As an evolutionary psychologist, Nathan's work focuses primarily on the origin and evolution of human intelligence; in particular, the evolution and biological function of human language. Broadly speaking, Nathan is interested in understanding why language is unique to humans, using theories and methods based in social psychology, anthropology, linguistics, discourse analysis, and social network analysis. More specifically, his recent work has been investigating information and misinformation transmission, social bonding, coalitionary cognition, and mental immunity against misinformation.
Education
DPhil, Experimental Psychology (2017, University of Oxford)
MSc, Evolution of Language and Cognition (2006, University of Edinburgh)
BA, Psychology, Philosophy, and Evolutionary Biology (2000, University of Tennessee)
Publications
Oesch, N. (2024). Social brain perspectives on the social and evolutionary neuroscience of human language. Brain Sci. 14(2), 1-24.
Oesch, N. (2018). Social brain hypothesis. In H. Callan (Ed.), International encyclopedia of anthropology (pp. 1-11). New York: John Wiley.
Specialization
evolution of intelligence; social cognitive neuroscience; evolution of language; conversational dialogue; social network analysis; evolutionary linguistics; evolutionary musicology; social bonding; information; misinformation; mental immunity
Email: nathan.oesch@utoronto.ca
X: @nathanoesch