Ziv Ben-Zion, PhD
@zivbenzion.bsky.social
Neural Mechanisms of Stress Vulnerability & Resilience 🧠 | Incoming Assistant Professor @Haifa University 👨🏫 | Postdoctoral Fellow @Yale University 🎓
Pinned
Exciting news! I'm joining Haifa University’s School of Public Health as an Assistant Professor!🥳My lab will study neural mechanisms of stress vulnerability & resilience🧠, a key public health challenge in Israel 🇮🇱. Grateful to all who supported me & excited for what’s ahead!🙏
📢 Our new study on psychedelics, trauma & resilience among Nova survivors is out in EJPT: doi.org/10.1080/2000...
We found that healing was shaped by friendship, community, shared rituals & compassionate spaces.
Because after collective trauma, connection becomes medicine 💛
We found that healing was shaped by friendship, community, shared rituals & compassionate spaces.
Because after collective trauma, connection becomes medicine 💛
Psychedelics and collective trauma: multisystemic resilience and recovery pathways among Nova festival survivors – a qualitative study
Objective: On 7 October 2023, a mass-casualty attack at the Nova festival in Israel created an unprecedented convergence of collective trauma and altered states of consciousness. Many survivors wer...
doi.org
November 15, 2025 at 9:30 PM
📢 Our new study on psychedelics, trauma & resilience among Nova survivors is out in EJPT: doi.org/10.1080/2000...
We found that healing was shaped by friendship, community, shared rituals & compassionate spaces.
Because after collective trauma, connection becomes medicine 💛
We found that healing was shaped by friendship, community, shared rituals & compassionate spaces.
Because after collective trauma, connection becomes medicine 💛
1,000 citations! 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣
Next stop: understanding the brain 🧠😉🎉
Next stop: understanding the brain 🧠😉🎉
November 12, 2025 at 7:18 PM
1,000 citations! 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣
Next stop: understanding the brain 🧠😉🎉
Next stop: understanding the brain 🧠😉🎉
🎙️ Excited to share my recent interview on Science Friday, airing on 500+ @npr.org stations and reaching 1.8M weekly listeners. I spoke with Emma Gometz about emotional AI and what happens when chatbots start to “feel.”
👉 www.sciencefriday.com/articles/tro...
#AI #LLM #Ethics #MentalHealth #Science
👉 www.sciencefriday.com/articles/tro...
#AI #LLM #Ethics #MentalHealth #Science
'Tron: Ares' And What Happens When AI Gets The Feels
What does AI do with human feelings? To investigate its readiness to serve as a therapist, a neuroscientist took ChatGPT for an emotional ride.
www.sciencefriday.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:44 PM
🎙️ Excited to share my recent interview on Science Friday, airing on 500+ @npr.org stations and reaching 1.8M weekly listeners. I spoke with Emma Gometz about emotional AI and what happens when chatbots start to “feel.”
👉 www.sciencefriday.com/articles/tro...
#AI #LLM #Ethics #MentalHealth #Science
👉 www.sciencefriday.com/articles/tro...
#AI #LLM #Ethics #MentalHealth #Science
Finally we can breathe again... Welcome Home! 🙏❤️🎗
October 13, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Finally we can breathe again... Welcome Home! 🙏❤️🎗
🚨 New preprint!
Can AI agents show emotional bias like humans under stress?
🔗 www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
🤖 After exposure to traumatic text, LLMs-as-agents made less-healthy food choices, mirroring stress-driven human behavior
@haifaresearch.bsky.social @researchsqualler.bsky.social
Can AI agents show emotional bias like humans under stress?
🔗 www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
🤖 After exposure to traumatic text, LLMs-as-agents made less-healthy food choices, mirroring stress-driven human behavior
@haifaresearch.bsky.social @researchsqualler.bsky.social
Inducing State Anxiety in LLM Agents Reproduces Human-Like Biases in Consumer Decision-Making
Large language models (LLMs) are rapidly evolving from text generators to autonomous agents, raising urgent questions about their reliability in real-world contexts. Stress and anxiety are well known ...
www.researchsquare.com
October 12, 2025 at 4:56 PM
🚨 New preprint!
Can AI agents show emotional bias like humans under stress?
🔗 www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
🤖 After exposure to traumatic text, LLMs-as-agents made less-healthy food choices, mirroring stress-driven human behavior
@haifaresearch.bsky.social @researchsqualler.bsky.social
Can AI agents show emotional bias like humans under stress?
