| Human visual attention, working memory, and learning | Human visual attention, working memory, and learning | We study visual selective attention using tasks such as visual search. We are interested in how visual attention is interdependent on visual working memory (short-term visual memory stores), as well as how long-term learning shapes visual attention. For instance, how do the contents of visual working memory affect attention (Beck & Vickery, 2019, 2020)? We employ behavioral experiments and fMRI neuroimaging to study these phenomena. | Vickery, Timothy;Levy, Alyssa | tvickery;alevalt | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/human-visual-attention.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Human Visual Perceptual Organization | Human Visual Perceptual Organization | We study an important set of phenomena that fall under the umbrella of “perceptual organization,” such as perceptual grouping effects first studied by the Gestalt psychologists. These phenomena reflect mid-level human vision processes that set the stage for visual understanding, recognition, and visuomotor integration. Recently, we have begun investigating individual differences in these phenomena, searching for clues as to which ones share underlying mechanisms. We study this with human psychophysical experiments that measure the effects of different kinds of grouping and segmentation. | Vickery, Timothy | tvickery | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/Human-Visual-Perceptual-Organization.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Object‐based warping | Object‐based warping | Objects seem to distort the perception of spatial relationships (Vickery & Chun, 2010). Current psychophysical and neuroimaging research in the Vickery lab seeks to map and better understand how and when this distortion occurs, when it leads to expansion vs. compression of perception, how this illusion relates to brain activity (measured with fMRI), and why it might arise from the way that objects are represented in visual cortex. | Vickery, Timothy | tvickery | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/object‐based-warping.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Interracial Contact and Social Cognition | Interracial Contact and Social Cognition | The rapid increase in the racial diversity of our population provides us with growing opportunities to interact with other-race individuals. Whereas investigations of how interracial contact shapes intergroup attitudes and person evaluation have a long scholarly tradition, little is known about how interracial contact influences social cognition beyond intergroup relations. In this line of research, we utilize social cognitive tasks and neuroimaging (fMRI/EEG) to examine how individual differences in intergroup contact across the lifespan influence various social cognitive abilities. We are currently testing potential behavioral and neural consequences of contact diversity in the context of mentalizing ability. | Cloutier, Jasmin;Kubota, Jennifer | jcloutier;jkubota | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/Interracial%20Contact%20and%20Social%20Congnition.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Social Environments and Stereotyping | Social Environments and Stereotyping | Another research question surrounds whether and how implicit and explicit associations interact with visual components of the environment. This area of inquiry also explores how variation in the target individual's features, and in the perceiver's stereotype endorsement, facilitate or hinder social categorization and stereotyping. | Cloutier, Jasmin;Kubota, Jennifer | jcloutier;jkubota | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/Social%20Environments%20and%20Sterotyping.jpg" width="640" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Neural correlates of percept- and knowledge-based impressions | Neural correlates of percept- and knowledge-based impressions | Using fMRI and EEG, we examine how the availability and use of person-knowledge impacts neural activity when perceiving and evaluating others based on physical cues (i.e., a judgment that requires no person-knowledge) or person-knowledge (e.g., an individual’s past behavior). The goal of these projects is to uncover the processes supporting the use of each kind of information and to identify how individuals weight the various kinds of information when forming impressions and making decisions. | Cloutier, Jasmin;Kubota, Jennifer | jcloutier;jkubota | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/Neural%20correlates%20of%20percept%20-%20and%20knowledge%20-%20based%20impressions.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Police officer-civilian interactions | Police officer-civilian interactions | We are currently conducting a series of projects examining the perception of police officer-civilian interactions. The growing number of publicly available video recordings of police officer-civilian interactions has elicited divergent public opinions ranging from complete justification of the officer to calls for criminal charges against the officer. Accordingly, this work is timely and aims to identify how the individual differences of perceivers impact evaluations of both the police officer and civilian. This project explores fundamental social cognitive processes (i.e., implicit and explicit associations) and real-world outcomes (e.g., perceptions of aggression and legitimacy) using fMRI, stress reactivity, and eye-tracking. | Cloutier, Jasmin;Kubota, Jennifer | jcloutier;jkubota | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/Police%20officer%20-civilian%20interations.