The Neuropsychoimaging Group studies human brain function during behavior,cognition, and emotion. Special emphasis is given to drug addiction(crack/cocaine, methamphetamine, alcohol), and other problem behaviors (aggression). Comorbid psychopathology (depression, post traumatic stress disorder, antisocial personality) is also of interest.
This page will give you an overview of our research
approach. Links in the left-hand frame provide quick jumps to special topics related to
our research areas.
Our research
specifically incorporates the cutting-edge imaging technologies
available for Medical Research at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL); we
harvest the benefits of developing cross-modality imaging (e.g., simultaneous ERP-fMRI recordings)
and sensitive behavioral and neuropsychological assays, thus creating the translational capabilities
that are the cornerstone of neuropsychoimaging research.
Our unique toolset
includes BNL's 4-Tesla MRI and PET facilities, tailored
neuropsychological batteries, Compumedics NeuroSCAN event-related
potentials and EEG analyses, and NeuroSCAN STIM and e-Prime experiment
presentation software. All stimulation and assessment systems
include specialized modules for examining inhibitory control and reward processing.
The organization
of our neuropsychoimaging research is represented by the pyramid
above, with its foundation based on cognitive and behavioral
measures. The complementary nature of the interrelationships
between the various approaches to studying the behaving human
brain are emphasized by the left-sided bi-directional arrow.
Level I
encompasses a broad range of both computerized and paper-and-pencil measures of cognition (attention,
memory, inhibitory control, decision-making), emotion and personality (anger, harm avoidance,
depression), and behavioral
tendencies (e.g., aggression). This
broad foundation of tests and measures is selected based on
a-priori hypotheses about
underlying neural pathways.
Level II
provides a platform to test common neuropsychological questions (see below).
Here we develop and test new behavioral assays to non-invasively target specific neural networks
implicated in the core characteristics of drug addiction and other problem behaviors.
Level III
provides more direct, although still correlational, studies of the interplay between
behavioral measures (e.g.,
inhibition of prepotent response tendencies as measured by the Stroop
effect, see
Goldstein et al., 2001;
harm avoidance/fear as measured by MPQ, see
Goldstein et al., 2002; and anger as measured by the MMPI, see
Goldstein et al., 2005) and their putative
neurobiological substrates (e.g., glucose metabolism in the
orbitofrontal cortex as measured by PET FDG).
Level IV
provides experimental testing of a-priori
hypotheses: a well-controlled study (including a
control group and a control intervention/condition) is designed for
the fMRI, PET, or ERP environment.
At each level
the neuropsychoimaging method can serve both exploratory and confirmatory purposes
(e.g., fMRI/PET SPM voxel-by-voxel analyses vs. ROI analyses), depending on the design
of the study and data analysis. Also note that feed-forward and feedback loops
between all four levels are essential for our comprehensive research, where we advance the
dynamic psychobiological study of human behavior. We have designed an extensive neuropsychological
battery which is administered to all subjects that participate in
our fMRI, ERP, and PET studies (e.g., drug addicted subjects, individuals
at-risk for developing drug addiction, healthy controls) to allow
for both between- and within-group comparisons. This battery of
tests includes: (1) paper-and-pencil or computerized
cognitive-behavioral tasks that assess attention, memory, emotional
processing, motor speed, and executive functions (inhibitory
control, shifting, planning, reasoning); (2) self-report measures of emotional
states/tendencies and personality traits such as impulsivity,
depression, harm
avoidance, anger; (3) newly developed computerized tasks that
target the behaviors (e.g., sensitivity to reward, predisposition to
aggression) associated with the mesolimbic and mesocortical
pathways. See Drug Addiction.
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Our research
is pursued in a multidisciplinary and translational manner.
We perform neuroimaging studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and event-related potential (ERP)
recordings, and derive measures of brain function: blood oxygen level dependent activation, glucose
metabolism, receptor availability and electrical conductivity. We anchor these results within a behavioral
context using neuropsychological assessment techniques. We also use DNA analyses to investigate
contribution to results of common gene variations.
Basic Neuropsychological Questions
Methods
times.)