Anjan Chatterjee (born October 22, 1958) is a professor of

neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

at the

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania The Perelman School of Medicine (commonly known as Penn Med) is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private, Ivy League research university located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of M ...

. He is director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics (PCfN) and a member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. His research focuses on

spatial cognition In cognitive psychology, spatial cognition is the acquisition, organization, utilization, and revision of knowledge about spatial environments. It is most about how animals, including humans, behave within space and the knowledge they built aroun ...

and its relationship to language. He also conducts neuroaesthetics research and writes about the ethical use of neuroscience findings in society. He is the past president of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics and the past chair of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology.

Background

Chatterjee obtained his BA in philosophy from

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

in 1980 and his MD from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1985. After his internship at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, he trained in neurology at The

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. He then completed two research fellowships, one at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

with Peter Whitehouse] and a second at The

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

with Kenneth Heilman. He was a member of the neurology faculty at The

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

before returning to the

. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and a founding board member of the

International Neuroethics Society The International Neuroethics Society (INS) is a professional organization that studies the social, legal, ethical, and policy implications of advances in neuroscience. Its mission is to encourage and inspire research and dialogue on the responsible ...

. He is also a board member for Haverford College, the Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired], and Universal Promise (a non-profit educational organization). He is on the editorial boards of: ''The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience'', ''Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology'', ''Behavioural Neurology'', ''European Neurology'', ''Neuropsychology'', ''Empirical Studies of the Arts'', and the ''American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience''.

Research interests

Spatial cognition, event representation and language

Chatterjee combines functional neuroimaging and studies with patients with neurological disease to probe cognitive systems. He has investigated the neural representations of actions, spatial, and causal relations. He is also interested in the relationship of perception and conception and language. Based on his research, he has been skeptical of strong views of embodied cognition.

Neuroaesthetics

Chatterjee has examined the paradoxical facilitation of artistic production. Some individuals' art changes and even improves after brain damage and tries to understand what such phenomena tell us about the nature of artistic practices. More generally, he has been instrumental in articulating the promise and limitations of neuroaesthetics.

Neuroethics

In 2004, Chatterjee coined the term “cosmetic neurology” to describe how advances in clinical neurosciences might be used to enhance the abilities of healthy people and the ethical issues that follow from this practice. He has argued that some form of enhancement is here to stay and that we should be mindful of the shape that these practices take. He has also written about the problems that arise when commercial and health care interests collide.

Selected publications

* A. Chatterjee & M. J. Farah (eds.). (2013). ''Neuroethics in Practice''. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

References

External links

Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics (PCfN) at University of Pennsylvania

ChatLab research group at University of Pennsylvania

Center for Neuroscience & Society at University of Pennsylvania

Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center

Amazon.com link to the book: ''Neuroethics in Practice''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatterjee, Anjan Living people 1958 births American neuroscientists University of Pennsylvania faculty Haverford College alumni Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Indian emigrants to the United States Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania faculty