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Biography

From Harvard Medical School to Montclair State

In 2001, Julian Paul Keenan arrived from Harvard Medical School to start a modern, cutting edge neuroimaging laboratory at MSU. His time researching and teaching in the Neurology Unit focused on depression, self-awareness, acquired blindness, deception, evolution and of course, brain stimulation and brain imaging. At Harvard, he taught Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation courses, investigated clinical treatments, pioneered work in brain research and discovered the major role of the right hemisphere in cognitive functioning. Upon establishing the Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, he began collaborations around the world, focused in Germany, Japan, Ireland, Canada and the United Kingdom. 

However, the focus has always been student training and student excellence. For decades, the research and the student training has been rarely matched. His newest book Neuroscience on a Budget: The Essential Guide to Running a Lab, Securing Funding and Publishing your Research when Resources are Limited details this process and is being published by Cambridge University Press.

The Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory

Why did the self evolve and what are the neural correlates? Are Irish descendants neurologically damaged because their ancestors survived a famine? Does psilocybin work to treat disorders? How do we get more equality in neuroscience?
 

The questions Keenan asks are big questions. His group was first interested in self-face recognition and self-awareness wondering why the brain would give us a self.

Julian Paul Keenan received his PhD at SUNY Albany/Harvard Medical School and after a faculty position at Harvard Medical, he arrived at Montclair State. He has published in Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy, and is the founder of the journal Social Neuroscience. He has written/edited 12 books, and has mentored countless current MD, DO, PhD, DMD, DVT, PA, PsyD professionals.

Keenan discovered that the brain correlates of self-face recognition are mediated in the right hemisphere. His lab further determined the critical role the medial prefrontal cortex plays in deception and self-deception.

He was an early adopter of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for use in cognitive neuroscience and continues to employ it in his current research.

His work has reached the public through major media outlets including ABC, NBC, FOX, MSNBC, NPR etc...

Ireland and The Famine (An Gorta Mor)

In the late 1980's, Keenan began his in depth investigations into Ireland. The 'Famine', as it is often called, came to the forefront as the critical event in Irish history. Taking place in 1845, this event changed Ireland forever, to the point that even in terms of population, the country hasn't recovered. 

But what really happened genetically and epi-genetically? What happened in terms of neuroscience, medicine, and psychology? 

Keenan and his team has been investigating these questions and the answers are surprising. From the role of the potato to the neuroscience of genocide, the Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory is on the forefront of these investigations. 

Look for upcoming books, book chapters, and articles.

The Brain

Keenan's work was the first to discover the neural correlates of self-face recognition. From patients at Harvard Medical and Brigham Woman's Hospital, Keenan discovered the major role of the right dorsal lateral frontal cortex and temporal junction. From here, speculation, research and discoveries were made in terms of self-awareness. 

From Autism to Narcissism, the pursuit of how the brain made the self has intrigued Keenan. Along with amazing students, this works continues, touching on all dimensions of 'me' from deception to altruism. 

However, that is only a minor fraction of the lab's neuroscience. From the 'teacher's brain' to making one more attractive through brain stimulation, the lab continues to innovate neuroscience.

 

Education

Post-Doctoral        Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 1998

Ph.D.                     Ph.D. Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. 1988

The University at Albany: Biopsychology. May, 1998.    

Dissertation research completed at Harvard Medical School, 1997-1998.

M.A.                       The College at New Paltz: Psychology (General). May, 1994.

B.A.                        The College at New Paltz: Psychology. December, 1991. Departmental Valedictorian. With studies at Ealing College (West London University), London, England,1989.

 

H-Index (6/1/2026)

Citations       15,209

h-index         46      

i10-index       72      

 

Links

Julian Paul Keenan is the Director of the Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory which can be found at the following link: 
 

or Wikipedia

Recent Journal Publications

Keenan, J. P., Brenya, J., Cifuentes, N., & Albedawe, M.(2026). Self-Deception Must Remain Beyond Detection: The Effectiveness of Multimodal Deception. Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Platek, S., Keenan, J. P., Hughes, S., & Harison, M. (2026). In Memoriam: Gordon G. Gallup, Jr.. Reflections on the Man with the Mirror. Evolution and Human Behavior.

