J. David Jentsch, PhD
Professor of Psychology, Director
E-mail: jjentsch@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4875
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=jjentsch
Research in my laboratory focuses on the interaction between genetic and environmental factors that influence individual vulnerability to the initiation and progression of harmful drug and alcohol use. We utilize advanced mouse genetic reference populations to examine how inherited factors influence behavioral processes like incentive motivation, impulse control and the development of voluntary drug/alcohol consumption. My team and I also seek to identify intermediate biological mechanisms – from the gene expression to the brain system level – that explain how DNA variation ultimately influences behavior. Importantly, neuroimaging and cognitive neuroscience research involving human subjects at risk for problematic drug or alcohol use translate and extend our preclinical work. In all lines of study, sex differences – and the interaction between biological sex, genetics and environmental exposures – are a key concern.
Stefania Conte, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychology
E-mail: sconte@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4562
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=sconte
I lead the Early Neurocognitive Development (ENCoDe) team in the Department of Psychology at Binghamton University. Our research focuses on the brain basis of typical and atypical developmental trajectories, by investigating the relationships between structural and functional brain development to explain cognitive and social processes. To this end, we implement neuroimaging techniques to look at the brain function, structure, and connectivity starting in infancy, with the goal of gaining insight into the early development of the human brain and behavior. Specifically, we track the development of face processing and its interactions with other cognitive domains, such as language and attention, with the ultimate goal of learning more on the development of social communication.
Michael R. Dulas, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychology
E-mail: mdulas@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4375
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=mdula
Our research investigates the distinct and interactive roles of the hippocampus and PFC in relational memory, the ability to bind together information into relational representations and to retrieve/use those representations in service of ongoing goals. Specifically, we are interested in how these systems are impacted by healthy aging and brain injury. Using neuroimaging, eye-tracking, and neuropsychological methods, we aim to differentiate healthy age-related changes in memory and its neural correlates from those that may be tied to injury and/or pathology. Our goal is two-fold: first to improve our understanding of memory and aging, and second, to use our work in order to improve the detection and rehabilitation of age-related versus pathology/injury-related memory alterations.
Peter Gerhardstein, PhD
Professor of Psychology
E-mail: gerhard@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4562
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=gerhard
Investigation of the perceptual and attention processes that influence the formation of visual memories and exploration of the structure and content of visual representations comprise the primary foci of my research. Examination of lower-level and mid-level processes are often part of these investigations. As such, my current research includes investigations of both low-level perceptual development (investigating the development of contour integration, orientation sensitivity and other low-level vision abilities in toddlers and children) and higher level issues relating to the use of screen media and the impact of this use on both lower-level (orientation sensitivity) and higher-level (object perception) functioning. My future work will apply diffusion tensor imaging to map the development of cortical pathways in connection with skill levels in multiple perceptual abilities, and functional imaging to examine the impact of digital content on individuals with differing levels of engagement with area-specific content.
Brandon Gibb, PhD
Professor of Psychology
E-mail: bgibb@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-2511
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=bgibb
Our research focuses on factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of depression across the lifespan. Our work incorporates experimental and developmental psychopathology approaches to examine a number of potential influences including genetic, molecular, neural, physiological, behavioral, environmental, and developmental factors. Much of our research seeks to integrate markers of risk across multiple units of analysis. Consistent with the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative, we also seek to examine core processes that, although relevant for depression, may be more homogeneous and/or cut across current diagnostic boundaries (e.g., reward processing). Our overall goal is to develop a more fine-grained understanding of risk for depression and related outcomes such as suicide and nonsuicidal self-injury so that more targeted prevention and intervention efforts can be developed.
Sung-Joo Lim, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychology
E-mail: sungjoo@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4561
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=sungjoo
Our research aims to understand how cognitive functions such as attention, memory, and learning contribute to speech communication. We investigate the dynamic interactions between auditory perception and high-level cognition through studies on learning sound categories, memory for well-learned speech sounds, and attention to speech in noise. By integrating theoretical models from cognitive science with cutting-edge empirical approaches from cognitive neuroscience, including behavioral methods, computational modeling, and multimodal neuroimaging (EEG and fMRI), we explore perceptual and cognitive flexibility across different timescales. Our ultimate goal is to develop a comprehensive neurocognitive model of human speech communication that can inform the development of effective training programs for addressing communication difficulties.
Ian M. McDonough
Associate Professor of Psychology
E-mail: imcdonough@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4374
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=imcdonough
Three interrelated factors have recently been proposed to explain a large proportion of brain health: structural determinants of health (SDoH), psychological stress, and the diversity of the gut-microbiome. The present study aims to investigate how SDoH factors (e.g., neighborhood environment, proximity to healthcare, education and economic environment) based on where one has lived in one’s life can affect one’s psychological stress and poor gut health, in turn, lead to negative patterns of brain aging. The present study will test the causal pathway of SDoH to brain health via both psychological stress and poor gut health based on our Seed and Soil Model of Neurodegenerative Disorders.