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Social Neuroscience Framework for the Study of Status | Social Neuroscience Framework for the Study of Status | Our lab systematically investigates the perception of status (i.e., hierarchical rank) and its consequences for how we attend to and evaluate others. In our recently published social neuroscience framework for the study of status, we distinguish between (1) status dimensions (i.e., domains in which an individual may be ranked, such as wealth), and (2) status level (i.e., one’s rank along a given dimension). One key takeaway from this distinction is that one's status level may depend on the status dimension in question (e.g., low in financial status, high in moral status). These differences may have important consequences for how we evaluate and interact with those occupying different positions in a given social hierarchy. Additionally, we are interested in how different contexts and status cues may shape status-based evaluations and decisions. Inspired by our social neuroscience framework for the study of status-based evaluations, we are currently exploring how status may interact with salient visible social categories such as race, age, and gender. This work uses a combination of classic social cognitive tasks and neuroimaging (fMRI/EEG). | Cloutier, Jasmin;Kubota, Jennifer | jcloutier;jkubota | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/Social%20Neuroscience%20Framework%20for%20the%20Study%20of%20Status%202.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Examining the Etiology of Chronic Emotional & Behavioral Dysregulation in Adulthood. | Examining the Etiology of Chronic Emotional & Behavioral Dysregulation in Adulthood. | Sustained difficulties with emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and behavioral control are common across different forms of psychopathology, including externalizing traits, antisocial and borderline personality disorders, psychopathy, & PTSD. In addition to causing significant distress and functional impairment, these disorders have proven difficult to treat, partly due to a lack of understanding of the cognitive, affective, and environmental variables that maintain symptoms overtime. Research in the lab aims to gain a better understanding of the etiological mechanisms (cognition-emotion interactions, personality traits, biological vulnerabilities) that contribute to these disorders and their associated features (e.g., emotional lability, impulsivity, stress reactivity). The goal of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of the causes and developmental pathways to disorders characterized by chronic emotional and behavioral dysregulation. | Samimi-Sadeh, Naomi | nsadeh | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/9-1cftjo9.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Identifying Biomarkers of Disinhibition. | Identifying Biomarkers of Disinhibition. | Impulse control deficits and poor self-regulation are core features of a diverse array of harmful behaviors (aggression, substance use, risky sexual behavior) and mental disorders (antisocial personality disorder, PTSD, externalizing disorders) that increase risk for premature death and poor health outcomes. We are working on identifying neurobiological mechanisms that support adaptive inhibitory control in healthy populations and how these regulatory processes go awry in clinical samples. The goal of this work is to better understand the neural architecture of impulse control deficits across different forms of psychopathology and to clarify how the neural processes supporting inhibition interact with other cognitive, motivational, and emotional systems. | Samimi-Sadeh, Naomi;Spielberg, Jeffrey | nsadeh;jspielberg | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/Picture1-1vpvuil.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Dyslexia | Dyslexia | We are testing the magnocellular hypothesis of dyslexia, which suggests that the root cause of dyslexia may be caused by malfunctions of the magnocellular system in the brain. We are measuring the structure and function of the lateral geniculate nucleus in people with dyslexia and controls. | Schneider, Keith | kschneider | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/dyslexia%20a.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Attention and appearance | Attention and appearance | As part of a longstanding debate in the literature, we are studying whether paying attention to an object actually changes its subjective appearance, or whether it just changes our response criterial and decision biases. | Schneider, Keith | kschneider | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/attention%20and%20appearance%20A.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Temporal perception | Temporal perception | Using visual psychophysics, we are studying the temporal resolution and variability in normal subjects, with the aim of understanding temporal perception and illusion such as the flash-lag and Fröhlich effects. | Schneider, Keith | kschneider | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/graphs.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Visual attention | Visual attention | We are measuring attentional control and modulation in the thalamic reticular nucleus and lateral geniculate nucleus. | Schneider, Keith | kschneider | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/thalamic%20reticular%20nucleus.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Characterizing the responses of the human visual subcortex | Characterizing the responses of the human visual subcortex | Using population field mapping, independent components analysis and model-free clustering, we are measuring the fundamental temporal, spatial and feature-based response properties of the lateral geniculate nucleus, including its magno- and parvocellular subdivisions, and other subcortical nuclei and cortical areas. | Schneider, Keith | kschneider | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/Human%20subcortex.