Publications

Among people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), substance use impacts medication adherence and treatment outcome. Research has shown that stimulants—with cocaine as one of the most commonly used in this population—are associated with the greater risk for poor medication adherence. Impairments in executive functioning are often seen in individuals with HIV who use cocaine, as both cocaine and HIV...

Parkinson's disease, a nervous system disorder that affects movement, is characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta in the midbrain. By contrast, the midbrain ventral tegmental area does not experience loss of dopaminergic neurons, though the explanation for the neurons’ resilience in this region has not been sufficiently studied. One possible explanation...

In 2018, an international group of scientists founded the Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics Through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Clinical High Risk for Psychosis Working Group to improve understanding of brain differences in individuals with clinical high risk for developing psychosis, who later develop a psychotic disorder, compared with those who do not. In an international multisite neuroimaging study published in JAMA...

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...

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...

Individuals with compulsive behavior disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), experience compulsions in which the ability to engage in flexible goal-directed behavior is impaired in favor of habitual behaviors. Research from both animal and human studies have indicated that alterations within the orbitofrontal cortex are a key factor in the onset of compulsive behaviors. However, questions remain...