Poster Session

Name: Jacob S. Faibishenko, BS – Travel Award Winner
University: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department: Department of Psychology
Program or Lab: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology
Mentor or PI: Dr. Florin Dolcos and Dr. Sandra Dolcos

Poster Title: “Bridging Space and Time in Relational Memory: Behavioral and ERP Evidence of Enhanced Spatiotemporal Integration by Emotion”

Background: Resting-state functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) is now being used to guide targets for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), but many methodological, neurobiological, and clinical questions remain unanswered. Given that amygdala hyperreactivity is a main driver of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we developed a neuroimaging-guided approach to attenuate the amygdala in a TMS clinical trial for PTSD. We investigated target topography variability and stability to explore the potential clinical relevance of individualized TMS in PTSD.

Methods: 50 adults with PTSD symptoms were randomized to a 10-day treatment of 1Hz
(36,000 pulses/day, n=26) or sham (n=24) TMS. Neuroimaging data were collected a week before and after TMS. The pre-TMS resting state scan was used to define targets within the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) with strongest positive FC to right amygdala. Between-subjects target variability was assessed using a repeated measures general linear model (GLM). Effect of TMS on target topography was assessed in a 3*2*2 GLM with post-hoc analyses.

Results: We found significant variability in target topography (F(1,45)=4,438.36  p<0.001, ηp2=0.990) and an interaction effect of treatment on target change over time such that change was only significant with active(F(1,21)=5.65, p=0.027, ηp2=0.212) but not sham TMS.”

Conclusions: Variability in target topography supports the use of patient-specific TMS. Furthermore, TMS-induced changes in topography suggest circuit-guided TMS may improve PTSD through altering FC in the threat circuitry.

Name: Eugenia Giampetruzzi, BA – Travel Award Winner
University: Stanford University
Department: Department of Psychology
Program or Lab: Stanford Neurodevelopment 
Mentor or PI: Ian H. Gotlib

Poster Title: “Fronto-Amygdala Connectivity Moderates the Association of Inflammation with Negative Affective Reactivity to Daily Stress in Adolescents”

Background: While adolescence is characterized by normative increases in affective reactivity, anomalous increases in negative affect (NA) experienced in response to stressful events can increase adolescents’ risk for psychopathology. Neural models have implicated a functional imbalance between subcortical affect-generating and prefrontal cortical brain regions in contributing to maladaptive affective functioning. We do not know, however, whether these laboratory-based models translate to real-world behavior and, more specifically, whether adolescents’ momentary affective reactivity to daily stress is moderated by their fronto-amygdala resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC).

Methods: Adolescents (N=124; Mage=16.15 years) completed a 14-day ecological momentary assessment protocol assessing levels of stress severity, NA, and positive affect (PA). Given preliminary findings linking stress severity with NA but not PA, preregistered mixed-effects models tested in a subsample of participants with imaging data (N=79) whether rsFC between the amygdala and nodes of the pre-frontal cortex moderated within-person associations between stress and NA. Likelihood ratio tests compared interaction models across four seed-by-system sets.

Results: Left amygdala connectivity to a regulatory set of regions including the dorsolateral, dorsomedial, ventrolateral, and ventromedial (vmPFC) prefrontal cortex moderated the within-person association between daily stress severity and NA. Edge-level analyses localized this effect to the left amygdala-vmPFC pathway, such that stronger connectivity was associated with a flatter stress-NA slope.

Conclusions: Individual differences in fronto-amygdala connectivity, particularly left amygdala-vmPFC coupling, may help to explain the heterogeneity in adolescents’ affective responses to everyday stress. Findings support the ecological validity of fronto-limbic imbalance models by linking resting-state circuitry to real-world stress reactivity.

Name: Byeol Kim Lux – Travel Award Winner
University: Dartmouth College
Department: Psychological and Brian Sciences
Program or Lab: Cognitive & Affective Neurosciences Laboratory
Mentor or PI: Tor Wager

Poster Title: “The Neural Cost of Witnessing Suffering: Network Disruption and Sustained Arousal After Vicarious Trauma”

Vicarious trauma (VT), witnessing others’ suffering, has been linked to moral injury, PTSD, and chronic disease, yet its neurobiological mechanism in healthy humans remains undefined. Existing laboratory stressors lack the moral salience and ecological validity of trauma exposure. In this study, participants (N = 87) completed two fMRI sessions in which they viewed either a 30-minute documentary depicting industrial animal slaughter (VT) or a matched film showing positive human-animal interactions (Vicarious Community, VC). Following movie-viewing, they underwent resting-state fMRI. Whole-brain network maps were derived using template-constrained independent component analysis, and functional connectivity was compared across conditions. Principal component analysis of in-scanner emotion ratings identified two dominant dimensions: valence and empathic engagement. Empathic engagement during VT was positively associated with Personal Distress (Interpersonal Reactivity Index). We found significant functional connectivity changes between conditions (FDR q < 0.05). In VT, the sensorimotor network (SMN) showed reduced positive connectivity with the precuneus (t = -4.60), and the central executive network (CEN) showed weakened negative connectivity with posterior insula and SMN in VT (t > 4.43). Importantly, the magnitude of these connectivity changes correlated with individual differences in personal distress (|rs| > 0.25; ps < 0.05). VT also produced sustained increases in post-movie heart rate, and greater heart rate differences were associated with larger reductions in SMN-CEN connectivity in VT (r = 0.28, p < 0.05). Together, these findings suggest that VT disrupts integration among interoceptive, sensorimotor, and executive control systems, linking network reconfiguration to autonomic arousal and individual differences in empathic distress.

