Building Meaning and Building Teens' Brains - A Conversation with Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang

Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang studies the psychological and
neurobiological bases of social emotion, self-awareness and
culture and their implications for learning, development and
schools. She is a Professor of Education at the USC Rossier
School of Education, a Professor of Psychology at the Brain and
Creativity Institute, a member of the Neuroscience Graduate
Program Faculty at the University of Southern California, and
Director of the USC Center for Affective Neuroscience,
Development, Learning and Education (CANDLE).


Mary Helen was elected 2016-2018 president of the International
Mind, Brain and Education Society by the society’s membership.
She is serving as a distinguished scientist on the Aspen
Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional and Academic
Development and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,
and Medicine’s Committee on the Science and Practice of Learning.
Mary Helen is also associate Editor for the award-winning
journal Mind, Brain and Education and for the new
journal AERA Open, and sits on the editorial boards of
the Journal of Experimental Psychology.


In her research work, Mary Helen leads cross-cultural,
longitudinal studies investigating adolescent brain and
social-emotional development, academic success and relations to
school and life achievement in urban contexts as well as the
neural and psychosocial correlates of mindsets in low-SES
adolescents from different cultural groups. She also serves as
scientific adviser to several Los Angeles schools/districts.


Mary Helen’s 2015 book, Emotions, learning and the brain:
Exploring the educational implications of affective neuroscience,
is available from W.W. Norton publishers (author proceeds are
donated to education-related causes). 


In May 2020, Mary Helen wrote a must-read article in ASCD with
Doug Knecht (Bank Street College of Education) entitled Building
Meaning Builds Teens' Brains, if you're interested to find out
more about the significant implications of Mary Helen's work this
is a great place to start!


Social Links


LinkedIn: @maryhelenimmordino-yang


Twitter: @CandleUSC