My research aims to characterize neurocomputational mechanisms that contribute to maladaptive decision-making in people with personality disorders. I use computational reinforcement learning models of behavior in conjunction with fMRI, ECG, EDA, and eye tracking to understand these decision processes and to elucidate neural and physiological substrates. Supported by a T32 research fellowship, I moved to Pittsburgh in 2023 to complete my postdoctoral training in the Decision Neuroscience and Psychopathology lab. My research in the lab focuses on understanding how personality traits modulate the recruitment of brain networks involved in resolving the explore-exploit dilemma. Prior to joining DNPL, I completed my PhD in clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There, I worked in the Developmental Personality Neuroscience lab under the direction of Dr. Michael Hallquist. My dissertation research focused on understanding the learning mechanisms involved in affect-based impulsivity, particularly for individuals reporting a greater number of borderline personality disorder symptoms. My master’s research examined the role of physiological coregulation in interpersonal dysfunction among romantic couples oversampled for personality pathology. I received my B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis with a major in Psychological and Brain Sciences and minors in Mathematics and Political Science. During my undergraduate studies, I worked as a research assistant in the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network lab (PI: Dr. Tom Oltmanns) and completed my undergraduate psychology honors thesis in the Attitude and Decision Making lab (PI: Dr. Alan Lambert).
June 1, 2018 Publications
Interpersonal dysfunction in borderline personality: a decision neuroscience perspective
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by disadvantageous decisions that are often expressed in close relationships and associated with intense negative emotions. Although functional neuroimaging studies of BPD have described regions associated with altered social cognition and emotion processing, these correlates do not inform an understanding of how brain activity leads to maladaptive choices. Drawing on recent research, we argue that formal models of decision-making are …
October, 2020 Publications
From description to explanation: Integrating across multiple levels of analysis to inform neuroscientific accounts of dimensional personality pathology
Dimensional approaches to psychiatric nosology are rapidly transforming the way researchers and clinicians conceptualize personality pathology, leading to a growing interest in describing how individuals differ from one another. Yet, in order to successfully prevent and treat personality pathology, it is also necessary to explain the sources of these individual differences. The emerging field of personality neuroscience is well-positioned to guide the transition from description to explanation within personality pathology research. However, establishing comprehensive, mechanistic accounts of personality pathology will require personality neuroscientists to move beyond atheoretical studies that link trait differences to neural correlates without considering the algorithmic processes that are carried out by those correlates. We highlight some of the dangers we see in overpopulating personality neuroscience with brain-trait …
October, 2021 Publications
Disentangling cognitive processes in externalizing psychopathology using drift diffusion modeling: Antagonism, but not disinhibition, is associated with poor cognitive control
Although externalizing psychopathology has been linked to deficits in cognitive control, the cognitive processes underlying this association are unclear. Here, we provide a theoretical account of how research on cognitive processes can help to integrate and distinguish personality and psychopathology. We then apply this account to connect the two major subcomponents of externalizing, Antagonism and Disinhibition, with specific control processes using a battery of inhibitory control tasks and corresponding computational modeling. Participants (final N = 104) completed the flanker, go/no‐go, and recent probes tasks, as well as normal and maladaptive personality inventories and measures of psychological distress. We fit participants' task behavior using a hierarchical drift diffusion model (DDM) to decompose their responses into specific cognitive processes. Using multilevel structural equation models, we found …
July, 2020 Publications
Disrupted physiological coregulation during a conflict predicts short-term discord and long-term relationship dysfunction in couples with personality pathology.
Interpersonal dysfunction is a core feature of personality disorders, often affecting close relationships. Nevertheless, little is known about the moment-to-moment dynamic processes by which personality pathology contributes to dysfunctional relationships. Here, we investigated the role of physiological attunement during a conflict discussion in romantic couples oversampled for personality pathology. We hypothesized that physiological coregulation would be disrupted in individuals with personality pathology, subsequently predicting short-term discord and long-term relationship dissatisfaction. One hundred twenty-one couples completed a 10-min discussion about an area of disagreement while cardiovascular physiology and behavior were recorded. We quantified coregulation using a dynamical systems model of heart rate changes. We found that greater interpersonal problem severity was associated with more …
November, 2021 Publications
Dispositional attachment style moderates the effects of physiological coregulation on short-term changes in attachment anxiety and avoidance.
Individuals with personality disorders often experience romantic relationship dysfunction and have an insecure attachment style. Here, we examined attachment dynamics in dyadic interactions, focusing specifically on the role of physiological coregulation in state attachment processes in couples oversampled for personality pathology. A total of 121 couples completed a 10-minute discussion about an area of disagreement in their relationship and a 5-minute discussion in which they planned an event together. We used a dynamical model of heart rate changes to estimate coregulation. We found that (a) increases in state attachment avoidance were associated with contrarian coregulation (heart rate becoming misaligned with the partner’s physiology) and (b) conversely, increases in state attachment anxiety were associated with dependent coregulation (heart rate becoming aligned with the partners’ physiology …