{{Short description|Cognitive neuroscientist}} {{Infobox person | name = Tali Sharot | image = Tali Sharot.jpg | alt = | caption = Tali Sharot in 2010. | native_name = טלי שרוט | native_name_lang = he | alma_mater = New York University, Tel Aviv University | occupation = Professor of cognitive neuroscience | employer = University College London | spouse = {{marriage|Josh McDermott|28 June 2013}} }} '''Tali Sharot''' ({{Langx|he|טלי שרוט}}) is an Israeli, British, and American neuroscientist and professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London and MIT. Sharot began studying at Tel Aviv University, receiving a B.A. in economics in 1999, and an M.A. in psychology from New York University in 2002. She received her Ph.D. in psychology and neuroscience from New York University.<ref name="Jewish Virtual Library" /> Sharot is known for her research on the neural basis of emotion, decision making and optimism.<ref name="Cadwalladr-2012">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jan/01/tali-sharot-optimism-bias-interview|title=The optimism bias: reasons to be cheerful|last=Cadwalladr|first=Carole|date=2012-01-01|website=The Guardian|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> Sharot hopes to better understand these processes to enhance overall well-being.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tali-sharot|title=Tali Sharot|website=Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref>
== Early life and career == Tali Sharot grew up in Israel with an English father and an Israeli mother. In school, she was taught in Hebrew, but spoke both English and Hebrew at home. After attending Tel Aviv University, she attended New York University to pursue her master's degree and PhD in psychology.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2011/06/19/a_neuroscientist_who_favors_familiar_places/|title=A neuroscientist who favors familiar places|last1=Sutherland|first1=Amy|date=2011-06-19|newspaper=boston.com|publisher=Boston Globe}}</ref> While in New York, Sharot witnessed the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers. Sharot decided to focus her research on how emotion affects memory. A few years after the attacks, she and fellow researchers interviewed 22 New Yorkers who had been present on the island of Manhattan during the event.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2011/07/08/cheer_up_youre_really_an_optimist.html|title=Cheer up, you're really an optimist|last1=Hunter|first1=Jennifer|work=The Star|date=8 July 2011}}</ref>
== Scientific contributions == Sharot is especially known for her discovery of the neural underpinnings of human optimism,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/11/brain-optimism-imaging_n_1004076.html|title=Brain Imaging Reveals Why Optimists Are The Way They Are|last=Chan|first=Amanda|date=2011-10-11|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> work that has been published in numerous eminent journals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/health-15214080|title=Brain 'rejects negative thoughts'|last=Gallagher|first=James|date=2011-10-09|website=BBC News|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8357739.stm|title=Mind chemical 'controls choice'|date=2010-01-08|newspaper=BBC|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> In her books ''The Optimism Bias''<ref>Sharot, Tali. The optimism bias: A tour of the irrationally positive brain. Random House LLC, 2011.</ref> and ''The Science of Optimism'', she describes the evolutionary benefits of unrealistic optimism along with its dangers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.ted.com/look-on-the-bright-side-a-qa-with-ted-ebook-author-tali-sharot-on-our-biological-wiring-for-optimism/|title=Look on the bright side: A Q&A with TED ebook author Tali Sharot on our biological wiring for optimism|date=2012-12-03|website=TED Blog|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> Richard Stengel has written in a ''Time'' editorial that Sharot's work gives us a better grip on how we function in reality.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2074230,00.html|title=Illusions and Reality|last=Stengel|first=Richard|date=2011-06-06|newspaper=Time|issn=0040-781X|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> The implications of Sharot's discoveries for health,<ref name=wired>{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-04/29/wired-health-tali-sharot|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502015202/https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-04/29/wired-health-tali-sharot|title=Positivity not scaremongering could help you lose weight (Wired UK)|archive-date=2 May 2014|publisher=Wired UK|url-status=dead|date=29 April 2014|author=Liat Clark|access-date=17 August 2018}}</ref> finance,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/opinion/sunday/check-the-calendar-before-you-buy-that-stock.html|title=Check the Calendar Before You Buy that Stock!|last=Ciccone|first=Stephen J.|date=2013-01-18|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> cyber security,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/03/cyber-security-risk-perception-vs-reality-corporate-america/|title=Cyber Security Risk: Perception vs. Reality in Corporate America|magazine=Wired|last=Shah|first=Sonali|date=March 2014|language=en-US|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> policy and more have been extensively covered by the media and she is often featured on radio,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/03/04/173227718/your-childs-fat-mines-fine-rose-colored-glasses-and-the-obesity-epidemic|title=Your Child's Fat, Mine's Fine: Rose-Colored Glasses And The Obesity Epidemic|last=Vedantam|first=Shankar|date=2013-03-04|website=npr.org|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0195q96|title=TS Eliot Poetry Prize, Coriolanus, Film Funding, Tali Sharot, Night Waves - BBC Radio 3|website=BBC|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> TV<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dlglq|title=Out of Control?, 2011-2012, Horizon - BBC Two|website=BBC|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/38234-is-reality-real-or-not.html|title=Reality Check: Is Our Universe Real?