November 5, 2026
9 – 10:30am Pacific Time (Seattle) / 12 – 1:30pm Eastern
via Zoom

BARNARD CENTER LECTURE SERIES

The talk will present our affiliative neuroscience perspective on resilience, which contends that for young mammals, who are born with immature brains and require caregiving do develop mechanisms of stress management and sociality, systems that participate in bonding are those that sustain resilience.  I show how the biology of love and its core process biobehavioral synchrony underpin attachment and promote resilience. I describe how synchrony – the coordination of biology and behavior during social contact – emerges within the parent-infant bond, grows to integrate more complex, symbolic, and reciprocal components of resonance, and expands to other attachments the child will form throughout life, impacting mental health up to adulthood. I address studies on brain-to-brain synchrony within the parent-child relationship and how they are altered by aspects of humans’ co-presence, including chemosignals and technologically-assisted remote communication.  Translational implications are highlighted with the InSynch intervention for mothers suffering post-partum depression and its effects on symptom reduction, caregiving behavior, and inter-brain coordination.  The talk will conclude by contemplating how synchrony enables the transfer from the intimacy of the parent-infant bond to life within social groups and supports human endurance, cooperation, and the capacity for transcendence.

RUTH FELDMAN, PhD

Ruth Feldman, PhD is the Simms-Mann Professor of Developmental Social Neuroscience at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzlia with joint appointment at Yale Child Study Center.

With degrees in music composition (summa cum-laude), neuroscience (with honors), clinical psychology (with honors), and developmental psychology and psychopathology, her approach integrates perspectives from neuroscience, human development, philosophy, clinical practice, and the arts within an interpersonal frame and a behavior-based approach.  Her conceptual model on biobehavioral synchrony systematically describes how a lived experience within close relationships builds brain, creates relationships, confers resilience, and promotes creativity.  Her studies were the first to detail the role of oxytocin in the formation of human social bonds.

Her research is translational and informs the development of various interventions applied internationally.  Her observational tools are used in 17 countries, translated to multiple languages, and utilized in research on all facets of human social relationships in health and psychopathology.  She is a consultant on multiple international grants and a frequent keynote speaker in international conferences. Her studies often follow children from infancy to adulthood, address topics that are highly relevant to the general public, and receive substantial media attention.

Dr. Feldman is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and received multiple awards, including a young musician award, Rothschild award, NARSAD independent investigator award (twice), the Zeskind award for best paper in Biological Psychiatry, and the Graven’s Award for research on high-risk infants.