Robert Sapolsky

About

Robert Sapolsky is a professor associated with the fields of Biology, Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and Neurosurgery at Stanford University. His research focuses on understanding the biological underpinnings of behavior, stress, and neurological processes. As a prominent figure in his field, he has contributed to the scientific community through his work on neurobiology and the effects of stress on the brain. His expertise and research have significantly advanced knowledge in these areas, making him a key member of the Stanford faculty in the Human Biology program.

Research topics

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Biology
• Medicine
• Genetics
• Endocrinology
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive science
• Evolutionary biology
• Psychotherapist

Selected publications

• Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

  2017-05-02 · 166 citations

  bookOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDF

• Glucocorticoids, the evolution of the stress-response, and the primate predicament

  Neurobiology of Stress · 2021 · 112 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  The adrenocortical stress-response is extraordinarily conserved across mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, suggesting that it has been present during the hundreds of millions of years of vertebrate existence. Given that antiquity, it is relatively recent that primate social complexity has evolved to the point that, uniquely, life can be dominated by chronic psychosocial stress. This paper first reviews adrenocortical evolution during vertebrate history. This produces a consistent the…

  PublisherDOI

• Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 Modulates Hypothalamic Pituitary Axis Activity and Anxiety Behavior Through Glucocorticoid Receptors

  Biological Psychiatry · 2016-03-02 · 66 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• This Is Your Brain on Nationalism

  Foreign Affairs · 2019-02-12 · 50 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• The Jaw Epidemic: Recognition, Origins, Cures, and Prevention

  BioScience · 2020 · 39 citations

  Contemporary humans are living very different lives from those of their ancestors, and some of the changes have had serious consequences for health. Multiple chronic "diseases of civilization," such as cardiovascular problems, cancers, ADHD, and dementias are prevalent, increasing morbidity rates. Stress, including the disruption of traditional sleep patterns by modern lifestyles, plays a prominent role in the etiology of these diseases, including obstructive sleep apnea. Surprisingly, jaw shrin…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R21MH070815

  NIH · $402k · 2006

• NIH Grant R01AG006633

  NIH · $1.4M · 1995

• NIH Grant P01NS037520

  NIH · $22.2M · 2010

Frequent coauthors

• Gary K. Steinberg

  Stanford Medicine

  90 shared

• Heng Zhao

  Capital Medical University

  67 shared

• Midori A. Yenari

  University of California, San Francisco

  66 shared

• Jeanne Altmann

  62 shared

• Dora Y. Ho

  Cancer Institute (WIA)

  56 shared

• Howard Eichenbaum

  37 shared

• W. K. Fentress

  Princeton University

  36 shared

• Roger Pitman

  36 shared

Education

• B.A., Biopsychology

  University of California, Berkeley

  1985

• Ph.D., Neuroscience

  University of California, San Francisco

  1990

Similar researchers at Stanford University

• James J. Grossh-166
• Allan Reissh-138
• Garry Goldh-102