Health Equity, Public Policy, and Global Challenges

News & Research

Hurricane Maria Changed ‘Rules or the Game’ in Monkey Society

In a new study published in Science, Michael Platt, Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor and Faculty Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative, shows how Hurricane Maria reshaped social behavior among rhesus macaques on Puerto Rico’s Cayo Santiago. Alongside collaborators Professor Lauren Brent, University of Exeter, and Camille Testard, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Pennsylvania, Platt found that in ...Read More

To Protect Children Online, Researchers Call for Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

A recent perspective in Science calls for stronger collaboration between neuroscience, psychology, and law to create policies that safeguard children online. As digital environments increasingly shape how young people think and behave, the authors stress the urgency of evidence-based regulation that accounts for children’s unique developmental vulnerabilities. With contributions from experts at Penn, the piece ...Read More

Penn Study Weighs Instant Gratification vs. More Prosperous Future

Professor Joseph Kable and Ph.D. student Trishala Parthasarathi’s research found that individuals with more vivid imaginations tend to be more impulsive, particularly in choosing immediate smaller rewards over larger future ones. Their study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, suggests that visualization training may actually increase impulsivity, challenging conventional expectations about enhancing patience through visualizing future ...Read More