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Gregory Berns

Biography

Gregory Berns

Gregory Berns, M.D., Ph.D. is the Distinguished Professor of Neuroeconomics in the Psychology Department at Emory University, where he directs the Center for Neuropolicy and Facility for Education and Research in Neuroscience. He pioneered the use of brain imaging technologies to understand human motivation and decision-making. Now, he uses MRI techniques to study the brains and minds of both humans and a wide range of other animals.

Dr. Berns is the author of WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A DOG, HOW DOGS LOVE US, ICONOCLAST, SATISFACTION, THE SELF DELUSION and COWPUPPY. Dr. Berns and his wife live on a farm outside of Atlanta with several dogs, chickens and some very special cows.

Gregory Berns

Books by Gregory Berns

Cowpuppy: An Unexpected Friendship and a Scientist’s Journey into the Secret World of Cows
by Gregory Berns - Memoir, Nonfiction

When Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns and his wife decided to venture into sustainable farming in rural Georgia, they knew that cows were a key part of a successful operation. But that was where his knowledge of cattle ended. As Berns and his small herd of three miniature zebus acclimated to each other and Berns received a crash course in being a cattleman, he turned his powers of scientific observation and innovation on his new charges. This wasn’t the first time he’d studied animals through the lens of neuroscience. Years earlier, Berns had applied his knowledge to man’s best friend, resulting in two books and important advances in how we understand dogs’ thoughts and emotions. Now it was time to see what he --- and all of us --- could discover about the interior worlds of cows.

What It's Like to Be a Dog: And Other Adventures in Animal Neuroscience
by Gregory Berns - Nonfiction, Pets, Psychology

What is it like to be a dog? A bat? Or a dolphin? To find out, neuroscientist Gregory Berns and his team began with a radical step: they taught dogs to go into an MRI scanner-completely awake. They discovered what makes dogs individuals with varying capacities for self-control, different value systems, and a complex understanding of human speech. And dogs were just the beginning. In WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A DOG, Berns explores the fascinating inner lives of wild animals from dolphins and sea lions to the extinct Tasmanian tiger.