Skowron, M., Morante, A., Alvarez, A;, & Keenan, J. P. (2025). A Pilot Study of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and the Right Teaching Parietal JunctionbioRxiv: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.15.676361

Greenwood, D., Archer, Q., Ash, S., & Keenan, J. P. (2025). Connecting the Dots Between Narcissism and Fame Appeal:The Role of Imaginary Audience Fantasies. Current Issues in Personality Psychology.Jun 12;13(3):202-210. doi: 10.5114/cipp/197263.

Archer, Q., Brenya, J., Chavaria, K., Friest, A., Ahmad, N., Zorns, S., Vaidya, S., Shelanskey, T., Sierra, S., Ash, S., Balugus, B., Alvarez, A., Pardillo, M., Hamilton, R., & Keenan, J. P. (2024). The Sol Braiding Method for Handling Thick Hair During Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: An Address for Potential Bias in Brain Stimulation. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, (210), 10.3791/66001. https://doi.org/10.3791/66001

Keenan J. P. (2024). The Science and Philosophy of the Brain and the Future of Neuroscience. Biology, 13(8), 607. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13080607

Elias, S., Spivak, S., Alvarez, A., Feroll, M., Gili, A., & Keenan, J. P. (2024). Self-perception and self-recognition while looking in the mirror on psilocybin. Journal of Psychedelic Studies. 

Zorns, S., Sierzputowski, C., Ash, S., Skowron, M., Minervini, A., LaVarco, A., Pardillo, M., & Keenan, J. P. (2024). Attraction is altered via modulation of the medial prefrontal cortex without explicit knowledge. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 18, 1333733. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1333733

Ash, S., Greenwood, D., & Keenan, J. P. (2023). The Neural Correlates of Narcissism: Is there a Connection with Desire for Fame and Celebrity Worship? Brain Sciences, 13(10):1499. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13101499.

Gainotti, G., & Keenan, J. P. (2023). Emotional Lateralization and Psychopathology: Editorial. Frontiers in Psychology. 14:1231283. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1231283

Lawson, L., Spivak, S., Webber, H., Yasin, S., Goncalves, B., Tarrio, O., Ash, S., Ferrol, M., Ibragimov, I., Gili-Olivares, A., & Keenan, J. P. (2023). Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Alters Freewill Without Conscious Awareness. Biology, 12(11):1366. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12111366.

Minervini, A., LaVarco, A., Zorns, S.,  & Keenan, J.P. (2023). Excitatory Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Increases Social Anxiety. Brain Sciences, 3(7):989. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13070989

Zorns, S., Pardillo, M., Siertzputowski, C.,  Keenan, J. P. (2023). Oh It's Me Again: Deja Vu, the Brain, and Self-Awareness. Brain and Behavioral Science. 14;46:e383. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X23000201. 

Keenan J. P., O’Meara, J. Munakata, M., Vaidya, A, & Wambacq, I. (2022). On the Impact of the Self in a Complex Knowledge Network. International Journal of Complexity in Education,3 (2).

LaVarco A, Ahmad N, Archer Q, Pardillo M, Nunez Castaneda R, Minervini A, Keenan JP. (2022). Self-Conscious Emotions and the Right Fronto-Temporal and Right Temporal Parietal Junction. Brain Sciences, 12(2):138. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12020138.

Shelanskey, T.,  Chavarria, K., Pagano, K., Sierra, S., Martinez, V., Ahmad, N., Brenya, J., Janowska, A., Zorns, S., Straus, A., Mistretta, V., Balugas. B., Pardillo, M., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). Employing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in a Resources Limited Environement to Establish Brain Behavior Relations. Journal of Visualized Experiments.         

