Leo Christov-Moore is a neuroscientist, artist and complexity theorist investigating trust, vulnerable AI, mind/body interactions, and the role of non-ordinary states in deep belief change. His work has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation.
Graduate
UCLA, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, class of 2015
Undergraduate
Duke University, B.S. Psychology, Neuroscience Concentration, Philosophy Minor, class of ’07
Skills
Neuroimaging
Complexity Theory
Experimental Design
Your ideal research study
I would like to track the formation of trust relationships in groups tasked with a coordinated endeavor over time. I would track how conscious/cognitive and affective/somatomotor/visceral coordination covaries with the i) decrease in group-level entropy, ii) the emergence of collective homeostatic processes, and iii) efficiency and coordination at the behavioral level. Broadly, how do trust and empathy mechanisms facilitate the formation of groups? How does our consciousness distribute itself within our social networks?
What drew you to consciousness
I’m interested in consciousness largely because of my experience of it. The work I’ve done over the last several years, on the intersection of conscious belief and unconscious interoception within feeling, have convinced me that there’s an untapped area of study within how conscious beliefs and thoughts, specifically mental imagery, can have profound effects upon our organism. I’m also very interested in the manners by which our social milieu and exchanges of conscious and unconscious information within it shape our subjective experience of the world and our behavior within it. I’m excited to develop theoretical frameworks, simulations, and experiments with which to probe these topics further.
Hobbies
Long exposure photography: www.instagram.com/the_unforgettable_head
Psychedelic Punk Rock: MRVAMPIRE
