Our guest in this episode is Dr Pascal Vrticka. Pascal is a social neuroscientist at the University of Essex who investigates the behavioural, biological, and brain basis of human social interaction. Two main questions that Pascal pursues in his research are 1) how does the human brain process social (versus non-social) information, and 2) how do romantic partners and parents with their children get "in sync" with each other when they solve problems together or when they simply talk with each other. We spoke with Pascal recently about his work and on a range of topics from the social neuroscience evidence showing just how important social connections are for humans, to how we can cope and adapt in a world that – at least for now – requires us to distance ourselves from those important social connections. Host: Dr Philip Cozzolino