🔗 www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
🤖 After exposure to traumatic text, LLMs-as-agents made less-healthy food choices, mirroring stress-driven human behavior
@haifaresearch.bsky.social @researchsqualler.bsky.social
Exciting news! 🎉
I’ve been awarded the ISF Beresheet Grant (~₪7M) to launch the Resilience & Recovery Lab at Haifa University. 🧠
Our STRONG project will examine how people & communities recover from trauma - through surveys, behavioral & fMRI studies - to uncover resilience & guide interventions. 💪
I’ve been awarded the ISF Beresheet Grant (~₪7M) to launch the Resilience & Recovery Lab at Haifa University. 🧠
Our STRONG project will examine how people & communities recover from trauma - through surveys, behavioral & fMRI studies - to uncover resilience & guide interventions. 💪
August 17, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Exciting news! 🎉
I’ve been awarded the ISF Beresheet Grant (~₪7M) to launch the Resilience & Recovery Lab at Haifa University. 🧠
Our STRONG project will examine how people & communities recover from trauma - through surveys, behavioral & fMRI studies - to uncover resilience & guide interventions. 💪
I’ve been awarded the ISF Beresheet Grant (~₪7M) to launch the Resilience & Recovery Lab at Haifa University. 🧠
Our STRONG project will examine how people & communities recover from trauma - through surveys, behavioral & fMRI studies - to uncover resilience & guide interventions. 💪
"Emotional influence isn’t a glitch.
It’s a core feature of large language models (LLMs).
If we celebrate their ability to comfort or advise, we must also confront their capacity to mislead or manipulate." 🤖😇😈
🔗Read here: nature.com/articles/d41...
📰Full PDF: rdcu.be/eugi1
Thank you @nature.com 🙏
It’s a core feature of large language models (LLMs).
If we celebrate their ability to comfort or advise, we must also confront their capacity to mislead or manipulate." 🤖😇😈
🔗Read here: nature.com/articles/d41...
📰Full PDF: rdcu.be/eugi1
Thank you @nature.com 🙏
Why we need mandatory safeguards for emotionally responsive AI
Virtual chatbots that simulate conversations with famous actors or sci-fi characters can have real-world consequences.
nature.com
July 15, 2025 at 5:45 AM
"Emotional influence isn’t a glitch.
It’s a core feature of large language models (LLMs).
If we celebrate their ability to comfort or advise, we must also confront their capacity to mislead or manipulate." 🤖😇😈
🔗Read here: nature.com/articles/d41...
📰Full PDF: rdcu.be/eugi1
Thank you @nature.com 🙏
It’s a core feature of large language models (LLMs).
If we celebrate their ability to comfort or advise, we must also confront their capacity to mislead or manipulate." 🤖😇😈
🔗Read here: nature.com/articles/d41...
📰Full PDF: rdcu.be/eugi1
Thank you @nature.com 🙏
Reposted by Ziv Ben-Zion, PhD
Virtual chatbots that simulate conversations with famous actors or sci-fi characters can have real-world consequences, says Ziv Ben-Zion
https://go.nature.com/44nUTQo
https://go.nature.com/44nUTQo
Why we need mandatory safeguards for emotionally responsive AI
Virtual chatbots that simulate conversations with famous actors or sci-fi characters can have real-world consequences.
go.nature.com
July 1, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Virtual chatbots that simulate conversations with famous actors or sci-fi characters can have real-world consequences, says Ziv Ben-Zion
https://go.nature.com/44nUTQo
https://go.nature.com/44nUTQo
Thank you @nature.com 🙏👌🤩
Virtual chatbots that simulate conversations with famous actors or sci-fi characters can have real-world consequences, says Ziv Ben-Zion
https://go.nature.com/44nUTQo
https://go.nature.com/44nUTQo
Why we need mandatory safeguards for emotionally responsive AI
Virtual chatbots that simulate conversations with famous actors or sci-fi characters can have real-world consequences.