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Methods for understanding the organization of brain networks | Methods for understanding the organization of brain networks | The study of brain networks is central to understanding how the brain supports complex thought and behavior and how related dysfunction gives rise to psychopathology. Typical methods catalogue the presence or absence of connections, ignoring the larger (network) context in which such connections occur. In collaboration with colleagues in Mathematical Sciences, the CAD lab develops and refines graph theory metrics to capture the manner in which network organization (of connections) impacts network function (e.g., robustness to external interference). A particular focus is on spectral methods that may more effectively represent network organization. These developments are integrated into our publicly available toolbox (http://www.nitrc.org/projects/metalab_gtg/). | Spielberg, Jeffrey | jspielberg | Sebastian Cioabă, Mathematical Sciences | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/proj_4.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Brain networks supporting mania and depression in bipolar disorder | Brain networks supporting mania and depression in bipolar disorder | In collaboration with colleagues at Cleveland Clinic, the CAD lab is conducting several studies aimed at parsing brain network disturbances observed in bipolar disorder into those unique to mania, unique to depression, and common to both. In addition, we are examining the impact of lithium treatment (e.g., whether disturbed networks are normalized, whether compensatory networks come online). Finally, we are investigating whether depression is associated with different network disturbances in the context of unipolar depression rather than bipolar disorder. Note, data collection for this project currently occurs at Cleveland Clinic. | Spielberg, Jeffrey | jspielberg | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/proj_3.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Interaction of brain networks supporting motivation and inhibition | Interaction of brain networks supporting motivation and inhibition | Adaptive functioning depends on the rapid regulation of motivational processes, and disturbances in this regulation are key features of anxiety and depression. The CAD lab is conducting a number of studies aimed at understanding how brain networks supporting top-down inhibitory control interact with those involved in identifying the motivational importance of stimuli. This work is conducted in both healthy and anxious/depressed individuals, allowing us to describe both the typical manner in which these circuits interact and how divergence from the norm may lead to pathology. | Spielberg, Jeffrey;Samimi-Sadeh, Naomi | jspielberg;nsadeh | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/proj_2.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Adolescent development in brain networks supporting motivation | Adolescent development in brain networks supporting motivation | Adolescence is the peak onset time for psychopathology involving disturbances in motivation and emotion, including anxiety and depression. Thus, charting the neuromaturational trajectories of brain networks supporting motivation and emotion may prove crucial to discovering how and why psychopathology develops during this period, and ultimately informing prevention and treatment efforts. The CAD lab is conducting several studies aimed at key pieces of this puzzle, including the development and consolidation of connections between amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), with a particular focus on the role of pubertal hormones. | Spielberg, Jeffrey | jspielberg | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/proj_1.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Perceptual contributions to racial biases in pain recognition | Perceptual contributions to racial biases in pain recognition | There are pervasive racial and ethnic disparities in medical treatment in the United States. For instance, the pain of Black patients is systematically under-diagnosed and under-treated, compared to the pain of Whites. While other research has examined higher-level factors fueling such biases (e.g., perceptions of status, stereotypes about biological differences between Blacks and Whites), we're interested in examining whether racial biases in pain recognition might also stem from a perceptual basis. We've observed that pain on Black faces is less readily perceived than pain on White faces, stemming from a disruption in configural processing associated with other-race faces. Further, these biases in perception predict biases in treatment behavior. Currently, we're exploring the neural bases of these biases, examining whether these biases are observable in medical health professionals, and beginning to develop interventions designed to attenuate these perceptual contributions to racial biases in pain recognition. | Mende-Siedlecki, Peter | pmende | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/RacialBiasPain_Pic3.