|website=Live Science|date=17 July 2013|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.redesparalaciencia.com/tag/tali-sharot|title=Redes para la Ciencia » Tali Sharot|website=www.redesparalaciencia.com|language=es|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> and in the written press.<ref name="Cadwalladr-2012" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2011/07/08/cheer_up_youre_really_an_optimist.html|title=Cheer up, you're really an optimist|last=Hunter|first=Jennifer|date=2011-07-08|website=Toronto Star|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref name=wired/> In 2017 her book ''The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others'' was published highlighting the critical role of emotion in influence and the weakness of data.<ref>Sharot, Tali. The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others. Henry Holt LLC, 2017.</ref> It was selected as a Best Book of 2017 by Forbes, The Times UK, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Greater Good Magazine, Inc., Stanford Business School among others.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others|date=19 September 2017|publisher=Henry Holt and Co.|isbn = 978-1627792653}}</ref> Sharot was one of the presenters on the Dara Ó Briain's Science Club, who also introduced her on stage at The Royal Albert Hall's Imagining the future of Medicine in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2014/04/16/imagine-the-future-of-medicine-with-funnyman-dara-obriain/|title=Imagine the future of medicine with funnyman Dara O'Briain|date=2014-04-16|website=Time Out Blog|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> She was a speaker at TED2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.ted.com/thinking-about-the-optimism-bias-tali-sharot-at-ted2012/|title=Thinking about the optimism bias: Tali Sharot at TED2012|last=Walters|first=Helen|date=2012-03-01|website=TEDBlog|language=en-US|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref>
== Affective Brain Lab == Directed by Tali Sharot, the Affective Brain Lab is a neuroscience and psychology based lab that studies the experience of emotion on normal cognitive function and its causative effects in regards to common mental disorders. The lab combines neural imaging techniques, pharmacological manipulation, and genetic principles to perform experiments on human behavior and neurological mechanisms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://affectivebrain.com/?page_id=2706|title=About|website=affectivebrain.com|publisher=UCL}}</ref> Real world application of this lab's research aims to combat the detrimental effects of brain dysfunction.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tali-sharot|title=Tali Sharot|website=Jewish Virtual Library|publisher=AICE|access-date=5 December 2019}}</ref>
== Awards and recognition == Sharot received prestigious fellowships from the Wellcome Trust, the Forum of European Philosophy and the British Academy. She won the British Psychological Society Book award for 2014 (for The Optimism Bias) and 2018 (for The Influential Mind).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bps.org.uk/about-us/awards-and-grants/research-board-awards/book-award|title=Book Award {{!}} BPS|website=www.bps.org.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-11-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bps.org.uk/news/two-books-honoured-british-psychological-society-awards|title=Two books honoured in British Psychological Society Awards|date=2014-10-21|website=The British Psychological Society|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> She has been described as "one of the top female scientists in her country"<ref name="Jewish Virtual Library">{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/tali_sharot.html|title=Tali Sharot|website=Jewish Virtual Library|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> listed as one of the 15 exemplary female Israeli-born scientists alive.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/israeliwomenscientists.html|title=Women in Israel: In Science & Technology|last=Snider|first=Lisa|website=Jewish Virtual Library|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> Her two TED talks have been viewed a total of 15 million times.<ref>{{Citation|last=Sharot|first=Tali|title=The optimism bias|date=14 May 2012 |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/tali_sharot_the_optimism_bias?language=en|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Sharot|first=Tali|title=How to motivate yourself to change your behavior|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp0O2vi8DX4language=en|access-date=2020-07-03}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Hope isn’t rational, so why are humans wired for it?<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ted.com/speakers/tali_sharot|title=Tali Sharot|website=Tali Sharot, Speaker, TED|publisher=TED}}</ref>|Tali Sharot}}
== Publications == === Books === * {{cite book |last=Sharot |first=Tali |title= The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain |publisher= Vintage |date=2012 |isbn=978-0-3074-7351-6}} * {{cite book |last=Sharot |first=Tali |title=The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others |publisher= Picador |date=2018 |isbn=978-1250159618}} * {{cite book |last1=Sharot |first1=Tali |last2=Sunstein |first2=Cass R. |title=Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There |publisher=Atria/One Signal |date=2024 |isbn=978-1-6680-0820-1}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *[http://www.affectivebrain.com/ Affective Brain Lab] *[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pals/research/experimental-psychology/person/dr-tali-sharot/ Tali Sharot UCL faculty page]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharot, Tali}} Category:Living people Category:Academics of University College London Category:Israeli cognitive neuroscientists Category:Israeli expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Israeli expatriates in the United States Category:Israeli women neuroscientists Category:Jewish women scientists Category:Neuroimaging researchers Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century Israeli scientists Category:21st-century Israeli women scientists Category:21st-century Israeli Jews Category:21st-century Israeli people Category:Tel Aviv University alumni