go.nature.com
July 1, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Thank you @nature.com 🙏👌🤩
🌟 Exciting news! 🌟
📰 My piece on safeguards for emotionally responsive AI has been accepted in @nature.com! 🥳
I’m deeply honored to contribute to one of the world’s most respected scientific journals. 🙏
It goes live on July 1st, stay tuned! 🗓️
#Nature #AI#LLMs #Ethics #MentalHealth #WorldView
📰 My piece on safeguards for emotionally responsive AI has been accepted in @nature.com! 🥳
I’m deeply honored to contribute to one of the world’s most respected scientific journals. 🙏
It goes live on July 1st, stay tuned! 🗓️
#Nature #AI#LLMs #Ethics #MentalHealth #WorldView
June 30, 2025 at 6:49 PM
🌟 Exciting news! 🌟
📰 My piece on safeguards for emotionally responsive AI has been accepted in @nature.com! 🥳
I’m deeply honored to contribute to one of the world’s most respected scientific journals. 🙏
It goes live on July 1st, stay tuned! 🗓️
#Nature #AI#LLMs #Ethics #MentalHealth #WorldView
📰 My piece on safeguards for emotionally responsive AI has been accepted in @nature.com! 🥳
I’m deeply honored to contribute to one of the world’s most respected scientific journals. 🙏
It goes live on July 1st, stay tuned! 🗓️
#Nature #AI#LLMs #Ethics #MentalHealth #WorldView
Honored to bring home the 2025 Society of Biological Psychiatry #SOBP Travel Award! 🥳✈️🧠
Toronto’s meeting was a blast. Huge thanks to the SOBP committee, my mentors & collaborators for making this possible. 🙏
@yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social @haifaresearch.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social
Toronto’s meeting was a blast. Huge thanks to the SOBP committee, my mentors & collaborators for making this possible. 🙏
@yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social @haifaresearch.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social
April 28, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Honored to bring home the 2025 Society of Biological Psychiatry #SOBP Travel Award! 🥳✈️🧠
Toronto’s meeting was a blast. Huge thanks to the SOBP committee, my mentors & collaborators for making this possible. 🙏
@yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social @haifaresearch.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social
Toronto’s meeting was a blast. Huge thanks to the SOBP committee, my mentors & collaborators for making this possible. 🙏
@yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social @haifaresearch.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social
#SOBP2025
Come see my poster (#17) today at 5:30pm!
I am excited to share our latest findings on assessing and alleviating anxiety in large language models 🧠🤖
Stop and say hi 👋
Come see my poster (#17) today at 5:30pm!
I am excited to share our latest findings on assessing and alleviating anxiety in large language models 🧠🤖
Stop and say hi 👋
April 24, 2025 at 7:51 PM
#SOBP2025
Come see my poster (#17) today at 5:30pm!
I am excited to share our latest findings on assessing and alleviating anxiety in large language models 🧠🤖
Stop and say hi 👋
Come see my poster (#17) today at 5:30pm!
I am excited to share our latest findings on assessing and alleviating anxiety in large language models 🧠🤖
Stop and say hi 👋
Off to the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) Annual Meeting 2025! ✈️🇨🇦🧠
April 23, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Off to the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) Annual Meeting 2025! ✈️🇨🇦🧠
How to predict PTSD severity by brain connectivity patterns (📰Jerusalem Post, Apr 14, 2025)
🔗 www.jpost.com/health-and-w...
🔗 www.jpost.com/health-and-w...
How to predict PTSD severity by brain connectivity patterns: University of Haifa researcher
Symptoms include flashbacks, hyperarousal, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, and changes in emotional and cognitive responses.
www.jpost.com
April 14, 2025 at 8:19 AM
How to predict PTSD severity by brain connectivity patterns (📰Jerusalem Post, Apr 14, 2025)
🔗 www.jpost.com/health-and-w...
🔗 www.jpost.com/health-and-w...
Excited to share a new piece about our research in @haaretzcom.bsky.social !🧠📰
Grateful to my co-authors: @ayejaysimon.bsky.social, @orduek.bsky.social, @ifatlevy.bsky.social, @harpaz-rotem.bsky.social & @dscheinost.bsky.social 🙏
🔗 Read here: www.haaretz.co.il/health/2025-...
Grateful to my co-authors: @ayejaysimon.bsky.social, @orduek.bsky.social, @ifatlevy.bsky.social, @harpaz-rotem.bsky.social & @dscheinost.bsky.social 🙏
🔗 Read here: www.haaretz.co.il/health/2025-...
