Faculty

Beatriz Luna, PhD

Beatriz Luna, PhD

Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Bioengineering, Psychology, and Radiology, and Staunton Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email
Website
LNCD
Assistant
Nathan Rockcastle
rockcastlenj@upmc.edu

Education & Training

PhD
Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh

Professional Affiliations

Founding President, Flux: The Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
Member, Society for Neuroscience
Member, Cognitive Neuroscience Society
Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Member, Society for Research in Child Development
Member, American Psychological Association

Selected Honors & Awards

Nancy Andreasan Lecturer Award, University of Iowa, Department of Psychiatry
Huttenlocher Lecturer Award, Flux Society
MERIT Award, National Institute of Mental Health
University of Pittsburgh Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring, University of Pittsburgh
Gallagher Lecture, Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
Fellow, World Innovation Foundation

Research Interests

Dopaminergic neurodevelopment; GABA/glutamate neurodevelopment; Neurocognitive development
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Sydnor V, Ojha A, Larsen B, Martinez A, Calabro F, and Luna B. Investigating hierarchical critical periods in human neurodevelopment. NPPR (in press).
  2. Parr AC, Perica MI, Calabro FJ, Foran W, Moon CH, Hetherington H, Luna B. Adolescent maturation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex glutamate:GABA and cognitive function is supported by dopamine-related neurobiology. Mol Psychiatry. 2025 Jun;30(6):2558-2572. doi:10.1038/s41380-024-02860-7. Epub 2024 Dec 9. PMID: 39653761.
  3. Calabro FJ, LeCroy D, Foran W, Sydnor VJ, Parr AC, Constantinidis C, Luna B. Developmental decorrelation of local cortical activity through adolescence supports high-dimensional encoding and working memory. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2025 Jun;73:101541. doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101541. Epub 2025 Mar 4. PMCID: PMC11951985.
  4. McKeon SD, Perica MI, Calabro FJ, Foran W, Hetherington H, Moon CH, Luna B. Prefrontal excitation/inhibition balance supports adolescent enhancements in circuit signal to noise ratio. Prog Neurobiol. 2024 Dec;243:102695. doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2024.102695. Epub 2024 Nov 30. PMID: 39622336.
  5. Tervo-Clemmens B, Calabro FJ, Parr AC, Fedor J, Foran W, Luna B. A canonical trajectory of executive function maturation from adolescence to adulthood. Nat Commun. 2023 Oct 30;14(1):6922. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-42540-8. PMCID: PMC10616171.

Clinical Interests

Selected Clinical Publications & Products
  1. Calabro FJ, Parr AC, Sydnor VJ, Hetherington H, Prasad KM, Ibrahim TS, Sarpal DK, Famalette A, Verma P, Luna B. Leveraging ultra-high field (7T) MRI in psychiatric research. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2024 Nov;50(1):85-102. doi:10.1038/s41386-024-01980-6. Epub 2024 Sep 9. Erratum in: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2025 May;50(6):1019-1020. doi:10.1038/s41386-025-02087-2. PMCID: PMC11525672.
  2. Uhlhaas PJ, Davey CG, Mehta UM, Shah J, Torous J, Allen NB, Avenevoli S, Bella-Awusah T, Chanen A, Chen EYH, Correll CU, Do KQ,Fisher HL, Frangou S, Hickie IB, Keshavan MS, Konrad K, Lee FS, Liu CH, Luna B, McGorry PD, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Nordentoft M, ngr D, Patton GC, Paus T, Reininghaus U, Sawa A, Schoenbaum M, Schumann G, Srihari VH, Susser E, Verma SK, Woo TW, Yang LH, Yung AR, Wood SJ. Towards a youth mental health paradigm: A perspective and roadmap. Mol Psychiatry. 2023 Aug;28(8):3171-3181. doi:10.1038/s41380-023-02202-z. Epub 2023 Aug 14. PMCID: PMC10618105.
  3. Cascone AD, Calabro F, Foran W, Larsen B, Nugiel T, Parr AC, Tervo-Clemmens B, Luna B, Cohen JR. Brain tissue iron neurophysiology and its relationship with the cognitive effects of dopaminergic modulation in children with and without ADHD. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2023 Oct;63:101274. doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101274. Epub 2023 Jul 7. PMCID: PMC10372187.
  4. Sonnenschein SF, Mayeli A, Yushmanov VE, Blazer A, Calabro FJ, Perica M, Foran W, Luna B, Hetherington HP, Ferrarelli F, Sarpal DK. A longitudinal investigation of GABA, glutamate, and glutamine across the insula during antipsychotic treatment of first-episode schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2022 Oct;248:98-106. doi:10.1016/j.schres.2022.08.008. Epub 2022 Aug 24. PMCID: PMC10018530.
  5. Perica MI, Luna B. Impact of stress on excitatory and inhibitory markers of adolescent cognitive critical period plasticity. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2023 Oct;153:105378. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105378. Epub 2023 Aug 27. PMCID: PMC10591935.

Education Interests

Postdoctoral fellow research mentorship; Graduate student research mentorship

Pitt Psychiatry Research Published in Molecular Psychiatry

Collage of Molecular Psychiatry Co-Authors

Multiple Pitt Psychiatry investigators have recently published studies in Molecular Psychiatry. Below is a roundup of recent original research on adolescent neurodevelopment, aging and cognition, and the association between sleep and psychosis. Adolescent maturation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex glutamate: GABA and cognitive function is supported by dopamine-related neurobiology Pitt Psychiatry investigators...

Beatriz Luna, PhD, and Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab) Are Elected Members of the National Academy of Medicine

Drs. Bea Luna and Mary Phillips

The Department of Psychiatry is pleased to announce that two faculty members, Beatriz Luna, PhD, and Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab), have been elected to membership of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to...

Nature Communications: A Canonical Trajectory of Executive Function Maturation from Adolescence to Adulthood

Luna and Colleagues Nature Communications 2023

Theories of human neurobehavioral development suggest executive functions mature from childhood through adolescence, a time when individuals may also experience peaks in risk-taking behaviors such as substance use, and increased vulnerability to psychiatric disorders. However, the timing of adolescent executive function development and the specific age when executive functions reach adult levels have been...

The Developmental Affective Neuroscience Symposium: Presenting Translational Research in Developmental Psychopathology

The Developmental Affective Neuroscience Symposium Collage

The Developmental Affective Neuroscience Symposium (DANS) presents recent translational research in developmental psychopathology. The 2023 DANS theme was “ Neurodevelopment of Regulatory Systems: A Focus on Emotions and Motivation,” featuring research focused on the development of neural networks and circuitries implicated in regulating or modulating neural response to emotionally or motivationally salient...