Yasin, S., Fierst, A., Keenan, H., Knapp, A., Gallione, K., Westlund, T., Kirschner, S., Vaidya, S., Qiu, C., Rougebec, A., Morss, E., Lebiedzinski, J., Dejean, M., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). Self-Enhancement and the Medial Prefrontal Cortex: The Convergence of Clinical and Experimental Findings. Brain Sciences, 12(8), 1103. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12081103.

​Ahmad, N.; Zorns, S.; Chavarria, K.; Brenya, J.; Janowska, A.; Keenan, J.P. (2021). Are We Right about the Right TPJ? A Review of Brain Stimulation and Social Cognition in the Right Temporal Parietal Junction. Symmetry, 13, 2219. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13112219

Stevens, S. Brenya, J., Chavarria, K. & Keenan, J. P. (2021). There’s No “I” in Team: Altruism as a Predictor of Team Success in the National Hockey League. The Bulletin of the New Jersey Academy of Science, 61(1), 22-30.

Janowska, A., Balugas, B., Pardillo, M., Mistretta, V., Chavarria, K., Brenya, J., Shelansky, T., Martinez, V., Pagano, K., Ahmad, N., Zorns, S., Straus, A., Sierra S., & Keenan, J. P. (2021). The Neurological Asymmetry of Self-Face Recognition. Symmetry, 13(7). 1135. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13071135.

Murray, E., Brenya, J., Chavarria, K., Kelly, K.J., Fierst, A., Ahmad., N, Anton, C., Shaffer, L., Kapila, K., Driever, L., Weaver, K., Dial, C., Crawford, M., Hartman, I., Infantino, T., Butler, F., Straus, A., Walker, S.L., Balugas, B., Pardillo, M., Goncalves, B., Keenan, J.P. (2021). Corticospinal Excitability during a Perspective Taking Task as Measured by TMS-Induced Motor Evoked Potentials. Brain Sciences, 11(4):513. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11040513

Books

Keenan, J. P. (Under Contract). A New History of the Great Hunger: How Science Can Explain the Irish Tragedy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Keenan, J. P. (In Press). Neuroscience on a Budget: The Essential Guide to Running a Lab, Securing Funding and Publishing your Research when Resources are Limited. Boston, MA, Cambridge University Press. Due out Late 2025 or Early 2026.

Guenther, K. & Keenan, J. P. (Eds.). (2024). When Animals Die: The Social and Biological Meaning of Animal Death. New York, NY: NYU Press

Keenan, J. P., Quevedo, K., & Hopkins, W. (Eds.). (2023):The Self-face and the Brain: How the Neuroscience of Mirror Recognition has Changed Psychology, Psychiatry, and Evolution. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis.

Ragin, D., & Keenan, J. P. (Eds.). (2020). Handbook of Research Methods in Health Psychology. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis.

Watanabe, S., Tsujii, T., & Keenan, J. P. (Eds.). (2007) Comparative Social Cognition. Tokyo, Japan:  Keio University Press

Platek, S., Keenan, J. P., & Shackleford, T. (Eds.). (2006). Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Feinberg, T. & Keenan, J. P (Eds.). (2005). The Lost Self: Pathologies of the Brain and Identity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press

Keenan, J. P. with Research & Education Associates (2005). The Best Test Preparation for the Armed Services Vocational Test Battery. Piscataway, NJ: Research & Education Associates. 

Keenan, J. P. with Gallup, G. G., & Falk, D. (2004). Paperback, re-titled and revised The Face in the Mirror: How we Know Who We Are. New York, NY: HarperCollins/Ecco.

Keenan, J. P. with Gallup, G. G., & Falk, D. (2003). The Face in the Mirror: The Search for the Origins of Consciousness. New York, NY: HarperCollins/Ecco.

Keenan, J. P. with Gallup, G. G., & Falk, D. (2005). Japanese Translation of The Face in the Mirror: The Search for the Origins of Consciousness. New York, NY: HarperCollins/Ecco.