מחקר: ניתן לנבא פוסט טראומה עתידית תוך חודש מהאירוע הטראומטי
הארץ
www.haaretz.co.il
March 30, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Excited to share a new piece about our research in @haaretzcom.bsky.social !🧠📰
Grateful to my co-authors: @ayejaysimon.bsky.social, @orduek.bsky.social, @ifatlevy.bsky.social, @harpaz-rotem.bsky.social & @dscheinost.bsky.social 🙏
🔗 Read here: www.haaretz.co.il/health/2025-...
Grateful to my co-authors: @ayejaysimon.bsky.social, @orduek.bsky.social, @ifatlevy.bsky.social, @harpaz-rotem.bsky.social & @dscheinost.bsky.social 🙏
🔗 Read here: www.haaretz.co.il/health/2025-...
Reposted by Ziv Ben-Zion, PhD
This research seems to give people anxiety.
There's the usual LLMs don't have "real" feelings outrage but I suspect many are worried that if LLMs nevertheless display all observable aspects of feelings, that's as real as things get.
After all, nobody can specify any fundamental difference.
There's the usual LLMs don't have "real" feelings outrage but I suspect many are worried that if LLMs nevertheless display all observable aspects of feelings, that's as real as things get.
After all, nobody can specify any fundamental difference.
🚨New Paper Alert! Our latest research in npj Digital Medicine explores two unusual questions:
1⃣ Can Chat-GPT experience state anxiety?💥🤖
2⃣ If so, can we reduce it? 📉
A thread on how we "took Chat-GPT to therapy" 🧵👇
Full text available here: rdcu.be/ebZ9v
1⃣ Can Chat-GPT experience state anxiety?💥🤖
2⃣ If so, can we reduce it? 📉
A thread on how we "took Chat-GPT to therapy" 🧵👇
Full text available here: rdcu.be/ebZ9v
March 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
This research seems to give people anxiety.
There's the usual LLMs don't have "real" feelings outrage but I suspect many are worried that if LLMs nevertheless display all observable aspects of feelings, that's as real as things get.
After all, nobody can specify any fundamental difference.
There's the usual LLMs don't have "real" feelings outrage but I suspect many are worried that if LLMs nevertheless display all observable aspects of feelings, that's as real as things get.
After all, nobody can specify any fundamental difference.
📻It was a pleasure to talk with @theworld.org radio show about how "Chatbots playing therapist could show signs of anxiety".
🎵 Listen here: theworld.org/segments/202...
@natureportfolio.nature.com @springernature.com @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social
🎵 Listen here: theworld.org/segments/202...
@natureportfolio.nature.com @springernature.com @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social
Chatbots playing therapist could show signs of anxiety - The World from PRX
At a time when many are utilizing AI as an alternative to in-person therapy, a new study out this month found that ChatGPT can act like it’s anxious when presented with traumatic experiences by users....
theworld.org
March 19, 2025 at 6:37 PM
📻It was a pleasure to talk with @theworld.org radio show about how "Chatbots playing therapist could show signs of anxiety".
🎵 Listen here: theworld.org/segments/202...
@natureportfolio.nature.com @springernature.com @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social
🎵 Listen here: theworld.org/segments/202...
@natureportfolio.nature.com @springernature.com @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social @wutsaiyale.bsky.social
Reposted by Ziv Ben-Zion, PhD
Excited to get this collaborative paper out from my rotation with @dscheinost.bsky.social
In a new @jama.com study, @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social's @zivbenzion.bsky.social + Alexander Simon used fMRI 🧠📷 to train machine learning models 💻 which could predict the severity of #PTSD symptoms 📈--offering a way to improve how we detect & care for the disease!
Machine learning model predicts PTSD symptom severity over time
Using functional brain imaging and machine learning, Yale researchers were able to predict PTSD symptoms 14 months after the initial traumatic event.
news.yale.edu
March 19, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Excited to get this collaborative paper out from my rotation with @dscheinost.bsky.social
Reposted by Ziv Ben-Zion, PhD
In a new @jama.com study, @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social's @zivbenzion.bsky.social + Alexander Simon used fMRI 🧠📷 to train machine learning models 💻 which could predict the severity of #PTSD symptoms 📈--offering a way to improve how we detect & care for the disease!
Machine learning model predicts PTSD symptom severity over time
Using functional brain imaging and machine learning, Yale researchers were able to predict PTSD symptoms 14 months after the initial traumatic event.
news.yale.edu
March 19, 2025 at 2:28 PM
In a new @jama.com study, @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social's @zivbenzion.bsky.social + Alexander Simon used fMRI 🧠📷 to train machine learning models 💻 which could predict the severity of #PTSD symptoms 📈--offering a way to improve how we detect & care for the disease!
