# Elizabeth A. Phelps Pershing Square Professor of Human Neuroscience ![Headshot of Liz Phelps](/sites/g/files/omnuum9601/files/styles/hwp_4_5__320x400/public/2025-09/Phelps%202025.jpeg?itok=U7NEiS0g) location\_on Northwest Laboratory 295.1052 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 smartphone [617 496 1128]() email laptop\_windows [The Human Neuroscience of Affect, Learning, and Decision Making](https://www.phelpslab.com/) The primary inspiration behind Professor Phelps’ research is the observation that emotions color our lives, and even subtle, everyday variations in our emotional experience can alter our thoughts and actions. By uncovering the impact of emotion and affect on cognition, she aims to both enhance our understanding of cognition broadly and provide insights into social processes and psychological disorders. Current research in the lab explores three related questions. First, how is it that we learn about potential threats, and how can we effectively update this learning in a dynamic environment? Second, how do our emotions alter what we remember? Third, how are our decisions and actions changed by our affective states and emotions? To address these questions, Professor Phelps uses a human neuroscience approach which combines a range of scientific methodologies, including: behavioral studies, physiological measurements, hormone assays, pharmacology, brain-lesion studies, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and computational modeling. Elizabeth Phelps received her PhD from Princeton University and previously served on the faculty of Yale University and New York University. Professor Phelps is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her honors include the William James Award and the Mentor Award from the Association for Psychological Science, the George A. Miller Prize from the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and the Goldman-Rakic Prize from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. She has served as president of the Association for Psychological Science, the Society for Neuroeconomics, and the Society for Affective and Social Neuroscience, and was a founding board member of the International Society for Neuroethics. Research Interests: Emotion, Learning, Memory, Decision Making, Cognitive Neuroscience, Social Neuroscience, Affective Neuroscience, Neuroeconomics. - ## Alphabetical Faculty [P - T](/alphabetical-faculty/p-t) - ## Research Program [Cognition, Brain, & Behavior](/research-areas/cognition-brain-behavior) - ## Research Themes [Attitudes](/research-themes/attitudes) [Cognitive Neuroscience](/research-themes/cognitive-neuroscience) [Emotion](/research-themes/emotion) [Emotional Disorders](/research-themes/emotional-disorders) [Judgment and Decision Making](/research-themes/judgment-and-decision-making) [Learning and Memory](/research-themes/learning-and-memory) [Psychophysiology](/research-themes/psychophysiology) [Reward and Motivation](/research-themes/reward-and-motivation) [Social and Affective Neuroscience](/research-themes/social-and-affective-neuroscience) [Unconscious Processes](/research-themes/unconscious-processes) - ## Role/Affiliation [Faculty](/roleaffiliation/faculty)