Neuroscience from a Data Scientist's Perspective

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or should this have been called data science from a neuroscientist's perspective? Either way, I'm sure you'll enjoy this discussion with [Laurie Skelly](https://twitter.com/laurieskelly). Laurie earned a PhD in Integrative Neuroscience from the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. In her life as a social neuroscientist, using fMRI to study the neural processes behind empathy and psychopathy, she learned the ropes of zooming in and out between the macroscopic and the microscopic -- how millions of data points come together to tell us something meaningful about human nature. She's currently at [Metis Data Science](http://www.thisismetis.com/), an organization that helps people learn the skills of data science to transition in industry.

In this episode, we discuss fMRI technology, Laurie's research studying empathy and psychopathy, as well as the skills and tools used in common between neuroscientists and data scientists. For listeners interested in more on this subject, Laurie recommended the blogs [Neuroskeptic](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/), [Neurocritic](http://neurocritic.blogspot.com/), and [Neuroecology](https://neuroecology.wordpress.com/).

We conclude the episode with a mention of the upcoming Metis Data Science San Francisco cohort which Laurie will be teaching. If anyone is interested in applying to participate, they can do so [here](http://www.thisismetis.com/data-science/apply).

Guest

Laurie Skelly: Laurie Skelly is a Data Scientist at Chicago-based data consulting firm Datascope, and a curriculum developer and instructor for the Data Science bootcamp at Metis. Laurie joined the Datascope team after completing her PhD in the Integrative Neuroscience Program in the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. There, she studied social neuroscience under Professor Jean Decety, and in her dissertation used what she eventually learned to call machine learning algorithms on functional MRI data to model the neural processes behind empathy and social information processing deficits in incarcerated psychopaths.