About

Anjan Chatterjee, M.D., is a Professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania and holds additional positions as a Professor at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and the Center for Functional Neuroimaging at the same institution. He is also the Chair of Neurology at Pennsylvania Hospital. His research focuses on the neural bases of spatial attention and representation, the neural basis of language, and the relationship of space and language. His work investigates how patients with focal brain damage, particularly to the right hemispheres, experience disturbances in spatial awareness and perception, including phenomena such as unawareness of the contralesional space and the awareness of their own bodies. He employs behavioral studies and functional neuroimaging techniques to understand how different sensory modalities contribute to spatial representations, how attention influences perception, and how focal brain damage can produce bizarre disturbances of awareness. Additionally, his research explores the neural bases for language and its relation to other cognitive systems, especially how concepts are organized spatially and how sensory and motor systems relate to language encoding. Dr. Chatterjee's work aims to understand the neural mechanisms underlying spatial cognition, language, and neuroethics, contributing significantly to cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Cognitive psychology
• Medicine
• Neuroscience
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Who Do We Remember? Facial Anomalies, Race, and Sex in Social Categorization

  Behavioral Sciences · 2026-03-20

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Social categorization often occurs automatically, shaping whom we notice, remember, and group together. The present study examined how visual cues indicative of sex, race, and facial anomaly guide spontaneous categorization, testing the hypothesis that anomaly-based categorization is more malleable than categorization by race or sex. Using a within-subjects Who-Said-What (WSW) paradigm, participants viewed faces that varied by sex, race, and presence of a facial scar, each paired with self-descriptive statements. A surprise recall task required matching statements to faces. Categorization strength was computed from recall errors. Participants showed the strongest categorization by sex, weak categorization by race, and very weak categorization by facial anomaly. Regression analyses revealed that scar-based categorization was negatively associated with sex- and race-based categorization. When sex or race was strongly encoded, scar-based categorization was sharply diminished, and the cue appeared only under relatively weak and infrequent conditions. Thus, although visually salient, facial anomalies did not function as an independent or stable basis for social grouping. These findings demonstrate that the categorization system prioritizes evolutionarily primary cues such as sex, treats race as a comparatively weaker cue, and assigns facial anomalies to a minimal and malleable role. Overall, the results highlight the fragile, low-priority, and easily overshadowed nature of anomaly-based categorization in social memory. Importantly, the fragility of scar-based categorization suggests that negative evaluations of anomalous faces (anomalous-is-bad stereotyping) are not automatically translated into robust memories or categorical organization.

  PublisherDOI

• Neuroaesthetics

  MIT Press eBooks · 2026-02-18

  book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cement Production Technology

  2026-04-08 · 2 citations

  book1st authorCorresponding

  This comprehensive guide covers the complete cement production process—from raw material extraction to finished products. The new edition incorporates recent technological advances while maintaining focus on established practices and underlying principles. Key updates include alternative fuels and raw materials, carbon capture and utilization trends, and the emerging low-carbon cement sector. A new chapter explores modern automated cement plants, covering production scale, operational complexities, integrated resource planning, and manufacturing execution systems. Key Features: Covers cement production technology including process flow from the extraction of raw materials to the bagging and shipment of cement Explains back-up theoretical inputs behind the industrial practices Highlights the roadmap for elevating global cement manufacturing to Industry 4.0 standard with digitalization Illustrates process-related quality control practices Explores advances in the use of urban and industrial wastes in cement manufacturing This book is aimed at cement industry professionals and related researchers.