Keenan, J. P. with Gallup, G. G., & Falk, D. (2005). German Translation of The Face in the Mirror: The Search for the Origins of Consciousness. New York, NY: HarperCollins/Ecco. Das Gesicht im Spiegel: Auf der Suche nach dem Ursprung des Bewusstseins. Munchen, Germany: Ernst Reinhardt Verlag.

Recent Book Chapters

Keenan, J. P., Gili-Olivares, A., Albedawe, M. (In Press). The Neuroscience of The Great Hunger: Depression and the Role of Tryptophan and Serotonin. In Kinealy, C., & Moran, G. (Eds.), Handbook of the Irish Famine, New York, NY: Routledge.

Janowska, A., Balugas, B., Pardillo, M., Mistretta, V., Chavarria, K., Brenya, J., Shelansky, T., Martinez, V., Pagano, K., Ahmad, N., Zorns, S., Straus, A., Sierra S., & Keenan, J. P. (2023). The Neurological Asymmetry of Self-Face Recognition. In Palliard, T., & Singh, S. (Eds.), Neuroscience, Neurophysiology and Symmetry. Basel, CH, MDPI Books.

Christiana, W., Tucker, S., Malcolm, S., Johnson, A., Ahmad, N. & Keenan, J. P. (2023). Evidence for Self-Recognition in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In Keenan, J. P., Hopkins, W. & Quevedo, K. (Eds.). Self-Face Recognition and the Brain

How the Neuroscience of Mirror Recognition Has Changed Psychology, Psychiatry, and Evolution, New York, NY: Routledge.

Keenan, J. P., Quevedo, ., & Hopkins, W.  (2023). Introduction. In Keenan, J. P., Hopkins, W. & Quevedo, K. (Eds.).Self-Face Recognition and the Brain

How the Neuroscience of Mirror Recognition Has Changed Psychology, Psychiatry, and Evolution, New York, NY: Routledge.

Recent Abstracts & Posters

Cifuentes, N., Ibragimov, A.,  Dinome, D.,  Alcantara, A.,  Taupper, C., Giraldopuerta, A. & Keenan, J. P. (2026). Effects Of Occipital (V1) Tms On Motor Performance Following Cognitive Guided Visualization, , 97th Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Dinome, D., Lavarco, A., Minervini, A., Ash, S., Zorns, S., Pardillo, M., Sierzputowski, C., & Keenan, J. P. (2026.). Absence of mirror recognition in northern white-cheeked gibbons (Nomascus leucogenys). 97th Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Gili Olivares, A., Zanca, V., Rivera, L., & Morante, A., & Keenan, J. P. (2026.). Light, sound, seizures: A low-cost model for teaching neural plasticity with Drosophila. 97th Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Rivera, L., Elias, S., Spivak, S., Alvarez, A., Gili Olivares, A., Ferrol, M., & Keenan, J. P. (2026). Self-perception and self-recognition while looking in the mirror on psilocybin. 97th Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Uslu, A., Dinome, D., Gili Olivares, A., & Keenan, J. P. (2026.). The absence of evidence for contagious yawning in white-cheeked gibbons (Nomascus leucogenys). 97th Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Keenan, J. P.  (2024). Getting it done at a non-R1: Succeeding in Cognitive Neuroscience in a Resource-Limited Environment Cognitive Neuroscience Society. Toronto, Canada.

Ferrol, M., Ibragimov, A., Straus, A., Alvarez, A., Ash, S., & Keenan, J. P. (2024). The Cycle of Lying. Eastern Psychological Association. Philadelphia, PA.

Oakes, J., Lawson, L., Hambri, N., & Keenan, J. P. (2024). All you Need it Lobe: How Music and TMS Influence Social Pain. Eastern Psychological Association. Philadelphia, PA.

Olivares, A., Pardillo, M., Ash, S., Ibragimov, A., & Keenan, J. P. (2024). Seeing the Best Possible Future Possible Following TMS Delivered to the DLPFC. Eastern Psychological Association. Philadelphia, PA.

Skowron, M., Olivares, A., Ash, S., Ferrol, M., Archer, Q., Ibragimov, A., & Keenan, J. P. (2024). Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and the Right Parietal Temporal Junction (RTPJ). Eastern Psychological Association. Philadelphia, PA.

