Faculty

Layla Banihashemi, PhD

Layla Banihashemi, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Bioengineering

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email
Website
Brain Body Stress Lab

Education & Training

PhD
Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh
Functional Neuroimaging of Stress Reactivity, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Cardiovascular Behavior Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Professional Affiliations

Member, Society of Biological Psychiatry
Member, American Psychosomatic Society
Member, International Congress of Infant Studies

Selected Honors & Awards

Top Poster Award, Society of Biological Psychiatry
MacLean Scholar Award, American Psychosomatic Society

Research Interests

Stress-related neural circuitry; Childhood threat and deprivation; Infant neurodevelopment and emotionality
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Sha Z & Banihashemi L. Integrative omics analysis identifies differential biological pathways that are associated with regional grey matter volume changes in major depressive disorder. 2020, Psychological Medicine, 1-12. doi:10.1017/S0033291720002676
  2. Banihashemi, L, Bertocci, MA, Alkhars, HM, Versace, A, Northrup JB, Lee, VK, Schmithorst, VJ, Samolyk, A, Taylor, M, English, GE, Stiffler, RS, Aslam, HA, Bonar, L, Panigrahy, A, Hipwell, AE, Phillips, ML (2020). Limbic white matter structural integrity at 3 months prospectively predicts negative emotionality in 9-month-old infants: a preliminary study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 273, 538-541. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.04.029
  3. Banihashemi, L, Peng, CW, Verstynen, T, et al. Opposing relationships of childhood threat and deprivation with stria terminalis white matter. Hum Brain Mapp. 2021; 1 16. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25378
  4. Banihashemi L, Wallace M, Sheu L, Lee MC, Gianaros PJ, Mackenzie R, Insana S, Germain A, Herringa R. Childhood Maltreatment Moderates the Effect of Combat Exposure on Cingulum Structural Integrity. Development and Psychopathology. 2017 Dec;29(5):1735-1747. PubMed PMID: 29162178; PubMed Central PMCID.
  5. Banihashemi L, Sheu LK, Midei AJ, Gianaros PJ. Childhood physical abuse predicts stressor-evoked activity within central visceral control regions. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015 Apr;10(4):474-85. PubMed PMID: 24847113; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4381229.

Clinical Interests

Mood and anxiety disorders; Trauma-related disorders; Childhood adversity

Education Interests

Research mentorship; Graduate student education; Medical student education

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes Layla Banihashemi, PhD, to Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Dr. Layla Banihashemi

We are delighted to announce that Layla Banihashemi, PhD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Banihashemi earned her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh. She then joined the Department of Psychiatry as a postdoctoral scholar in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute T32 training program in cardiovascular behavioral...

Biological Psychiatry: Neural Network Functional Interactions Mediate or Suppress White Matter–Emotional Behavior Relationships in Infants 

Infant and Mother

Complex and coordinated brain development progresses rapidly within the first year of a baby’s life, and infant white matter development is associated with future cognitive processes and behavioral problems. Elucidating the neural basis of infant emotional behaviors can identify biomarkers of pathophysiological risk for subsequent behavioral and emotional problems. In Biological Psychiatry, investigators including...

New Research in Psychological Medicine and Human Brain Mapping on the Effects of Disrupted Sleep and Early Life Stress in Young People

New Research on the Effects of Disrupted Sleep and Early Life Stress in Young People

Psychological Medicine: Experimentally Imposed Circadian Misalignment Alters the Neural Response to Monetary Rewards and Response Inhibition in Healthy Adolescents During adolescence, circadian rhythm and natural sleep and wake times shift later, which can conflict with early school-start times. This incongruence commonly results in circadian misalignment (mismatch between the behavioral sleep-wake schedule and the...

New Research on Parenting and Early Childhood Mental Health 

New Research on Parenting and Early Childhood Mental Health 

Biological Psychiatry: Patterns of Infant Amygdala Connectivity Mediate the Impact of High Caregiver Affect on Reducing Infant Smiling: Discovery and Replication Research has shown that during a baby’s first months of life, mood disorders and emotional instability in caregivers are associated with lower positive emotionality (smiling, laughter, high pleasure) and higher negative emotionality (frequent crying...

Study on Worry and Brain Connectivity in Older Adults Selected as Editor’s Choice in Journal of Affective Disorders

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032718327861

The paper described below was selected as a Journal of Affective Disorders Editor’s Choice. Is worry good for you? According to a study focused on anxiety in older adults, and published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, a moderate level of worry can enhance connectivity among brain regions involved in emotion regulation—while excessive worry yields the inverse effect. Generalized anxiety disorder is common in...