  PublisherDOI

• Going Beyond Beauty: Characterizing the Complexity of Aesthetic Experiences

  Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2026-04-01

  articleSenior author

  Aesthetic experiences have traditionally been evaluated using judgments of beauty and liking. Prior research indicates greater agreement on aesthetic judgments of natural stimuli, such as landscapes and faces, than human-made artifacts like artworks. This variability underscores the subjectivity of art appraisals. This study leverages recent theoretical and methodological advances in empirical aesthetics to investigate the complexity of aesthetic experiences by evaluating individual agreement across impacts more nuanced than global beauty and liking judgments. We hypothesized that complex appraisals are more variable than simpler affective ones. To test this, we employed a comprehensive taxonomy of cognitive and emotional impacts-positive affect, negative affect, immersion/motivation, and epistemic transformation. We also examined how levels of agreement vary by viewing context: museum in-person versus digital online. Participants rated artworks presented in both gallery and digital contexts. Using the mean-minus-one method, we measured individual agreement across aesthetic impact categories. Agreement was highest for traditional preference assessments (liking and beauty), while higher-order impacts, particularly immersion/motivation and epistemic transformation, showed lower agreement. Viewing context did not significantly affect agreement, suggesting enduring aesthetic evaluations. This study highlights that traditional aesthetic evaluations show high agreement, while higher-order impacts are more variable.

  PublisherDOI

• Artists’ morality colors aesthetic judgments of their paintings.

  Psychology of Aesthetics Creativity and the Arts · 2026-02-12

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Exploring Film as Popular Art Promoting Scarred Villain Trope

  Empirical Studies of the Arts · 2025-10-22

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Cinema is a powerful art form that shapes social norms. One enduring trope is the “scarred villain,” where facial differences signify moral corruption. Recent advocacy has challenged this stereotype, suggesting a shift in how anomalies are portrayed. To assess trends, we analyzed top-grossing films over four decades in the U.S. and two in India. While the number of villains with facial differences remained stable, heroes with such features increased. Country of origin did not predict the presence of facial anomalies in either heroes or villains. These features were most common in action and fantasy genres. Villains’ facial differences tended to be larger and more visually prominent than those of heroes. Men were more often depicted with facial anomalies than women. We also explored whether mature-rated films were more likely to include such portrayals but found no evidence. Our findings emphasize cinema's role in reinforcing stereotypes and call for critical reflection.

  PublisherDOI

• Exploring Film as Popular Art Promoting Scarred Villain Trope

  2025-06-20

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  As an influential art form, cinema holds the power to shape social norms. One of the most enduring cinematic conventions is the “scarred villain” trope, wherein facial differences as scars convey moral corruption. Recent advocacy efforts challenge this trope, implying a possible evolution in portrayals of facial differences. We analyzed top-grossing films, spanning four decades in the United States and two decades in India, to assess how facial differences are represented. Contrary to expectations, the scarred villain trope has intensified over time. This escalation occurred alongside increased non-villainous characters with anomalies. Country of origin did not predict the presence of facial differences in villains or heroes, but the “Action” and “Fantasy” genres most frequently depicted villains with anomalies. Furthermore, villains’ facial differences involved more facial subunits than heroes. These findings underscore how cinematic art can reinforce damaging stereotypes, highlighting the need for critical reflection on the cultural power of film.

  PublisherDOI

• The NeuroDesign/NeuroArchitecture Index (NDIX): Development of a method to evaluate the impact of the built environment on health, cognitive performance, and wellbeing

  2025-10-10

  articleOpen access

  The built environment shapes physical and mental health. In this paper we use the term mental health as an overarching construct, defined here as encompassing both cognitive performance and affective wellbeing, explored in relation to environmental factors. Evidence across neuroscience, psychology, physiology, and public health shows that spatial properties of our environment can modulate stress physiology, affect, attention, memory, and social cognition. Yet, no standardised instrument translates these multisensory dynamics into measures that quantify environmental qualities, enabling linking them to context-specific outcomes. Certification schemes (e.g., WELL, LEED, BREEAM) have advanced practice, but do not directly measure how specific spatial or contextual features impact psychology or physiology. Here, we introduce the NeuroDesign/NeuroArchitecture Index (NDIX), a theoretically grounded framework for evaluating how the built environment impacts mental health. The NDIX operationalises six domains; safety and accessibility, cognitive capacity, offering possibilities for sensory experiences, emotional states, social experiences, and naturalness. It integrates a domain-referenced self-report of user experience with standardised profiling of environmental features, generating domain specific and overall percentage scores for research and practice. The first pilot in a controlled indoor environment showed feasibility and theory-consistent sensitivity, providing initial support for the NDIX framework. Future research will extend validation across office, educational, and urban contexts and incorporate biomarkers (e.g. from wearables, neuroimaging).

