Draft:Steve W. C. Chang

Chang was raised in Seoul, Korea. His parents worked as professors at Yonsei University (mother, Young-Mee Chung) and Korea University (father, Hyo Whan Chang). As a child, Chang was exposed to the academic environment and lifestyle early on. After both of his parents worked as professors at universities in the United States, he stayed back in the United States to attend Pomfret School in CT. For his Bachelor's degree, he attended Washington University in St. Louis from 1999 to 2003, where he majored in Psychology and performed research to understand the behavioral and neural mechanisms of sensorimotor transformation for eye-hand coordination. His undergraduate research led to receiving the John A. Stern Undergraduate Research Award given to one graduating senior each year. He then completed his graduate training in neuroscience (Neurosciences - Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences) at Washington University in St. Louis mentored by Prof. Lawrence H. Snyder from 2003 to 2009. For his doctoral dissertation, he investigated how the parietal reach region in the posterior parietal cortex computes spatial information for goal-directed reaching movements, including how the spatial information for reaching is referenced with respect to the eyes and the hand (known as reference frame){{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=SW |last2=Papadimitriou |first2=C |last3=Snyder |first3=LH |title=Using a compound gain field to compute a reach plan. |journal=Neuron |date=10 December 2009 |volume=64 |issue=5 |pages=744–55 |doi=10.1016/j.neuron.2009.11.005 |pmid=20005829|pmc=2811884 }}{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=SW |last2=Snyder |first2=LH |title=Idiosyncratic and systematic aspects of spatial representations in the macaque parietal cortex. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=27 April 2010 |volume=107 |issue=17 |pages=7951–6 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0913209107 |doi-access=free |pmid=20375282|pmc=2867917 |bibcode=2010PNAS..107.7951C }}. During his postdoctoral training mentored by Prof. Michael L. Platt at Duke University, Chang began pioneering work in studying neuronal mechanisms underlying complex social behaviors using real-life social interaction paradigms and electrophysiological approaches{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=SW |last2=Gariépy |first2=JF |last3=Platt |first3=ML |title=Neuronal reference frames for social decisions in primate frontal cortex. |journal=Nature Neuroscience |date=February 2013 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=243–50 |doi=10.1038/nn.3287 |pmid=23263442|pmc=3557617 }}{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=SW |last2=Winecoff |first2=AA |last3=Platt |first3=ML |title=Vicarious reinforcement in rhesus macaques (macaca mulatta). |journal=Frontiers in Neuroscience |date=2011 |volume=5 |pages=27 |doi=10.3389/fnins.2011.00027 |doi-access=free |pmid=21516263|pmc=3080185 }}{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=SW |last2=Fagan |first2=NA |last3=Toda |first3=K |last4=Utevsky |first4=AV |last5=Pearson |first5=JM |last6=Platt |first6=ML |title=Neural mechanisms of social decision-making in the primate amygdala. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=29 December 2015 |volume=112 |issue=52 |pages=16012–7 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1514761112 |doi-access=free |pmid=26668400|pmc=4702988 |bibcode=2015PNAS..11216012C }}. During that time, his research began to be rooted in a neuroethological framework{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=SW |last2=Brent |first2=LJ |last3=Adams |first3=GK |last4=Klein |first4=JT |last5=Pearson |first5=JM |last6=Watson |first6=KK |last7=Platt |first7=ML |title=Neuroethology of primate social behavior. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=18 June 2013 |volume=110 Suppl 2 |issue=Suppl 2 |pages=10387–94 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1301213110 |doi-access=free |pmid=23754410|pmc=3690617 }}.

Chang received his A.B. in Psychology, magna cum laude, from Washington University in St. Louis in 2003. He completed his Ph.D. in Neurosciences at the same institution in 2009, under the supervision of Dr. Lawrence H. Snyder. His doctoral thesis was titled Sensorimotor Transformation in the Macaque Parietal Reach Region.

Chang joined Yale University in 2014 as an Assistant Professor and became Associate Professor with Tenure 2022. At Yale, Chang is affiliated with the Department of Psychology, Department of Neuroscience, the Wu Tsai Institute, and the Kavli Institute for Neuroscience. He also serves as the Co-Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Neuroscience (NSCI) Major.

