Faculty Labs and Research

Stress-related mental illnesses like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are twice as common in women, but relevant pre-clinical research on the mechanisms of stress and fear has primarily been conducted in male animals. Our work explores the relationships between neural structure and function when both males and females experience aversive events,…

Dr. Brenhouse’s lab studies the dynamic interaction between the brain, the body, and the environment throughout early life and adolescent development. Using animal models with genetic, behavioral, and pharmacological manipulation, her laboratory investigates why later manifestation of mental illness occurs, and how we might prevent it.

The Language & Mind Lab studies how the mind works and how we (laypeople) think it does, concentrating on the concept of innate knowledge.

The CORE lab seeks to answer questions about basic cognitive processes like conceptual organization, reasoning, and conceptual development.

The Cognitive Embodied Social Agents Research (CESAR) Lab works on the computational modeling of human behavior, both as a basic research method in the study of human behavior as well as the use of these computational models in a range of education and analysis applications.

The Translational Vision Lab uses cross-disciplinary approaches to study basic and clinical vision science. Their basic visual neuroscience research aims to extend models of sensory processing from laboratory settings to real world conditions.

Dr. DeSteno’s research focuses on the role of emotion in social cognition and behavior.

The Vision Laboratory at Northeastern University employs psychophysical and computational methods to better understand visual perception. Current topics under study include chromatic detection and discrimination, color appearance, visual plasticity, the relationship of response times to thresholds

The Institute develops imaging tools to highlight chemical processes – enabling clinicians to better diagnose and treat disease.

The Center investigates the effects of lifestyle choices and health behaviors (e.g., physical activity, diet) and their physiological sequelae (e.g., fitness, adiposity) on brain and cognition. From a neuroimaging perspective, the researchers’ interests lie in understanding how health influences brain and behavior as it relates to increased health and effective functioning for individuals across the…

The Center for Translational Neuroimaging (CTNI) brings to the Northeastern campus state-of-the-art technology and expertise in the area of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with the purpose of understanding the central nervous system in health and disease. High-field MRI offers the potential to visualize and quantify changes in brain function, plasticity, and chemistry as a consequence…

How do we use information we have learned? Does the way people learn and apply knowledge change across development? In the Learning and Brain Development lab, we investigate the development of brain systems for different ways of learning during adolescence, and the impact of learning on memory, decision making, and cognitive control. We are interested…