Ph.D., Harvard University, 1977

Office: McGuinn 505
Phone: (617) 552-9287
Email: gene.heyman@bc.edu
Website: http://geneheyman.com/

Scholarly Interests: Gene Heyman’s research focuses on the determinants of voluntary behavior and drug use. His initial studies used animal models to test whether choice is governed by a global reward maximizing process as assumed in economics or by a simpler, myopic maximizing principle. These studies led to research on the role of dopamine in reinforced behavior. The psychopharmacology research led to an interest in the determinants of drug use. The drug and choice studies were conducted with both human and animal subjects. The most recent human studies examined the relationships between working memory, decision making, and drug use in clinic and nonclinic populations. Teaching led to an interest in topics in the history and sociology of drug use and the history of popular and scientific understandings of addiction. Heyman’s research on choice and drug use are summarized in his new book: Addiction: A disorder of choice (2009).