Principal Investigator: Florina Uzefovsky, PhD
Simantov, T., & Uzefovsky, F. (2024). Empathy among autistic and non-autistic adolescents: The importance of informant effects. Autism Research, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.3197 FULL TEXT
Moseley, R., Shalev, I., Gregory, N., & Uzefovsky, F. (2024). Empathic Disequilibrium as a Predictor of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Autistic and Nonautistic People. Autism in Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2023.0134 FULL TEXT
Shalev, I., Israeli-Ran, L., Portnoi, M., Sultan, L. D., & Uzefovsky, F. (2024). Empathic disequilibrium is related to lower levels of hair oxytocin in humans. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 83, 57-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2024.03.012 FULL TEXT
Gordon-Hecker, T., Shalvi, S., Uzefovsky, F., & Bereby-Meyer, Y. (2024). Cognitive empathy boosts honesty in children and young adolescents. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 241, 105869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105869 FULL TEXT
Shalev, I., Eran, A., & Uzefovsky, F. (2023). Fluctuations and individual differences in empathy interact with stress to predict mental health, parenting, and relationship outcomes. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1237278. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1237278
Gordon-Hecker T., Shalvi S., Uzefovsky F., Bereby-Meyer Y., (2024) Cognitive empathy boosts honesty in children and young adolescents, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 241, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105869. FULL TEXT
Shalev, I., Sharon, N., Uzefovsky, F., & Atzaba-Poria, N. (2023). Parental guilt and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior: The moderating role of parental reflective functioning. Journal of Family Psychology. FULL TEXT
Shalev, I., Eran, A., & Uzefovsky, F. Empathic disequilibrium as a new framework for understanding individual differences in psychopathology. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 2045. FULL TEXT
Kadosh‐Laor, T., Israeli‐Ran, L., Shalev, I., & Uzefovsky, F. (2023). Empathy and parenthood: The moderating role of maternal trait empathy on parental burnout. British Journal of Psychology FULL TEXT
Shalev I. S, Warrier V. CI, Greenberg D. CI, Smith P. CI, Allison C. CI, Baron-Cohen S. CI, Eran A. CI, Uzefovsky F. PI (2022) Reexamining empathy in autism: Empathic disequilibrium as a novel predictor of autism diagnosis and autistic traits. Autism Research. FULL TEXT
Gordon-Hacker, A. S, Bar-Shachar, Y. S, Egotubov, A. S, Uzefovsky F. PI, Gueron-Sela, N. PI (2022) Trajectories and Associations Between Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Household Chaos and Children's Adjustment through the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Four-Wave Longitudinal Study. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. FULL TEXT
Simantov, T., Pohl, A., Tsompanidis, A., Weir, E., Lombardo, M. V., Ruigrok, A., ... & Uzefovsky, F. (2021). Medical symptoms and conditions in autistic women. Autism, 13623613211022091. FULL TEXT
Lucca, K., Byers-Heinlein K., …., Uzefovsky F., Wang Y., Yen F., & Hamlin K. (2021) Infants’ Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large-Scale, Multi-Lab, Coordinated Replication Study. Provisional acceptance of a pre-registration report. Developmental Science.
Davidov, M. PI, Paz, Y S., Roth‐Hanania, R. C, Uzefovsky, F. C, Orlitsky, T. S, Mankuta, D. C, & Zahn‐Waxler, C C. (2020). Caring babies: Concern for others in distress during infancy. Developmental Science. doi:10.1111/desc.13016 FULL TEXT
Shalev, I., & Uzefovsky, F. (2020). Empathic disequilibrium in two different measures of empathy predicts autism traits in neurotypical population. Molecular Autism, 11(1). doi:10.1186/s13229-020-00362-1 FULL TEXT
Geva N., Uzefovsky F., & Levy-Tzedek S. (2020) Touching the social robot PARO reduces pain perception and salivary oxytocin levels. Scientific Reports, 10(1). FULL TEXT
Meidan, A., & Uzefovsky, F. (2020). Child maltreatment risk mediates the association between maternal and child empathy. Child Abuse & Neglect, 106, 104523. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104523 FULL TEXT
Abramson L., Uzefovsky, F., & Knafo-Noam, A. (2020). What do we (not) know about the genetics of empathy. Invited chapter in Decety, J. (Ed.). The social brain: A developmental perspective, MIT Press, Cambridge.
Simantov T., Lombardo M., Baron-Cohen S.,& Uzefovsky F. (in press) Self-other distinction in autism. Invited chapter in Ochsner K. & Gilead M (Eds.) The Neural Bases of Mentalizing. Springer Press.
