Jaime Castrellon

Jaime Castrellon is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), affiliated with the Department of Psychology and the Chicano Studies Research Center. His research integrates experimental behavioral economics, computational models, pharmacology, and neuroimaging (fMRI/PET) to investigate neural and cognitive mechanisms of motivation, value-based decision making, and social perception.

• Education:
  • B.A. in Neuroscience and Political Science from University of Southern California
  • Ph.D. in Psychology and Neuroscience from Duke University

Dr. Castrellon’s work focuses on: (1) basic mechanisms of motivation and decision making, and (2) translating findings to real-world contexts through experience sampling and age-related differences. Current interests include catecholamine influences (dopamine/norepinephrine) on social preferences, biases in legal decision making, and cultural/environmental interactions with motivational systems.

Recent Awards:

• APS Rising Star (2024)
• Cota-Robles Fellowship (2024)
• Duke Dean’s Award for Mentoring (2021)
• Society for Neuroeconomics Best Poster Award (2019)

His lab is supported by NIH and NSF grants. He is currently recruiting graduate/postdoctoral students through UCLA’s Social and Affective Neuroscience and Behavioral Neuroscience programs.