  PublisherDOI

• Reader in face-reading: viewer’s empathy and sensitivity to disgust impacts the first impressions of anomalous faces

  Motivation and Emotion · 2025-06-07 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract People “read” others’ inner traits based on their faces. They attribute positive traits to those who are more attractive (beauty-is-good) and negative to those with facial anomalies (anomalous-is-bad). But how do the “reader’s” traits impact this process? Do more empathetic “readers” and those sensitive to disgust judge faces differently? We tested the hypothesis that viewers’ psychological attributes affect judgments of people with facial scars and palsies. We predicted that participants who are less empathic and more sensitive to pathogen disgust would judge more harshly the warmth and competence of people with anomalous faces and also dehumanize them. We conducted an online study with 1493 participants, who assessed 31 psychological traits of anomalous faces presented in photographs. Using principal component analysis, we found that empathic concern did not affect impressions of warmth and dehumanization but did matter for competence. More empathetic participants saw anomalous faces as more competent. Sensitivity to pathogen disgust did not affect warmth and dehumanization but did affect competence. Higher sensitivity was related to higher competence assessments. Additionally, those with higher personal distress judged anomalous faces as less warm and competent and dehumanized them more. Those with higher sensitivity to sexual disgust judged faces as less warm, more competent, and dehumanized them more. We conclude that the question “who the reader is?” is crucial when studying “face-reading”.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Curved foreground elements enhance aesthetic appeal of interior spaces

  Journal of Vision · 2025-07-15

  articleOpen access

  Curvature is a prominent visual feature that influences aesthetic experiences across various contexts. Particularly within architectural design, understanding how curvature impacts perceptual and emotional responses can inform both the aesthetics field and practical architectural design applications. This study investigated the effects of background and foreground curvature on aesthetic judgements of interior architectural spaces. In an online study using a 2 (Background: curvy vs. angular) x 2 (Foreground: curvy vs. angular) within-subjects design, participants evaluated 56 digitally rendered indoor spaces on measures of liking, beauty, fascination, coherence, hominess, privateness, and time they would spend in the space. Emotional responses to each space were also assessed using a subset of words from the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). Our findings revealed that spaces with curved elements were consistently rated higher across multiple dimensions. For liking, spaces with curvy background elements were rated significantly higher than angular ones, F(1, 29) = 6.04, p = 0.02. Spaces with curvy foreground elements were also rated higher, F(1, 29) = 18.95, p < 0.001. Similar effects were observed for beauty, fascination, hominess, and coherence. Interactions between background and foreground curvature highlighted the dominant role of foreground features in shaping aesthetic preferences. Curvy foregrounds consistently drove higher ratings, and their effects were further enhanced when paired with curvy backgrounds, suggesting that foreground curvature plays a leading role in influencing aesthetic responses. Analyses of the PANAS words demonstrated that curvy spaces elicited more positive affect (e.g., “uplifted”) and less negative affect (e.g., “stressed”), supporting the biophilic design hypothesis that nature-like visual features, such as curvy elements, in architecture result in positive affective experiences. These results highlight the benefits of curvy elements in architectural design, and offer insights into how visual features of both background and foreground elements interact to shape aesthetic and emotional experiences.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Figurative Language in Aphasic and Health Participants

  NIH · $340k · 2013–2018

• NIH Grant R01NS037539

  NIH · $821k · 2003

• NIH Grant R01DC004817

  NIH · $1.7M · 2008

• NIH Grant R01DC008779

  NIH · $1.6M · 2012

• NIH Grant K08NS001702

  NIH · $436k · 1999

Frequent coauthors

• Clifford I. Workman

  90 shared

• Eileen R. Cardillo

  University of Pennsylvania

  53 shared

• Stacey Humphries

  38 shared

• Alexander P. Christensen

  37 shared

• Alexander Kranjec

  34 shared

• Nathaniel Klooster

  Moss Rehabilitation Hospital

  30 shared

• Kristopher M Smith

  27 shared

• Coren L. Apicella

  University of Pennsylvania

  27 shared