Abramson, L., Uzefovsky, F., Toccaceli, V., & Knafo-Noam, A. (2020). The genetic and environmental origins of emotional and cognitive empathy: Review and meta-analyses of twin studies. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. FULL TEXT
Dinstein I. PI, Arazi A., … Uzefovsky F. C, … Golan O., & Meiri G PI. (2020) The National Autism Database of Israel: a Resource for Studying Autism Risk Factors, Biomarkers, Outcome Measures, and Treatment Efficacy. Journal of Molecular Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-020-01671-z
Uzefovsky, F., Paz, Y., & Davidov, M. (2019). Young infants are pro‐victims, but it depends on the context. British Journal of Psychology. doi:10.1111/bjop.12402 FULL TEXT
Uzefovsky, F., Bethlehem, R. A., Shamay-Tsoory, S., Ruigrok, A., Holt, R., Spencer, M., Chura, L., Warrier, V., Chakrabarti, B., Bullmore, E., Suckling, J., Floris D. & Baron-Cohen S. (2019). The oxytocin receptor gene predicts brain activity during an emotion recognition task in autism. Molecular autism, 10(1), 12. FULL TEXT
Warrier V., Grasby K., Uzefovsky F., Toro R., Smith P., Chakrabarti B., Khadake J., Mawbey-Adamson E., Litterman N., Hottenga J-J., Lubke G., Boomsma DI., Martin NG., Hatemi PK., Medland S., Hinds DA., Bourgeron T., and Baron-Cohen S. (2017). Genome-wide meta-analysis of cognitive empathy: heritability, and correlates with sex, neuropsychiatric conditions and cognition. Molecular Psychiatry. doi: 10.1038/mp.2017.122 FULL TEXT
Hassidim A., Korach T., Shreberk-Hassidim R., Thomaidou E, Uzefovsky F., Ayal S., Ariely D. (2017). Electronic medical records passwords, are they really private? Journal of Healthcare Informatics Research. doi: 10.4258/hir.2017.23.3.176.
Uzefovsky F. & Baron-Cohen S. (2016). Role taking. In Bornstein M.H. (ed.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Lifespan Human Development. SAGE Publications, Inc FULL TEXT
Uzefovsky F. & Knafo-Noam A. (2016). Empathy development throughout the lifespan. In Sommerville J. & Decety J., editors. Social Cognition Volume: Frontiers in Developmental Science Series (Psychology Press | Taylor and Francis Group). FULL TEXT
Uzefovsky F., Allison C., Smith P., Baron-Cohen S. (2016) The Go/No-Go task online: inhibitory control deficits in autism in a large sample. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. doi: 10.1007/s10803-016-2788-3 FULL TEXT
Uzefovsky F., Doring A., Knafo-Noam A. (2015) Values in middle childhood: social and genetic contributions. Social Development. doi: 10.1111/sode.12155 FULL TEXT
Decety J., Bartal IB-A., Uzefovsky F., Knafo-Noam A. (2015) Empathy as a driver of prosocial behaviour: Highly conserved neurobehavioural mechanisms across species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society – Biology. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0077 FULL TEXT
Ben-Israel S., Uzefovsky F., Knafo-Noam A. (2015) Dopamine D4 receptor polymorphism and sex interact to predict children’s affective knowledge. Frontiers in Psychology 6:846. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00846. FULL TEXT
Knafo-Noam A., Uzefovsky F., Israel S., Davidov M., Zahn-Waxler C. (2015) The prosocial personality and its facets: genetic and environmental architecture of mother-reported behavior of 7-year old twins. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 12. FULL TEXT
Uzefovsky F., Israel S., Shalev I., Knafo-Noam A., Ebstein RP. (2015) Oxytocin Receptor and Vasopressin receptor 1a genes are respectively associated with emotional and cognitive empathy. Hormones and Behavior, 67, 60-65. FULL TEXT
Israel-Cohen Y., Uzefovsky F., Kashy-Rosenbaum G., Kaplan O. (2015) Gratitude and PTSD symptoms among Israeli youth exposed to missile attacks: examining the mediation of positive and negative affect and life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology 10(2), 99-106. FULL TEXT
Uzefovsky F., Shalev I., Israel S., Edelman S., Raz Y., Perach-Bloom N., Mankuta D., Shamay-Tsoory S., Knafo A., Ebstein RP. (2014) The dopamine D4 receptor gene shows a gender-sensitive association with cognitive empathy: evidence from two independent samples. Emotion 14(4), 712-721. FULL TEXT
Mayseless N., Uzefovsky F., Shalev I., Ebstein RP., Shamay-Tsoory S. (2013) The association between creativity and the 7R polymorphism in the dopamine receptor D4 gene (DRD4). Frontiers in Neuroscience, 7, 502. FULL TEXT
