Current Areas of Research
Romer et al., 2021, American Journal of Psychiatry
Neurobiology of Transdiagnostic Psychopathology
We use structural and functional MRI to study the neural mechanisms underlying general psychopathology and specific internalizing, externalizing, and thought disorder dimensions.
Role of Cortico-Cerebellar Circuitry in Cognitive-Affective Function and Psychopathology
The role of the cerebellum in higher-order cognition and emotion is often overlooked despite possessing nearly 80% of the brain’s neurons. We have identified structural alterations in a cortico-cerebellar neural circuit in adults who scored high on a general psychopathology (‘p’) factor, which captures symptoms across diagnostic categories. We are continuing to study the role of this cerebellar circuit in cognitive-affective function and general psychopathology using a combination of structural and functional MRI methods.
Cognitive-Affective Mechanisms Underlying Risk for Transdiagnostic Psychopathology
Executive dysfunction and emotion dysregulation are common across diagnostic categories. We use neurocognitive and affective measures to determine specific cognitive-affective processes that are dysfunctional across disorders to pinpoint novel targets for transdiagnostic intervention.
Risk Markers of Psychopathology During Adolescent and Young Adulthood Development
Adolescence and young adulthood represent vulnerability stages for the emergence of many forms of mental disorder. To identify early risk markers of future disorder development, we test whether neural and cognitive-affective processes are prospective predictors of change in psychopathology during adolescent and young adulthood development.
