Bear Goldstein is a PhD student studying Social and Affective Neuroscience at UCLA. He uses mobile and motion-tolerant neuroimaging to explore the neural and behavioral responses associated with real-time team dynamics, offering in-the-moment psychological assessment of teams without sacrificing naturalistic social interaction. Through a social neuroscientific approach to teamwork, Bear aims to shed light on the underpinnings of positive team dynamics and the ways in which we may improve team outcomes, including creativity, cohesiveness, and collective success.
Bear sees psychology and neuroscience as an engagement with our shared human condition – implicit in which is the potential to improve that condition. His previous work has explored how inhibitory cognitive control affects athletic performance through cognitive tests and mindfulness interventions, how individual differences and mindset interventions influence stereotype threat effects, and how immersive nature interaction elicits mental states and behaviors critical to human flourishing.
Beyond academia, Bear has also played lacrosse at Princeton University, where he was a two-time captain, a 3x All-Ivy and Academic All-Ivy selection, and a Academic All-American selection. After college, Bear was awarded a Princeton in Africa Fellowship, where he worked for one year to ensure sustainable resource access for people in rural Kenya. Bear also worked as a professional photographer, before trading in his photographic lens for a psychological one.
Bear currently works in the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab under Dr. Matthew Lieberman.