User:Niki Grapes/Alan Jasanoff

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Alan P. Jasanoff is an American neuroscientist who serves as the Director of MIT's (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) center for Neurobiological Engineering. Joining the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT in 2004, his work revolves around MRI(Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

= Early Life = Born in 1970, Alan was raised in Ithaca, New York. His father Jay H. Jasanoff during this was a professor serving in Havard. His mother Shelia Jasanoff is an well established Pforzheimer professor who has earned several awards and honors for her work and is both the founder and director of the Program on Science, Technology and Society. Not long after Jay followed in his parents footsteps. After receiving his Bachelor's in Biochemical Sciences, he went on to complete his masters in Chemistry at University of Cambridge. Finally, Jasanoff returned to Harvard University to obtain his PhD in Biophysics. In 2004 Jay Jasanoff joined the department of Biological Engineering at MIT.

= Career = Alan Jasanoff's work as a neuroscientist focuses on developing new experimental tools for studying the brain, working with MRI and one of the leaders of FMRI(Functional Magnetic Resonance) research to look into the brains of people and animals. To look into more efficient ways to receive better imaging into the subjects Jasanoff and his team focuses effort into creating chemicals to better translate aspects of the neural function. Jasanoff, working on them for over ten years has stated the technical difficulties before him and his team in the search for more comprehensive images of brain function.

= The Biological Mind = Jasanoff’s book The Biological Mind discusses how the brain, body and environment develops an individual, bringing up the dilemma between nature and nurture. Lesser known facts such as the role of chemicals within the brain and how it functions. Going over what Jasanoff refers to as the cerebral mystique, the belief the brain is unique among other organs. Such as dualism, the idea of a separate existence between mind and body. Another being the belief the brain is a separate entity which controls our actions. Jasanoff rebuts these by explaining the physical interactions between the brain and the environment surrounding it. Meaning our actions, environment, and the chemicals within the brain creating electrical signals similar to the rest of the human body.