Tauper, C., Skowrin, M., Ahmad, N., & Keenan, J. P. (2024). The Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Depression. Eastern Psychological Association. Philadelphia, PA.

Zanca, V., Zorns, S., Seirzputowski, C., & Keenan, J. P. (2024). TMS and Attraction. Eastern Psychological Association. Philadelphia, PA.

Archer, Q., Duran, G., Chavarria, K., Brenya, J., & Keenan, J. P. (2023). Preventing Potential Racial Biasing Employing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Eastern Psychological Association. Philadelphia, PA.

Freist, A., Vaidya, S., & Keenan, J. P. (2023). Abstraction and Representational Art and Music in the Brain: A TMS Study. Eastern Psychological Association. New York. NY.

Archer, Q., LaVarco, A., Ahmad, N., Pardillo, M., Nunez-Castaneda, R., Minervini, A., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). Self-Conscious Emotions and the Right Fronto-Temporal and Right Temporal Parietal Junction. Fifth Annual Darwin Day, Montclair, NJ.

DePryk, K., Wambacq, I., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). Developing Executive Functions through Challenge Based Learning in Higher Education. Society for Technology and Teacher Education. San Diego, CA.

Fierst, A., Vaidya, S., Keenan, H., Qui, C., Galione, K., Keenan, J. P. (2022). Preventing potential racial biasing in Scalp-based imaging using braiding methods. Eastern Psychological Association, New York, NY, 39.

Gili, A., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). Psilocybin, the Self, and the Mirror. 1st  Annual Neuroscience of Psychedelics  Conference. Montclair, NJ.

Lavarco, A., Duran, G., Zorns, S., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). The Special Brain: Subclinical Grandiose Narcissism and Self-Face Recognition in the Right Prefrontal Cortex.  The ����vlog Neuroscience Conference. Montclair, NJ. 

Lawson, L., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). The Effect of Enclosure on Stress in Red Pandas (Ailurus fulgens). 1st  Annual Neuroscience of Psychedelics  Conference. Montclair, NJ.

Martinez, V., Pagano, K., Ahmad, N., Nunez-Castaneda, R., Spivak, S., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). Am i my politics, religion, both, or neither? A Transcranial magnetic Study. Eastern Psychological Association, New York, NY, 53.

Martinez, V., Pagano, K., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (MPFC) in the Processing of Abstract and Representational Art and Music. Society of the Neuroscience of Creativity.

Nunez-Castaneda, R., Ahmad, N., Martinez, V., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). The potential role of the medial prefrontal cortex in self-deception & affect. Eastern Psychological Association, New York, NY, 53.

Qui, C., Keenan, H., Vaidya, S., Galione, K., Fierst, A., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). Surveillance and color: a change blindness Study. Eastern Psychological Association, New York, NY, 39.

Siertzputowski, C., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). The Canine Self-awareness Dog Inventory. 1st  Annual Neuroscience of Psychedelics  Conference. Montclair, NJ.

Spivak, S., Martinez, V., Ahmad, N., Pagano, K., Nunez-Castaneda, R., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). The perception of free will in a forced choice task. Eastern Psychological Association, New York, NY, 53.

Spivak, S., Farrell, M., Pagano, K., Nunez-Castaneda, R., Ahmad, N., Martinez, V., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). Justifying One’s Choices: The Misattribution of Agency. Fifth Annual Darwin Day, Montclair, NJ.

Zorns, S., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). Attraction and the Prefrontal Cortex. 1st  Annual Neuroscience of Psychedelics  Conference. Montclair, NJ.
 

Education

• BA, The State University of New York at New Paltz 
• MA, The State University of New York at New Paltz 
• PhD, The State University of New York at Albany with dissertation research completed at Harvard Medical School

Research

• Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging
• Irish Famine Studies
• Self-awareness and theory of mind 
• Deception and deception detection 
• Evolutionary cognitive neuroscience