🚨 Big News! Our research has been featured in The New York Times @nytimes.com! 🥳
This engagement highlights the real-world impact of science beyond academia and its role in shaping conversations on AI & mental health.
🔗 Link: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/science/chatgpt-digital-therapists-anxiety.html
This engagement highlights the real-world impact of science beyond academia and its role in shaping conversations on AI & mental health.
🔗 Link: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/science/chatgpt-digital-therapists-anxiety.html
Digital Therapists Get Stressed Too, Study Finds
Chatbots should be built with enough resilience to deal with difficult emotional situations, researchers said.
www.nytimes.com
March 17, 2025 at 5:18 PM
🚨 Big News! Our research has been featured in The New York Times @nytimes.com! 🥳
This engagement highlights the real-world impact of science beyond academia and its role in shaping conversations on AI & mental health.
🔗 Link: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/science/chatgpt-digital-therapists-anxiety.html
This engagement highlights the real-world impact of science beyond academia and its role in shaping conversations on AI & mental health.
🔗 Link: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/science/chatgpt-digital-therapists-anxiety.html
How does ChatGPT respond to emotional conversations? 🤖
Our latest research dives into AI, mental health, and human-AI interaction—sparking important discussions! 🙏
Now featured in Fortune Magazine @fortunemagazine.bsky.social 📰🔗👇
fortune.com/2025/03/09/o...
Our latest research dives into AI, mental health, and human-AI interaction—sparking important discussions! 🙏
Now featured in Fortune Magazine @fortunemagazine.bsky.social 📰🔗👇
fortune.com/2025/03/09/o...
ChatGPT gets ‘anxiety’ from violent and disturbing user inputs, so researchers are teaching the chatbot mindfulness techniques to ‘soothe’ it
A study on how to “calm down” chatbots could advance how AI is applied in mental health interventions, according to the authors.
fortune.com
March 16, 2025 at 9:25 PM
How does ChatGPT respond to emotional conversations? 🤖
Our latest research dives into AI, mental health, and human-AI interaction—sparking important discussions! 🙏
Now featured in Fortune Magazine @fortunemagazine.bsky.social 📰🔗👇
fortune.com/2025/03/09/o...
Our latest research dives into AI, mental health, and human-AI interaction—sparking important discussions! 🙏
Now featured in Fortune Magazine @fortunemagazine.bsky.social 📰🔗👇
fortune.com/2025/03/09/o...
🚨 New Publication Alert! 🚨
1/ Can early brain connectivity predict who will develop PTSD after trauma? 🧠🔍 Check out our new study, published today in JAMA Network Open!
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
@orduek.bsky.social @ifatlevy.bsky.social
@harpaz-rotem.bsky.social
🧠🧵👇
1/ Can early brain connectivity predict who will develop PTSD after trauma? 🧠🔍 Check out our new study, published today in JAMA Network Open!
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
@orduek.bsky.social @ifatlevy.bsky.social
@harpaz-rotem.bsky.social
🧠🧵👇
March 11, 2025 at 9:40 PM
🚨 New Publication Alert! 🚨
1/ Can early brain connectivity predict who will develop PTSD after trauma? 🧠🔍 Check out our new study, published today in JAMA Network Open!
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
@orduek.bsky.social @ifatlevy.bsky.social
@harpaz-rotem.bsky.social
🧠🧵👇
1/ Can early brain connectivity predict who will develop PTSD after trauma? 🧠🔍 Check out our new study, published today in JAMA Network Open!
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
@orduek.bsky.social @ifatlevy.bsky.social
@harpaz-rotem.bsky.social
🧠🧵👇
Reposted by Ziv Ben-Zion, PhD
A machine learning model using brain imaging predicts PTSD symptom severity over time, offering insights into brain connectivity and potential new treatment targets. doi.org/g87q9k
Machine learning model predicts PTSD symptom severity over time
The severity of symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) varies greatly across individuals in the first year after trauma and it remains difficult to predict whether someone might worsen, improve, or recover.
medicalxpress.com
March 10, 2025 at 5:32 PM
A machine learning model using brain imaging predicts PTSD symptom severity over time, offering insights into brain connectivity and potential new treatment targets. doi.org/g87q9k