“If you're a gazelle, you don't have a very complex emotional life, despite being a social species. But primates are just smart enough that they can think their bodies into working differently. It's not until you get to primates that you get things that look like depression.”

American academic, neuroscientist, and primatologist

Robert Morris Sapolsky is an American academic, neuroscientist, and primatologist. He is the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor at Stanford University and a professor of biology, neurology, and neurosurgery. His work focuses on neuroendocrinology, especially the biology of stress. He is also a research associate with the National Museums of Kenya, reflecting a career that links laboratory science with long-term study of primates and their behavior.