We are explorers and pioneers of the human condition.
We are developing new and deeper understanding of how our brains shape how we think and how our lives shape our biology.
What We Do
The Platt Labs are known for asking some of the most challenging questions in 21st century neuroscience—and developing innovative ways to find the answers.
We are built around the simple concept of asking difficult questions and tirelessly working to answer them. We have assembled a diverse and creative team to pursue the answers.
We are pushing the limits of neuroscience to improve society.
Stop the Presses
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Sharing the Light: An Open Database to Help Optimize Optogenetics in Nonhuman Primates There’s a lot of hype about optogenetics. The ability to manipulate and modulate neuronal activity...
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Crowd-sourcing Optogenetics Data to Tackle Neurological Diseases The specialized field of neuroscience, optogenetics, shows clinical promise for conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson’s. But before human trials can get fully underway, the field must better understand a crucial intermediate step, aided by 45 labs in nine countries sharing information...
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Controlling Monkey Brains With Light Could Get Easier Thanks to Open Data Project When neuroscientist Sébastien Tremblay set out to manipulate monkeys’ brains with light, colleagues had sobering advice: “It’s more difficult than it sounds.”
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One Undergrad Researcher Powers Through The Pandemic The unusual circumstances brought on by COVID-19 forced Lana Prieur, a junior in the School of Arts & Sciences, to pivot her approach to research—and sparked new connections in the process.
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Microbiology, Genetics, and Neuroscience: Meet More Next-Generation Scientists Stepping Up to Fight COVID-19 This is the second part in a Penn Medicine News series featuring the graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and laboratory technicians who have stepped up to fight the coronavirus pandemic and investigate SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19...
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What Neuroscience Can Tell Us About Political Advertising Can science help us improve communication in advertising? Prof. Michael Platt believes the answer is yes.
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Getting People to Hear You: Insights from Neuroscience The coronavirus outbreak has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization...
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Penn labs get creative to stay productive, connected In the face of a pandemic that has shuttered most physical laboratories across campus, researchers have maintained work and social ties...
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Prof. Michael Platt Explains the Neuroscience Behind Political Advertising Michael Platt, Professor at Wharton and the University of Pennsylvania, joins host Dan Loney on Wharton Business Daily to discuss neuroscience behind political advertising.
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Michael Platt on Wharton Business Radio How the brain responds to remote interaction vs in person...
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How Do Friendship and Loneliness Affect Your Brain Research shows friendships can make you healthier and happier, while loneliness is a risk factor for early mortality...
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A wearable new technology moves brain monitoring from the lab to the real world The portable EEG created by PIK Professor Michael Platt and postdoc Arjun Ramakrishnan has potential applications from health care to sports performance...
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Case Awards - Wharton Magazine Wharton Magazine serves as an essential connection between the Wharton School and its alumni population of nearly 100,000 graduates, with stories about the ideas and people who define the school's global community.
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Cracking the Code on Brand Growth The battle for business growth does not take place on the internet or on store shelves. Rather, it takes place in the subconscious mind...
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How To Examine Posterior Cingulate Neurons And Influence People Professor Michael Platt and the new Wharton Neuroscience Initiative are exploring evolutionary brain science and using high-tech tools to unlock the secrets of human psychology...
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The Science of Friendship - Next Level Living Ep. 6 In the 6th episode of 'Next Level Living," we explore the scientific benefits of friendship, how we're hardwired to make connections, and how humans benefit from having friends.
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Cheeky monkeys are sold on sexy advertising too Sex sells, even if you’re a monkey. From bare-chested builders advertising Diet Coke to scantily clad Kardashians endorsing Calvin Klein, it can sometimes seem that humans are quite a base species. The good news is, we’re not alone.
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Configuring a ‘road map’ for neuroscience and business The Wharton Neuroscience Initiative’s second conference, held last week on campus, took a dive into the legal, ethical, and societal implications for neuroscience and business...
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Platt Labs - Website Design Case Study Michael Platt is definitely not a dull and staid scientist, and we were elated to build a website for Platt Labs, his UPenn-based neuroscience lab, that would highlight its culture of spirited research and curiosity...
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Social ties help animals live longer Large families and strong social ties help animals live longer, new research suggests...
Connecting With Cayo Santiago
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The Amazing Monkey Island In Puerto Rico Where Humans Are The Ones In Cages I was in a small boat cruising past a tiny island one mile off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico when I first noticed the islands odd inhabitants...
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Rebuilding Cayo Santiago Eight months after Hurricane Maria, this unique field site is still in recovery...
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What Puerto Rico's Monkeys Post-Maria Teach Us About Survival Video - Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico’s "monkey island." The surviving primates have a lot to teach us about surviving trauma...
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Scientists are trying to save 1,000 primates on Puerto Rico's 'Monkey Island' Hurricane Maria devastated “Monkey Island” which has been used for the study of primates since the 1930s
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Thrashed by Hurricane Maria, Monkey Island Tries to Rebuild, Bolstered by Support From Scientific Community Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and other international universities are working to save an invaluable scientific resource badly damaged during Hurricane Maria
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Time running out for 'Monkey Island' devastated by Hurricane Maria A monkey sanctuary used by scientists for decades to conduct groundbreaking evolutionary research has been completely devastated by Hurricane Maria
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Rescuing Puerto Rico's Monkey Island After a unique macaque colony off the island's coast was hit by Hurricane Maria, its caretakers are rushing to save it—and themselves
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Amid Devastation of Hurricane Maria, Penn Researchers with Puerto Rico Connections Focus on Helping Colleagues As Hurricane Maria formed in the Atlantic, then turned into a powerful storm barreling toward Puerto Rico
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Scientists Are Trying To Rescue 1,500 Monkeys In Puerto Rico Puerto Rico's Cayo Santiago, home to 1,500 research monkeys, was hit hard by Hurricane Maria
How to Help
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Relief for Cayo Santiago Employees Our colleagues and friends from the Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC) in Puerto Rico need our help
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Cayo Santiago Monkeys: Maria relief Researchers from a set of international universities are working together to save an invaluable scientific resource that was badly damaged in Hurricane Maria