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Neural dynamics supporting impression updating | Neural dynamics supporting impression updating | How does the brain support our ability to change our minds about other people? Using fMRI, we've observed that impression updating is supported neurally by a distributed network of brain regions and that activity in a subset of these regions (in particular, vlPFC & IFG) is preferential for diagnostic changes in behavior, beyond mere moment-to-moment inconsistencies. Critically, we've observed that perceptions of behavioral frequency are a critical factor in the updating process: behaviors that are perceived to be more rare (e.g., highly immoral or highly competent behaviors) drive updating on both behavioral and neural levels. We're currently using computational modeling approaches to better characterize the neural dynamics supporting updating -- for example, to examine how this sort of complex social learning is contextualized and generalized. | Mende-Siedlecki, Peter | pmende | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/NeuralDynamics_Pic1.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Impact of Zika Virus Infection on the Developing Brain | Impact of Zika Virus Infection on the Developing Brain | Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in pregnant women has been linked to a neurological disorder in the fetus called microcephaly; and we hypothesize this is due to robust inflammatory response to ZIKV in the fetal brain that precipitates neurological damage. The ongoing experiments in our lab will examine the impact of maternal ZIKV infection on inflammation, microglial activation, and associated neural cell death in the fetal brain using a rat model of ZIKV infection. The immediate goal of these experiments is to determine whether ZIKV activates microglia within the developing fetal brain, and to identify key inflammatory and cellular targets for potential therapeutic interventions for ZIKV associated neurological disorder. Using the data obtained in these experiments, future experiments can also examine the impact of prenatal ZIKV infection on long-term neural, immune, and behavioral outcomes in infected offspring that do not have severe neural deformations. | Schwarz, Jaclyn | jschwarz | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/E17%20cell%20morphology%20picture%2040X.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Visual Statistical Learning | Visual Statistical Learning | Humans rapidly learn statistical associations among visual stimuli, even when they are not aware of such contingencies and are not trying to learn those associations. This is called visual statistical learning, and it may play an important role in such tasks as navigation and categorization, or even in basic perceptual organization. In the Perception and Learning lab, we use behavior and fMRI neuroimaging to study numerous aspects of this phenomenon: when, how, and why it occurs, and what are the consequences? | Vickery, Timothy;Levy, Alyssa | tvickery;alevalt | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/Vickery%20lab%20picture.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Children’s Spatial Cognition | Children’s Spatial Cognition | STEM learning draws heavily on spatial cognitive abilities. At the University of Delaware Early Learning Center, we conduct scene perception and spatial memory research with 4-5 year old preschool children, exploring rapid scene perception and testing to determine the developmental trajectory of anticipatory spatial projections, such as boundary extension. Through collaboration with other labs we have tested infant scene memory and are studying spatial memory in children with developmental disorders. | Intraub, Helene | intraub | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/Kids%20drawings.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Spatial Representation: Vision & Haptics | Spatial Representation: Vision & Haptics | Most scene perception research makes use of photographs as stimuli. Here we seek to understand the mental representation of regions of real space given the ability to navigate and to gain input for different modalities (vision and haptics) – independently and in combination. We have studied memory in blindfolded-sighted individuals and a woman who was deaf and blind since early life. We also study the interaction of top-down expectations and low vision (simulated loss of periphery) on memory for surrounding space. | Intraub, Helene | intraub | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/renee_vis_touch.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Visual Scene Perception and Memory | Visual Scene Perception and Memory | Using brief presentation and eye tracking experiments we study what can grasped in a fraction of a second from a scene. We have also observed rapid effects of top-down expectations on what is remembered – observing false memory for unseen information just beyond the boundaries of a view as soon as 1/20th after viewing a photograph – a phenomenon called boundary extension, discovered in our lab. In behavioral studies we explore the multiple factors that affect both veridical and anticipatory memory that predicts upcoming layout. Through collaboration with other labs we explore the brain mechanisms underlying boundary extension. | Intraub, Helene | intraub | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/Brief%20Presentation%20BE%20copy.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Diversity Competence Model | Diversity Competence Model | James Jones has developed the idea of diversity competency—the perspective, attitude and motivation to interact in and benefit from diverse contexts and relationships. The diversity competence model consists of five main features: diversity self-awareness, perspective taking, cultural intelligence, personal and social responsibility and knowledge application. We have developed a 15-item diversity competency scale, which has demonstrated good psychometric properties and is associated with a variety of trait level characteristics integral to prosocial behaviors. Current research explores the ways in which diversity competency is expressed in problem solving, interpersonal relationships and interactions, decision-making and academic success. The research further explores how academic curriculum and co-curricular activities contribute to the development of diversity competency. | Jones, James M. | jmjones | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-psych-office3.