Granot R., Uzefovsky F., Bogopolsky H., Ebstein RP. (2013) Effects of Arginine Vasopressin on musical short-term memory. Frontiers in Psychology 4. FULL TEXT
Ebsten RP., Shalev I., Israel S., Uzefovsky F., Avinun R., Knafo A., Mankuta D., Yirmiya N. (2013) Oxytocin and vasopressin in human sociality and social psychopathologies. In Oxytocin, Vasopressin and Related Peptides in the Regulation of Behavior (pp. 343-366). Cambridge University Press. FULL TEXT
Knafo A. & Uzefovsky F. (2013). Variation in empathy: the interplay of genetic and environmental factors. In The Infant mind: Origins of the Social Brain. (pp. 97-120). Guilford Publications, Inc. FULL TEXT
Pener-Tessler R., Avinun R., Uzefovsky F., Edelman S., Ebstein RP. Knafo A. (2013) Boys' serotonin transporter genotype affects maternal behavior through self-control: A case of evocative gene–environment correlation. Development and Psychopathology 25(01), 151-162. FULL TEXT
Edelman S., Shalev I., Uzefovsky F., Israel S., Knafo A., Kremer I., Mankuta D., Kaitz M., Ebsten RP. (2012) Epigenetic and genetic factors predict women’s salivary cortisol following a threat to the social self. PLoS ONE 7(11), e48597. FULL TEXT
Uzefovsky F., Shalev I., Israel S., Knafo A., Ebstein RP. (2012) Vasopressin selectively impairs 'mind reading' abilities in men. Psychoneuroendocrinology 37(4), 576-580. FULL TEXT
Shalev I., Israel S., Uzefovsky F., Gritsenko I., Kaitz M., Ebstein RP. (2011) Vasopressin needs an audience: neuropeptide elicited stress responses are contingent upon perceived social evaluative threats. Hormones and Behavior 60(1), 121-127. FULL TEXT
Perry A., Bentin S., Shalev I., Israel S., Uzefovsky F., Bar-On D., Ebstein RP. (2010) Intranasal oxytocin modulates EEG mu/alpha & beta rhythms during perception of biological motion. Psychoneuroendocrinology 35(10), 1446-1453. FULL TEXT
Ebstein RP., Israel S., Lerer E., Uzefovsky F., Shalev I., Gritsenko I., Riebold M., Salomon S., Yirmiya N. (2009) Arginine vasopressin and oxytocin modulate human social behavior. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1167(1), 87-102. FULL TEXT
Shalev, I., Lerer, E., Israel, S., Uzefovsky, F., Gritsenko, I., Mankuta, D., Kaitz, M. & Ebstein, R. P. (2009). Individual Differences in Reactivity to Social Stress in the Laboratory and Its Mediation by Common Genetic Polymorphisms. Stress-From Molecules to Behavior: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Neurobiology of Stress Responses, 93-116.
Israel S., Lerer E., Shalev I., Uzefovsky F., Riebold M., Laiba E., Bachner-Melman R., Maril A., Bornstein G., Knafo A., Ebstein RP. (2009) The oxytocin receptor (OXTR) contributes to prosocial fund allocations in the Dictator Game and the Social Value Orientations task. PLoS ONE 4(5), e5535.
Shalev, I., Lerer, E., Salomon, I., Uzefovsky, F., Gritsenko, I., Mankuta, D., Kaitz, M., Ebstein, R. P. (2009) BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is associated with HPA axis reactivity to psychological stress characterized by genotype and gender interactions. Psychoneuroendocrinology 34(3), 382-388.
Israel S., Lerer E., Shalev I., Uzefovsky F., Reibold M., Bachner-Melman R., Granot R., Bornstein G., Knafo A., Yirmiya N., Ebstein RP. (2008) Molecular genetic studies of the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor (AVPR1a) and the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) in human behaviour: from autism to altruism with some notes in between. In Neumann ID, Landgraf R, editors. (pp 435-449). Progress in Brain Research: Elsevier
Knafo, A., Israel, S., Darvasi, A., Bachner-Melman, R., Uzefovsky, F., Cohen, L., Feldman, E., Lerer, E., Laiba, E., Raz, Y. (2008) Individual differences in allocation of funds in the dictator game associated with length of the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor (AVPR1a) RS3 promoter-region and correlation between RS3 length and hippocampal mRNA. Genes Brain and Behavior 7(3), 266-75.
Shalev, I., Lerer, E., Israel, S., Uzefovsky, F., Gritsenko, I., Mankuta, D., Kaitz, M., Ebstein, R.P. (2008). Individual differences in reactivity to social stress in the laboratory and its mediation by common genetic polymorphisms. In: Stress-From Molecules to Behavior: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Neurobiology of Stress Responses. (pp. 93-116) Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.