McColl A, Damasio H, Damasio A.

(2009) Neural correlates of admiration and compassion. Proc Natl Acad
Sci. 106(19):8021-6. -PubMed
Damasio A, Meyer K. (2008) Behind the looking-glass. Nature.
454(7201):167-8. -PubMed