ABC Seminar: Empathy, Brain & Conflict

Welcome to the ABC Seminar! This seminar series is open for everyone. The talk will take place in the Auditorium F239a in Health Technology House (Otakaari 3). After the talk, coffee and pulla will be served.

Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Levy, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Finland & Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC), Israel

Title: Empathy, Brain & Conflict

Abstract: Empathy, the capacity to perceive and understand others, is perhaps one of most important social abilities. However, our tendency to form social identities (e.g., locals versus immigrants) often results in empathy towards our own social group (i.e., "us") but carrying the risk of shutting-down empathy towards other social groups (i.e., "them"). This  "us" versus "them" mindset can generate inter-group tensions, and under certain conditions, may result in violent conflicts.

In this talk I will discuss the intersection between empathy, brain and conflict. I will present findings from longitudinal and cross-sectional neuroimaging studies, conducted within the ecologically-valid conflict settings of the Israeli-Palestinian societies. Finally, I will present empirical results highlighting empathy-building approaches.