Dr. Mark E. Bouton presents the annual Richard D. Church Lecture in Neuroscience
On October 14th, 2024 students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered to listen to the annual Richard D. Church Lecture in Neuroscience presented by Mark E. Bouton, Ph.D. The title of the lecture was “Habits, actions, and behavior change: Research at the intersection of behavior, brain, and health science."
Dr. Bouton is University Distinguished Professor and Robert B. Lawson Green & Gold Professor of Psychology Emeritus, University of Vermont. In his lecture, Dr. Bouton discussed the arc of research in his laboratory which has demonstrated the context-dependence of behavior change. He explained how voluntary actions can be performed deliberately to achieve a specific outcome (goal-directed action) or reflexively, without a goal in mind, as in a habit. Dr. Bouton showed how goal-directed actions can become habits with a lot of repetition and practice, and that this transition is very context-dependent (the environment). Dr. Bouton’s work could inform clinical questions on addiction, relapse, and therapy.
The annual Church lecture series was established in 2006 by the late Richard (Dick) Dwight Church of Norwood, NY. At the time, Mr. Church stated his hope in endowing this lectureship was “…that by learning about current thinking in the field of neuroscience, students and faculty will be inspired to further expand and explore their interests." Sadly, Mr. Church passed away in November 2010. We are very grateful to his wife, Vernice Church, for continuing to sponsor this lecture in his memory.