2021 CCBBI Archives
February 5, 2021
Margaret Sheridan
Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Deprivation and threat, testing conceptual model of adversity exposure and developmental outcomes
Abstract: Exposure to childhood adversity is common and associated with a host of negative developmental outcomes as well as differences in neural structure and function. It is commonly posited that these social experiences “get under the skin” in early childhood, increasing long-term risk through disruptions to biology. In this talk I propose a novel approach to studying the link between adversity, brain development, and risk for psychopathology, the dimensional model of adversity and psychopathology (DMAP). In this model we propose that adversity exposure can be defined according to different dimensions which we expect to impact health and well-being through different neural substrates. Whereas we expect deprivation to primarily disrupt function and structure of lateral association cortex (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and superior parietal cortex) and thus complex cognitive processing such as executive functioning. In contrast, we expect threat to alter structure and function of subcortical structures such as the hippocampus and amygdala and midline regions associated with emotion regulation such as the ventral medial prefrontal cortex and thus, associated emotion reactivity and automatic regulation processes. In a series of studies I test the basic tenants of the DMAP concluding that initial evidence, using both a priori hypothesis testing and data-driven approaches is consistent with the proposed model. I conclude by describing future work addressing multiple dimensions of adversity and potential adjustments to the model.
March 5, 2021
Neda Jahanshad
Associate Professor , Keck School of Medicine at USC
Multi-site collaborations for neuroimaging genetics and understanding risk for brain disease
Abstract: Human neuroimaging offers non-invasive insights into the structure and function of the living brain. However, the potential to use imaging to understand the variation in the brain that may confer risk for psychiatric and neurological disorders has been hampered by an overwhelming number of unreproducible findings. Studies with small samples, overly-lenient thresholds for statistical significance, and publication biases tend to seed hypothesis driven research, leading to a cyclic exaggeration of potentially incomplete or biased, unreliable findings. Recently, large-scale international consortia have been formed to address the reliability and reproducibility of biomedical findings. I will be discussing the work and findings from the ENIGMA consortium, which began to perform unbiased genome-wide scans of brain structure and has recently pooled together neuroimaging and genomic information from over 60 datasets around the world to identify hundreds of genetic loci that help shape localized cortical and subcortical brain morphometry, and identifies a genetic architecture that correlates with those that drive risk for several neuropsychiatric traits. ENIGMA has expanded beyond studies of common genetics to incorporate over 30 clinical, methodological, or biologically focused working groups, which range from efforts to map normative brain development and aging across the lifespan, to a transdiagnostic initiative to study the neurobiological signatures of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This talk will highlight findings from only a few of the ongoing initiatives in ENIGMA, touch upon new study directions currently underway, and discuss open challenges in the field of collaborative neuroscience.
March 29, 2021
Dr. Hyowon Gweon
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, and Director of Graduate Studies for the Symbolic Systems Program, Stanford University
Abstract: Humans are not the only species that learns from others, but only humans learn and communicate in rich, diverse social contexts, build repertoires of abstract, structured knowledge, and even develop cultural practices (e.g., parenting, schools) to share such knowledge with others. What makes human social learning so distinctive, powerful, and smart?
In this talk, I argue that human social learning must be studied not as a one-way transmission of information but as a bidirectional, cooperative interaction between someone who wants to learn (e.g., a learner) and someone who wants to help others learn (e.g., a teacher). Beyond passively copying what others do or trusting what others say, young children actively engage in a range of epistemic practices to learn from others and help others learn, about the world, about others, and even about the self. Although social learning and teaching have been studied in separate literatures, they may have common cognitive roots: Domain-general probabilistic inferences guided by an intuitive understanding of how people think, plan, and act. I raise questions about the neural mechanisms that support these representations and inferential processes, pointing to some ongoing work that begins to address these questions.
October 1, 2021
Caterina Gratton
Assistant Professor, Northwestern University
States and Traits in Human Brain Networks
November 5, 2021
Jean-Baptiste Poline
Associate Professor, McGill University
Cultural and Technical Issues Regarding Reproducibility in Brain Sciences and Possible Individual and Community Responses
View Dr. Poline's talk
December 3, 2021
Laura Lewis
Assistant Professor, Boston University