Samuel Gershman.

Samuel Gershman

Professor in the Department of Psychology and Center for Brain Science
Harvard University

Sam Gershman is professor in the Department of Psychology and Center for Brain Science at Harvard University. His lab studies the computational mechanisms of learning, memory, decision-making and perception. He is also affiliated with the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard. He is author of the 2021 book “What Makes Us Smart: The Computational Logic of Human Cognition.”

Gershman received his B.A. in neuroscience and behavior from Columbia University in 2007 and his Ph.D. in psychology and neuroscience from Princeton University in 2013. From 2013 to 2015 he was a postdoctoral fellow in the brain and cognitive sciences department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined Harvard University as assistant professor in 2015.

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of two overlapping speech bubbles patterned with blue and pink horizontal lines on a background of pink and brown horizontal lines.

Future of AI brain models sparks debate

Neuroscientists are divided about whether foundation models that predict brain responses will help the field understand how brains work.

By Natalia Mesa
11 November 2026 | 10 min read
Scans of brains using the OPM-MEG method.

Language development during the first 1,000 days; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 9 November.

By Jill Adams
10 November 2026 | 2 min read
Illustration of brain with many connecting lines.

What ‘Brain Flows’ gets right

Michael W. Cole’s new book makes a convincing case that the dynamic movement of signals underpins just about everything the brain does, though it misses mention of relevant theoretical and single-cell work.

By Daniel Graham
10 November 2026 | 6 min read