Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience
Stanford University
Bldg. 420, 470 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305-2130

(First-person): We seek to elucidate the neural basis of emotion (affective neuroscience), and to explore implications for decision-making (neuroeconomics) and psychopathology (neurophenomics).

(Third-person): Brian Knutson is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Stanford University, and codirector of Stanford's Neurochoice Initiative. His research focuses on the neural basis of emotional experience and expression. His group has investigated this topic with a number of methods including self-report, measurement of nonverbal behavior, comparative ethology, psychopharmacology, and neuroimaging. His long-term goal is to understand the neurochemical and neuroanatomical mechanisms responsible for emotional experience, and to explore the implications of these findings for the assessment and treatment of clinical disorders as well as for economic behavior.

He received BAs in experimental psychology and comparative religion from Trinity University, a PhD in experimental psychology from Stanford University, and conducted postdoctoral research in affective neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco and the National Institutes of Health. He is a fellow of the Academy for Behavioral Medicine Research and the Association for Psychological Science, past president of the Society for Neuroeconomics, and is an incoming fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences. His group's work has been funded by numerous public and private organizations (e.g., the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, several private foundations), published in top venues (e.g., Science, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron), and featured in the popular press (e.g., ABC, BBC, NPR, New York Times, Wall Street Journal).

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Research

Symbiotic Project on Affective Neuroscience (SPANlab)

NeuroChoice

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Writing

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Teaching

Winter 2026: Judgment and Decision Making

Spring 2025: Brain and Decision

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