Itzhak Fried
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Professor Itzhak Fried is a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist. He is a Professor of Neurosurgery and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and is also affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at Tel-Aviv University. He received his M.D. degree from Stanford University and his Ph.D. from UCLA and obtained his neurosurgical training at Yale. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Israeli Academy of Sciences. Prof. Fried primary research involves recording and electrical stimulation in the human brain to probe multiple cognitive functions including perception, memory, decision making, and human will.. In addition, he has a keen interest in understanding the calamitous transformation of ordinary individuals to violent agents in groups. He has convened three international interdisciplinary conferences on the topic (2015-2017) at the Paris Institute for Advanced Study.
He joins the Paris IAS in April 2024 for a one month-writing residency.
Research Interests
Transformation of ordinary individuals to mass murderers in groups.
The Brains that Pull the Triggers: New Insights into Syndrome E
In 2015-2017 three conferences at the IEA brought together experts from neuroscience, psychology, sociology, psychiatry and law to discuss Syndrome E. At the core of Syndrome E is a “cognitive fracture”, a breakdown of bodily somatic markers leaving a hyper-aroused prefrontal cortex without guidance or feedback from visceral and emotional centers, resulting in rapid desensitization to violence, dehumanization, lack of empathy and reduced agency, with concomitant repetitive obsession to destroy an ever-increasing number of lives. The “cognitive fracture” in Syndrome E involves derangement of multiple brain systems including perception, emotion and motor systems. The current project will incorporate new data from recent conflicts such as those in Ukraine and the Middle East that brought to light with stark documentation the radical transformation in human behavior resulting in the atrocities characterizing Syndrome E. The project will examine the rise in societal and political polarization and extremism and the rapid proliferation of social media and artificial intelligence agents, and the hyperbolic explosion of information – true, false, and uncertain. These have challenged the human brain and made it more vulnerable to the cognitive fracture underlying Syndrome E. Recent developments in cognitive and social neuroscience highlight these vulnerability and call for further elaboration of the biological model of Syndrome E.
Key publications
- Fried I: "Syndrome E". The Lancet (1997) 350:1845-1847.
- Fried I. "Syndrome E. Cognitive fracture in our midst". In Fried I. , Berthoz A. and Mirdal G. The brains that pull the triggers, Odile Jacob Press, 2021
- Fried I., Berthoz A., Mirdal G. (eds.) The Brains that Pull the Triggers, Odile Jacob Press, 2021.
 New session of the "Paris IAS Ideas" online talk series, with the participation of Itzhak Fried, UCLA professor, 2023-2024 Paris IAS writing residency |
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