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Breast Cancer Survivorship from a Health and Social Psychological Perspective | Breast Cancer Survivorship from a Health and Social Psychological Perspective | One of Dr. Jaremka's core interests is understanding quality of life issues among breast cancer survivors. She has a number of published papers about the links between loneliness (and other threats to belonging) and mental and physical health (e.g., pain and depression) among survivors. She plans to follow-up on these ideas by investigating the impact that social stress has on different hormonal and immunological markers, and how these physiological changes may eventually impact survivors' quality of life. | Laurenceau, Jean-Philippe;Siegel, Scott | jlaurenc;sdsiegel | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-jaremka1.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Mechanisms of Mirror-Touch Synesthesia | Mechanisms of Mirror-Touch Synesthesia | A subset of the population experiences touch on their own body when observing someone else being touched - mirror-touch synesthesia. We are currently examining the prevalence, subtypes, and mechanisms that give rise to mirror-touch synesthesia, using behavioral and psychophysical methods. | Medina, Jared | jmedina | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/medina-lab1.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Using fMRI to Examine Post-Stroke Somatosensory Plasticity | Using fMRI to Examine Post-Stroke Somatosensory Plasticity | Structural changes from stroke give rise to plastic changes in the functional organization of the brain. However,
behavioral outcomes after stroke vary across individuals. We are currently examining the relationship
between functional reorganization of somatosensory processing (i.e. what brain regions are active during
touch) and behavioral outcomes. | Medina, Jared | jmedina | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/medina-lab4.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience of the Body Schema | Cognitive Neuroscience of the Body Schema | After stroke, brain-damaged individuals demonstrate a wide variety of deficits related to body perception, ranging from the simple (loss of sensation) to the astonishing (e.g., perceiving extra limbs, alien hand syndrome). We are currently examining the relationship between lesion location and specific deficits in body representation using voxel-lesion symptom-mapping, in order to understand how the mind represents the body. | Medina, Jared | jmedina | | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/medina-lab2.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Mechanisms Linking Threats to Belonging to Poor Health | Mechanisms Linking Threats to Belonging to Poor Health | The Jaremka lab is currently conducting a series of studies that aim to understand how threats to belonging ultimately result in negative health outcomes, particularly obesity and cardiovascular disease. The specific design of these studies varies over time and can range from longitudinal observational studies to experimental lab studies. We collect a variety of physiological samples, including saliva, blood, and cardiovascular reactivity, which allows us to get in-depth information about peripheral physiological responses. | | | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-jaremka3.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| When Do Threats to Belonging Cause Aggressive vs. Pro-Social Behavior? | When Do Threats to Belonging Cause Aggressive vs. Pro-Social Behavior? | We are currently developing a set of studies about anti- and pro- social behavior following rejection and other threats to belonging. In these studies, we typically manipulate rejection using an experimental paradigm and then assess interpersonal behavior either via self-report or behavioral methods. Over time, we hope to flesh out the key factors that shape how people respond to threats to belonging, both in terms of situational and individual difference factors. | | | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-jaremka2.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Understanding and Improving Children’s Bystander Behavior to Bullying | Understanding and Improving Children’s Bystander Behavior to Bullying | Dr. Hubbard and her students are conducting an implementation and evaluation of a bullying prevention program in Delaware schools, while simultaneously investigating why children do and do not intervene in bullying episodes. Sub-projects include: a) assessing factors that increase teacher implementation of the Program, and b) investigating factors impacting children’s bullying intervention, including empathy, conversations with parents about bullying, and group norms for intervention.
| Hubbard, Julie | jhubbard | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/hubbardlab5.jpg" width="640" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | http://www.psych.udel.edu/labs/jhubbard, Peer Relations Lab | | | | |
| Executive function in a rodent model of FASD | Executive function in a rodent model of FASD | NIH Grant Number: 1 R03 AA022480-01A1. This small pilot project grant seeks to determine whether attentional set shifting is impaired in adult rats exposed to alcohol during the neonatal period, a rodent model of 3rd-trimester-equivalent human alcohol exposure (Aim 1). It also seeks to determine dose-response functions (Aim 2) and whether there are any sex differences in this effect (Aims 1 and 2). Dr. Jill McGaughy (University of New Hampshire) is Co-PI.
