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Moran Cerf

Professor of Marketing at Kellogg School of Management

Schools

  • Kellogg School of Management

Expertise

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Biography

Kellogg School of Management

Moran Cerf is a neuroscientist and business professor at the Kellogg School of Management and the neuroscience program at Northwestern University.

Dr. Cerf is also a member of the institute on complex systems.

In his work, Prof. Cerf helps individuals and businesses harness the current knowledge of the brain to improve thinking and understanding of customers and business decisions.

His academic research uses methods from neuroscience to understand the underlying mechanisms of our psychology, behavior changes, emotion, decisions, and dreams.

His works address questions such as: "How are conscious percepts formed in our brain?", "How can we control our emotions?" and “How can we make content more engaging, using neuroscience?"

Recently, his research has addressed questions pertaining to the neural mechanisms that underlie decision-making, thereby offering a new perspective on predicting future choices and investigating how much free will we have in our decisions. In his acclaimed work, Prof. Cerf studies patients undergoing brain-surgery by recording the activity of individual nerve cells using electrodes implanted in the patient's brain. Thus, his work offers a novel way to understand our psyche by observing the brain directly from within.

Dr. Cerf holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Caltech, an MA in Philosophy and a B.Sc. in Physics from Tel-Aviv University.

He holds multiple patents and has published over 60 academic papers in journals such as Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Journal of Neuroscience, as well as popular science journals such as Scientific American Mind, Wired, New Scientist and more. Additionally, his work has been portrayed in numerous media and cultural outlets such as CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, NPR, Time, MSNBC, and dozens of others. He has been featured in venues such as the Venice Art Biennial and China's Art, Science and Technology Association, and has contributed to magazines such as Forbes, The Atlantic, Inc., and others.

He has made much of his research accessible to the general public via his public talks at PopTech, TED, TEDx, Google Zeitgeist, DLD and other venues, gathering millions of views and a large following.

Additionally, he is the beneficiary of several awards and grants for his work, including the Instructional improvement grant, and the prestigious President scholarship for excellence. He was recently named one of the "40 leading professors below 40".

Prior to his academic career, Dr. Cerf spent nearly a decade in industry, holding positions in computer security (as a hacker), pharmaceutical, telecom, fashion, software development, and innovations research. Currently, Prof. Cerf is on the board of a number of neuro-tech companies (Nervanix, VR Americas, BestFit) and the Co-founder of ThinkAlike. He is also the founder of B-Cube which applies neuroscience research to help society.

Notably, Dr. Cerf is the Alfred P. Sloan professor at the American Film Institute (AFI), where he teaches an annual screenwriting class on science in films and is a consultant to various Hollywood films and TV shows, such as CBS' " Bull" and "Limitless", USA Network's "Falling Water", and more.

Most importantly, he is left-handed.

Education

  • Ph.D., 2009, Neuroscience, California Institute of Technology
  • M.A., 2001, Philosophy of Science, Tel-Aviv University, Summa cum laude
  • B.S. , 2000, Physics, Tel-Aviv University

Academic Positions

  • Donald P. Jacobs Asst. Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2013-present
  • Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Neuroscience, Northwestern University, 2013-present
  • Alfred P. Sloan screenwriting professor, American Film Institute, 1998-present
  • Post-doctoral Scholar, Stern School of Business, New York University, 2010-2013

Professional Experience

  • Consultant, Vivvva, 2009-2010
  • Product Architect, Customer Instructor, TTI Telecom, 2002-2003
  • Consultant, Pharmaco-Kinesis, 2008-2009
  • Inventor, Systemic Inventive Thinking, 2000-2002
  • Software Developer, Team Leader, Log-On Software, 1998-2000
  • Intelligence, Israeli Defense Forces, 1995-1998
  • Hacker, iMPERVA, 2002-2005
  • R&D Trainer, Check Point Software Technologies, 2000-2002

Awards

  • Winner of the Microsoft AI for Accessibility Challenge, Microsoft
  • Most cited papers in 2019 (for "Breathing above the brain stem: volitional control and attentional modulation in humans"), Journal of Neurophysiology, 2019
  • Most cited articles (for "Breathing above the brain stem: volitional control and attentional modulation in humans"), Journal of Neurophysiology., 2019
  • Most relevant publication, Neuro-Marketing Science and Business Association
  • Advertising Educator Foundation Visiting Professor Fellowship, ARF
  • Chicagoan of the Year, 2018
  • Most relevant publication, Neuro-Marketing Science and Business Association
  • Selected as the Oklahoma University Price College of Business' "Distinguished Speaker"
  • Selected as '40 business professors below 40', Poets and Quants
  • Pineapple Award, Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology
  • Northwestern Institute for Complexity Seed Award
  • McManus chair award, Annual

Videos

Read about executive education

Cases

Cerf, Moran and Samuel Benjamin Barnett. 2015. Epilepsy - eavesdropping on the conversations of rebellious neurons. Journal of Neurolohy and Neurophysiology.

Whenever we think or act, billions of neurons send messages to precise destinations throughout the brain. Without conscious effort, our neurons call one another on a network of trillions of connections. In epilepsy, we observe entire populations of neurons initiating a conversation without provocation, resulting in what we term a seizure, often causing a violent loss of bodily control and consciousness. Epileptic seizures have been historically viewed as signs of demonic possession, divine intervention, and even artistic genius, but now they are powerful and remarkable reminders that our own neurons can unite and turn against us. Advances in medicine can help many patients achieve seizure freedom, but others are candidates for invasive brain surgery. Not only has surgery given hope to medically intractable patients, the practice has led to some of the most profound discoveries about the brain. We showcase the evolving understanding of epilepsy as well as landmark neuroscience research uniquely made possible by neurosurgery. We like to feel in control of our lives. We sometimes take for granted the freedom to think and move however we please. However, we have taken up arms and fought wars when our autonomy has been threatened. We immediately notice and urgently respond when some force restricts our freedom. Epilepsy is one of these forces, unexpectedly wresting control of its sufferers' bodies and minds. Its symptoms, which can include violent convulsions of extremities, forced contraction of muscles, and loss of consciousness, force us to face the unpleasant reality that our autonomy is not guaranteed. The word "epilepsy" itself, derived from the Greek epilambanein ("to seize"), reflects the ancient belief that its sufferers were becoming possessed by supernatural beings, stripped of all personal control

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