Join us for our Social Behavioral Interest Group (SBIG) Colloquium on November 6, 2025!
Speaker: Keely A. Muscatell (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Title: The Social Life of the Immune System
Abstract: How does the immune system shape the ways we think, feel, and behave in our social worlds? In this talk, I will describe research from my lab that examines how inflammatory activity influences social motivation, perception, and behavior in humans. Drawing on experimental inflammatory challenge studies, daily experience sampling, and neuroimaging approaches, I’ll show that inflammation can shift people’s social experiences—sometimes heightening sensitivity to social threat and rejection, and other times enhancing the value of social connection and care. These findings suggest that the immune system plays a central role in regulating social life, revealing one of the many ways biology participates in shaping the mind.
The Social Behavior Interest Group consists of members of the university community who are interested in social psychological research. The SBIG supports an active program of visiting speakers. The group meets weekly to hear speakers describe their recent research. Since 1990, SBIG has brought in numerous distinguished visiting speakers. Presentations have included contemporary issues in the study of attitudes, social cognition, prejudice & stereotyping, and also applied research questions in the domains of health and consumer behavior.