Wu Tsai Neuro Seminar w/ Katalin Gothard – SRP Livestream Locations

Good morning SOM Stanford Research Park Community,

We invite you to join us for today’s Neurosciences Seminar. The seminar will be held in-person on the main Stanford campus with 3 satellite viewing locations in Stanford Research Park.

🗓️ Feb 12, 2026

Neural mechanism linking interoception to decision-making
Katalin Gothard, MD, PhD

University of Arizona | Host: Karen Parker (Social Neurosciences Research Program (Parker Lab))

Interoceptive signals convey information about the physiological state of the body to the brain and have been proposed to shape affect and decision-making. Yet it remains unclear how changes in body physiology alone are sufficient to bias complex decisions, such as choices in an approach-avoidance conflict task. We manipulated the peripheral autonomic state of rhesus macaques using pharmacological agents with minimal blood–brain barrier penetration. During peripherally restricted, sympathetic-dominated physiological states, animals terminated mildly aversive stimuli earlier even at the cost of forgoing reward. These effects generalized across different aversive modalities while leaving ordinal food preferences intact, indicating a selective effect of altered interoceptive afferents on avoidance. I will discuss the neural underpinnings of these behavioral biases in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and amygdala, exploring how interoceptive states modulate neural representations of both decision commitment and spontaneous coping behaviors. Together, these findings support a causal role for interoceptive signaling in shaping decision-making and highlight specific neural substrates through which body–brain interactions may drive avoidance behavior.

⏰ Time: 12:00-1:00 PM (PT)
Come 15 minutes early (11:45 AM) to enjoy coffee, cookies, and conversation with the speaker and your colleagues (main campus location only)

📍 Locations:

• Main Campus (in person): Gunn Rotunda (E241), Stanford Neurosciences Building
• Stanford Research Park satellite locations:
  • 3172 Porter Drive, Room 253
  • 3174 Porter Drive, Room 140
  • 1070 Arastradero Road, Room 211

Learn about the SRP satellites »

Learn more and get involved:

• Nominate speakers for the 2026-2027 seminar series
• About the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Seminar Series »
• Sign up to dine or meet with the seminar speakers »
• See all upcoming and past seminars »
• Sign up for Wu Tsai Neuro’s mailing list »
• Join the #neuroscience slack channel »

📅 Want to add all of the seminars to your calendar?
Download the calendar here or, for live updates, copy this link and use these instructions for subscribing to a public calendar: Outlook, Mac, Google Calendar.

Best regards,

Emily Elrod (she/they)
Programs Associate | Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University