| Stanton, Mark | stanton | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-stanton3.JPG" width="427" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Mechanisms of context conditioning in the developing rat | Mechanisms of context conditioning in the developing rat | NIH Grant Number: 1 R01 HD075066-01A1. This project seeks to determine whether patterns of immediate early gene (IEG) expression in specific brain regions correlate with (Aim 1), or are necessary for (Aim 2), the postnatal ontogeny of contextual fear conditioning in the rat. The project also asks whether regional IEG expression is correlated with dose-dependent adverse effects of neonatal alcohol on context learning (Aim 3).
| Stanton, Mark | stanton | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-stanton5.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Caregiving Risk and Adolescent Psychopathology | Caregiving Risk and Adolescent Psychopathology | This project uses three waves of longitudinal data from an economically disadvantaged sample to examine how caregivers' unresolved loss influences their adolescent children's trajectories of psychopathology and problem behaviors.
| Kobak, Roger | rkobak | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-psych-office3.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Attachment Injuries and Reparative Processes | Attachment Injuries and Reparative Processes | This project examines productive and unproductive processing of upsetting events in close relationships with mothers, fathers, friends and romantic partners. Implications of different processing styles for young adults' psychopathology and adjustment are examined.
| Kobak, Roger | rkobak | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-psych-office3.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Attachment Based Family Therapy for Suicidal Adolescents | Attachment Based Family Therapy for Suicidal Adolescents | Roger Kobak & Guy Diamond (Co-Principal Investigators) National Institute of Mental Health RO1 MH091059. July 1, 2011-June 30, 2016. This project examines the process of change in adolescents' internal models of self and others using measures from a comparative efficacy trial of Attachment Based Family Therapy and Non-Directive Supportive Therapy.
| Kobak, Roger | rkobak | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-psych-office3.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Optimizing Treatments for PTSD | Optimizing Treatments for PTSD | Dr. Hayes is studying the process of change in two treatments for PTSD: Trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT) for traumatized youth and prolonged exposure (PE) for adults. Her NIMH-funded study aims to identify predictors of dropout and treatment outcomes in TF-CBT delivered in community mental health centers in Delaware (collaborators Dr. Charles Webb, Dr. Esther Deblinger). Dr. Hayes is also collaborating with Dr. Lori Zoellner and Norah Feeney (PIs) on an NIMH-funded grant to study the process of change in a large clinical trial of PE for adult PTSD. A goal of this collaboration is to identify key mechanisms of therapeutic change that are common in the treatment of PTSD and depression and to develop more potent treatments for these commonly comorbid clinical disorders.
| Hayes, Adele | ahayes | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-psych-office3.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Depression Relapse Prevention Smartphone Application (App) | Depression Relapse Prevention Smartphone Application (App) | Dr. Hayes is collaborating with Drs. Stephan Bohacek and Hui Fang in Computer Engineering at the University of Delaware to develop and test a smartphone application (app) that provides ongoing monitoring and feedback on risk and resilience factors as depressed participants engage in their everyday lives during and after treatment. This tool might help reduce the chronicity of depression and facilitate more lasting change.
| Hayes, Adele | ahayes | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-psych-office3.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Chronic Depression | Chronic Depression | Dr. Hayes is collaborating with Dr. Willem Kuyken at Oxford University and researchers at the University of Exeter to study the process of change in a multi-site trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for treatment-resistant depression. They are particularly interested in identifying predictors of early improvement and long-term maintenance of treatment gains.
| Hayes, Adele | ahayes | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-psych-office3.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Exposure-Based Cognitive Therapy (EBCT) for Depression: Treatment Development Research | Exposure-Based Cognitive Therapy (EBCT) for Depression: Treatment Development Research | EBCT builds on principles of exposure treatments that have been so successful in the treatment of anxiety disorders and on principles of general system change from dynamical systems theory. EBCT has shown positive clinical outcomes in three clinical trials, and Dr. Hayes is studying the pattern of change and predictors of treatment outcomes in these trials. Funding: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; PI: Hayes) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (PI: Grosse Holtforth).
