HRCC Faculty Feature January

January 18, 2023

About him:  

Dr. Meshi investigates how our brains process socially communicated information. In particular, he is interested in how information conveyed through social media motivates us and influences our decisions—humans are drawn to positive, rewarding social information, such as “likes” on social media. Because of these reinforcing social rewards, people can develop excessive, problematic social media use, similar to substance use disorders. Social media platforms are a relatively new phenomenon, but they tap into social cognitive processes that have been hardwired into our brains over years of evolution. Dr. Meshi's research program focuses on the brain and behavior of both adults and adolescents to elucidate these processes. To answer his research questions, he conducts behavioral experiments both in the lab and online. He also conducts neuroimaging experiments with an MRI scanner to examine brain activation and structures related to social information processing, especially in relation to social media use. Ultimately, with the knowledge gained by this research, Dr. Meshi hopes to contribute to a better understanding of socially motivated human behavior. 

Dar Meshi earned his B.S. in biology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in New York. After his Ph.D., Dar spent some time in New York working at advertising agencies like Ogilvy and Mather. More recently, Dar was a postdoctoral research scientist at Freie Universität Berlin. 

Lab Recruitment: 

Are you interested in joining Dr. Meshi's research team? The lab is currently growing and they are looking for talented individuals to conduct research. To learn more about ongoing research, check out the social & media neuroscience lab website, and if interested, send an email to smnlab.msu.edu.   

Website: http://smnlab.msu.edu  

Selected Publication:  

  • Schuster, A. M., Cotten, S. R., & Meshi, D. (2022). Established Adults, Who Self-Identify as Smartphone and/or Social Media Overusers, Struggle to Balance Smartphone Use for Personal and Work Purposes. Journal of Adult Development, 1-12. 
  • Meshi, D., Freestone, D., & Özdem-Mertens, C. (2021). Problematic social media use is associated with the evaluation of both risk and ambiguity during decision making. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 10(3), 779-787. 
  • Meshi, D., & Ellithorpe, M. E. (2021). Problematic social media use and social support received in real-life versus on social media: Associations with depression, anxiety and social isolation. Addictive Behaviors, 119, 106949. 
  • Meshi, D., Turel, O., & Henley, D. (2020). Snapchat vs. Facebook: Differences in problematic use, behavior change attempts, and trait social reward preferences. Addictive behaviors reports, 12, 100294.