René Weber

René Weber is a Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and Director of the Media Neuroscience Lab. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from TU Berlin and an M.D. in Psychiatry and Cognitive Neuroscience from RWTH Aachen. His research integrates neuroscience methods with communication theory to study how media narratives influence cognition and emotion, with a focus on moral conflict, persuasion, flow experiences, and attention disorders like ADHD. He has pioneered the use of fMRI to investigate media effects, including video game violence, anti-drug PSAs, and narrative engagement.

Key areas of research include media-multitasking’s impact on attention, computational analysis of moral narratives, and neural mechanisms underlying attitude change. His work has been supported by grants from U.S. and German scientific foundations, private philanthropies, and industry collaborations. He is a Fellow of the International Communication Association.

His lab employs advanced techniques such as EEG, fMRI, and network neuroscience to explore topics like cortical synchronization during storytelling, the neural basis of moral judgments, and the effects of digital media on adolescent brain development. Recent projects include analyzing moral language in global news using crowd-sourced dictionaries and investigating mindful social media use as a tool to reduce conspiracy beliefs.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. (Dr.rer.nat.) in Psychology, TU Berlin
  • M.D. (Dr.rer.medic.) in Psychiatry & Cognitive Neuroscience, RWTH Aachen
• Awards/Honors:
  • Fellow of the International Communication Association
• Grants & Funding:
  • National Science Foundation (U.S.)
  • German Research Foundation (DFG)
  • Private Philanthropies & Industry Contracts
• Labs/Teams:
  • Media Neuroscience Lab at UCSB

His research output spans over 120 journal articles, book chapters, and four books, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches at the intersection of communication, neuroscience, and computational methods.