In a third (previous) line of work, we have studied neurobiological mechanisms underlying psychological processes of emotion processing and decision-making. We have conducted studies with neurological and neurosurgical patients who have undergone dramatic changes in emotion, personality, and social behavior as a result of focal brain lesions. By associating specific areas of brain damage with specific changes in emotion, one can infer which brain areas are critically involved in affective function, and ultimately, which brain areas may be responsible for disorders of emotion, such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition to detailed mapping of the patient’s structural brain damage, we have employed a range of assessment techniques that probe the patient’s emotional state as well as cognitive and psychosocial functions. Additionally, in collaboration with the Mind Research Network, we have examined measures of brain structure and function in incarcerated individuals, which was made possible through a unique mobile MRI unit that we have previously deployed to state prisons.
Selected Images from Lab Neuroscience Publications