| Hayes, Adele | ahayes | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-psych-office3.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Presentation Style's Effect on Student Learning | Presentation Style's Effect on Student Learning | Are some ways of presenting information better than others? This project examines how the way in which information is presented on information graphics programs, such as PowerPoint, can influence how well students recall that information later.
| Begosh, Kristen | kbegosh | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-classrooms12.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Hippocampal-Prefrontal synchrony in working memory | Hippocampal-Prefrontal synchrony in working memory | The guiding hypothesis of the current project is that hippocampal-prefrontal oscillatory synchrony is regulated by the anterior midline thalamic nucleus reuniens (RE). We are using a combination of electrophysiological methods, bidirectional optogenetic manipulation of neuronal excitation, and behavior to investigate the role of RE activity in HC-PFC synchrony and working memory performance.
| Griffin, Amy | amygriff | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/0323-klintsova5.JPG" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| The Role of MS/DBB Cholinergic input to the Hippocampus in Extinction Memory and Contextual Fear Memory Generalization | The Role of MS/DBB Cholinergic input to the Hippocampus in Extinction Memory and Contextual Fear Memory Generalization | Current definitions of the extinction circuit in the mammalian brain focus on medial prefrontal cortical inhibition of amygdala activity and subcortical substrates. We have previously shown that cholinergic neurons in the medial septum and diagonal bands of Broca (MS/DBB) are critical for acquisition of extinction. However, neural circuitry through which these neurons modulate extinction memory processes are unknown. In this study, we test the hypothesis that MS/DBB cholinergic input to the dorsal hippocampus is critical for acquisition of extinction memory. Undergraduate Researchers: Jennifer Staib
| Knox, Dayan | dayank | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/Figure%203ii.jpg" width="640" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Nature of Extinction Retention Deficits in the Single Prolonged Stress Paradigm | Nature of Extinction Retention Deficits in the Single Prolonged Stress Paradigm | We have previously shown that exposing rats to single prolonged stress results in extinction retention deficits. However, it is not clear if this is due to enhanced fear memory or deficits in extinction memory. Our previous attempts to address this question using behavioral methods were inconclusive. In this study we used changes in expression of transcription factors as measures of neural activity to map neural activity throughout the fear circuit during fear memory formation and extinction memory formation. By doing this we will attempt to determine if single prolonged stress exposure leads to extinction retention deficits by altering neural activity during fear memory formation or extinction memory formation. Undergraduate Researchers: Jennifer Staib, Thomas DePietro
| Knox, Dayan | dayank | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/Graphical%20abstract.jpg" width="640" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| The Role of Glucocorticoid Binding During Fear Conditioning in SPS-Induced Extinction Retention Deficits | The Role of Glucocorticoid Binding During Fear Conditioning in SPS-Induced Extinction Retention Deficits | We have previously shown that exposing rats to single prolonged stress results in extinction retention deficits and that inhibiting glucocorticoid release during fear conditioning exacerbates these deficits. These previous findings suggest that single prolonged stress-induced changes in glucocorticoid receptors can be adaptive. We will test this hypothesis by showing that activation of glucocorticoid receptors in the ventral hippocampus of single prolonged stressed rats during fear conditioning leads to attenuated extinction retention deficits in rats exposed to single prolonged stress. Undergraduate Researchers: Jennifer Staib, Caroline Lawless, Thomas DePietro
| Knox, Dayan | dayank | | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/Metyrapone%20pilot%20data.jpg" width="640" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Language and Thought | Language and Thought | How does language affect thought? We compare speakers of different languages on cognitive tasks to identify whether their minds are shaped by their native language. We also study the relation between language and cognitive development in children.
| Papafragou, Anna | annap | Dimitris Skordos, Stefan Bartell | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/UDigital_694_AnnaPapafragou_ELC-055-scr.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
| Language Acquisition: a Cross-Linguistic Perspective | Language Acquisition: a Cross-Linguistic Perspective | How can very young children acquire the words and structures of their native language? We mostly study children between the ages three to five from a variety of language backgrounds (e.g., English, Greek, Turkish and Korean).
| Papafragou, Anna | annap | Megan Johanson, Ozge Ozturk | <img alt="" src="/content-sub-site/PublishingImages/UDigital_695_AnnaPapafraogu_ELC-078-scr.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | | | | |
