Biosketch

• Jeong-tae Kwon is a systems neuroscientist who studies the neural principles of emotion and social behavior. He is currently an assistant professor of Department of Brain and Cognitive Science at KAIST.
• He majored in psychology and sociology at Korea University and earned a doctorate in neuroscience from KAIST's Department of Biological Sciences. Through experiments in which memories are artificially formed, deleted, and transformed using brain nerve stimulation during the degree process, the principle of forming and storing emotional memories was studied.
• Afterwards, he conducted research with Dr. Gloria Choi while receiving postdoctoral researcher training at the Picower Institute at MIT in the United States. In the process, new neural circuits that control animal social behavior were discovered and a new neuromodulator that function in the area were discovered.
• Prof. Kwon started a laboratory at KAIST in 2023. The laboratory pursues to analyze and interpret the mechanisms of emotions and sociality through a neuroscience approach. It aims to identify neural networks that control diverse social behaviors from instinctive social behavior such as mating, aggression, and parental behavior to complex group social behaviors. In particular, the lab focuses on the mechanism of chemical signaling of nerve cells operating in the neural network. Through these studies, the goal is to improve our understanding for pathology of emotional disorders, including social anxiety and depression, and develop treatments for them.