Chang’s research investigates the neural underpinnings of social cognition and decision-making in the context of the 'social brain'{{cite journal |last1=Gangopadhyay |first1=P |last2=Chawla |first2=M |last3=Dal Monte |first3=O |last4=Chang |first4=SWC |title=Prefrontal-amygdala circuits in social decision-making. |journal=Nature Neuroscience |date=January 2021 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=5–18 |doi=10.1038/s41593-020-00738-9 |pmid=33169032|pmc=7899743 }}{{cite journal |last1=Lockwood |first1=PL |last2=Apps |first2=MAJ |last3=Chang |first3=SWC |title=Is There a 'Social' Brain? Implementations and Algorithms. |journal=Trends in Cognitive Sciences |date=October 2020 |volume=24 |issue=10 |pages=802–813 |doi=10.1016/j.tics.2020.06.011 |pmid=32736965|pmc=7501252 }}. His work combines behavioral experiments, electrophysiological recordings, and pharmacological interventions. Over the years, he has developed multiple novel social behavioral paradigms{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=SW |last2=Winecoff |first2=AA |last3=Platt |first3=ML |title=Vicarious reinforcement in rhesus macaques (macaca mulatta). |journal=Frontiers in Neuroscience |date=2011 |volume=5 |pages=27 |doi=10.3389/fnins.2011.00027 |doi-access=free |pmid=21516263|pmc=3080185 }}{{cite journal |last1=Meisner |first1=OC |last2=Shi |first2=W |last3=Fagan |first3=NA |last4=Greenwood |first4=J |last5=Shi |first5=W |last6=Jadi |first6=MP |last7=Nandy |first7=AS |last8=Chang |first8=SWC |title=Development of a Marmoset Apparatus for Automated Pulling (MarmoAAP) to Study Cooperative Behaviors. |journal=bioRxiv: The Preprint Server for Biology |date=13 September 2024 |doi=10.1101/2024.02.16.579531 |pmid=38405744|pmc=10889019 }}. Chang's work led to a discovery on how the prefrontal-amygdala networks are coordinated when making prosocial decisions and evaluating vicarious rewards{{cite journal |last1=Dal Monte |first1=O |last2=Chu |first2=CCJ |last3=Fagan |first3=NA |last4=Chang |first4=SWC |title=Specialized medial prefrontal-amygdala coordination in other-regarding decision preference. |journal=Nature Neuroscience |date=April 2020 |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=565–574 |doi=10.1038/s41593-020-0593-y |pmid=32094970|pmc=7131896 }}{{cite journal |last1=Putnam |first1=PT |last2=Chu |first2=CJ |last3=Fagan |first3=NA |last4=Dal Monte |first4=O |last5=Chang |first5=SWC |title=Dissociation of vicarious and experienced rewards by coupling frequency within the same neural pathway. |journal=Neuron |date=16 August 2023 |volume=111 |issue=16 |pages=2513–2522.e4 |doi=10.1016/j.neuron.2023.05.020 |pmid=37348507|pmc=10527039 }}. Moreover, his research has discovered widespread implementations of social gaze interaction in the social brain{{cite journal |last1=Dal Monte |first1=O |last2=Fan |first2=S |last3=Fagan |first3=NA |last4=Chu |first4=CJ |last5=Zhou |first5=MB |last6=Putnam |first6=PT |last7=Nair |first7=AR |last8=Chang |first8=SWC |title=Widespread implementations of interactive social gaze neurons in the primate prefrontal-amygdala networks. |journal=Neuron |date=6 July 2022 |volume=110 |issue=13 |pages=2183–2197.e7 |doi=10.1016/j.neuron.2022.04.013 |pmid=35545090|pmc=9262836 }} and led to novel ways to causally modulate social gaze interaction{{cite journal |last1=Fan |first1=S |last2=Dal Monte |first2=O |last3=Nair |first3=AR |last4=Fagan |first4=NA |last5=Chang |first5=SWC |title=Closed-loop microstimulations of the orbitofrontal cortex during real-life gaze interaction enhance dynamic social attention. |journal=Neuron |date=7 August 2024 |volume=112 |issue=15 |pages=2631–2644.e6 |doi=10.1016/j.neuron.2024.05.004 |pmid=38823391|pmc=11309918 |pmc-embargo-date=August 7, 2025 }}. In addition, his work helped build the foundational knowledge on how the oxytocin system modulates social decision-making and social gaze interaction and how it interacts with the opiod system to guide social behaviors{{cite journal |last1=Dal Monte |first1=O |last2=Piva |first2=M |last3=Anderson |first3=KM |last4=Tringides |first4=M |last5=Holmes |first5=AJ |last6=Chang |first6=SWC |title=Oxytocin under opioid antagonism leads to supralinear enhancement of social attention. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=16 May 2017 |volume=114 |issue=20 |pages=5247–5252 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1702725114 |doi-access=free |pmid=28461466|pmc=5441805 |bibcode=2017PNAS..114.5247D }}. Overall, his research goal is to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying social interaction and to inform how such mechanisms may go awry in disorders marked by social dysfunction.

• Sloan Research Fellow in Neuroscience (2015–2017)
• NIMH BRAINS Award (2016–2021)
• Early Career Award, Society for Social Neuroscience (2016)
• SFARI Investigator (2015–2016, 2022–2024)
• Program Committee, Society for Neuroscience (2023–2026)
• President, Society for Social Neuroscience (2025–2026)

Chang's work has been featured in outlets such as Yale News, Scientific American, Nature News, National Geographic, and The New York Times. Topics have included the neuroscience of generosity, social gaze in primates, and oxytocin's role in social behavior.

At Yale, Chang teaches courses in Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroscience of Social Interaction. He also mentors postdoctoral fellows, graduate, and undergraduate students in research focused on social neuroscience.

• [http://changlab.yale.edu Chang Lab Website]

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