Name: Katherine Kim, ScB – Travel Award Winner
University: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Department: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Program or Lab: Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit (NNT)
Mentor or PI: Melissa A. Brotman, PhD

Poster Title:  “Neural Responses to Error Processing Predict Treatment Outcomes in Youth with Anxiety”

Background: Inhibitory control, the ability to regulate attention and behavior in a goal-directed manner, is often impaired in youth with anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective; however, many youths fail to fully respond, highlighting the need to identify neural markers that predict treatment outcomes. This study examined whether baseline neural activation during error processing predicts anxiety severity post-treatment.
Methods: Fifty-one youth with anxiety disorders (Mage = 14.01, SD = 2.55) completed a modified flanker task during fMRI prior to 12 sessions of CBT. Incongruent trials required participants to respond to the target arrow surrounded by conflicting arrows. Treatment response was assessed using the clinician-administered Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale (PARS). Whole brain analyses examined the association between baseline error-related neural activation during error vs correct incongruent trials and post-treatment PARS, controlling for pre-treatment PARS, age, and number of errors made. Results were thresholded at p<.005, and cluster size=56 at
𝛼=.05.
Results: Higher post-treatment PARS scores were associated with increased neural activation during incongruent error trials in the right cuneus (b= 0.34, t(93)= 2.47, p=.015) and right superior frontal gyrus (b=0.44, t(93)=3.38, p=.001). Higher post-treatment PARS scores were associated with decreased neural activation during incongruent correct trials in the left middle cingulate cortex (b=0.32, t(93)=2.56, p=.012).
Conclusions: Findings suggest that baseline neural activation in error processing regions seems to be sensitive to anxiety severity but in task-specific conditions, indicating that neural responses to errors made compared to correct responses differentially modulate the treatment-driven changes in anxiety.

Name: Fangze Li, BA – Travel Award Winner
University: Northwestern University
Department: Department of Neurology 
Program or Lab: Interdepartmental Neuroscience PhD Program
Mentor or PI: Dr. John Kessler

Poster Title: “Hippocampal Stem and Granule Cells in Affective Behavior”

The hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) plays a critical role in emotion regulation, learning, and memory, and DG granule cells (GCs) dysfunction contributes to many neurological and psychiatric disorders. DG GCs form a heterogeneous population that differs in maturation stage and functional properties. A common feature across these populations is the expression of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptors. While BMP signaling is well known for its essential roles in early development and in regulating adult hippocampal neurogenesis, its effects on different existing GC populations and their behavioral consequences remain poorly understood.

Previously, we demonstrated that BMP signaling levels throughout the DG correlate with hippocampus-dependent behavior: elevated BMP signaling impairs, whereas reduced signaling improves hippocampal function. Building on this work, we found that activation of newborn GCs suppresses depression- and anxiety-like behaviors, and many classes of antidepressants act through this mechanism. One such example is ketamine. We found that ketamine’s rapid and sustained antidepressant effects arise through distinct mechanisms. A single subanesthetic dose of ketamine rapidly improves affective behavior by increasing activity of existing immature neurons in the DG without altering neurogenesis. In contrast, repeated low-dose ketamine administration produces longer-lasting behavioral effects that require decreased BMP signaling, leading to increased numbers of immature GCs.

Current work investigates how cell-autonomous BMP signaling in different GC populations regulates the structural and functional properties, influencing both affective and cognitive behaviors. Together, these studies will elucidate cell-type-specific mechanisms underlying hippocampus-dependent behavior and highlight BMP signaling as a potential therapeutic target for neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Name: Matthew Mattoni, MA – Travel Award Winner
University: Temple University and Intern at University of Illinois Chicago
Department: Psychology and Neuroscience
Program or Lab: Clinical Psychology
Mentor or PI: Thomas Olino, PhD

Poster Title: “Precision Imaging for Intraindividual Investigation of the Reward Response”

Background: At a between-person level, blunted reward responses implicated in lower positive mood and several psychological disorders. However, between-person comparisons are limited by low test-retest reliability of task-based responses and an inability to explain within-person processes (i.e., non-ergodicity). Within-person studies are needed to address distinct clinical questions, such as how changes in reward-related brain functioning relate to the change in mood (e.g., during treatment). To address this need, we collected intensively sampled neuroimaging data to examine state and trait properties of the neural reward response and within-person associations with mood.

Methods: We openly released a precision imaging dataset with 12 sessions each for four participants, acquired twice weekly. Participants completed multiple reward-related tasks, mood and alertness ratings, and a behavioral mood induction. We examined the internal consistency and retest reliability of the neural reward response, as well as associations with positive mood using multilevel models.

Results: Test-retest-reliability of the reward response was very low (0-.36), suggesting limited statistical power for between-person comparisons. At an intraindividual level, mood and alertness explained 15%-37% of the within-person variance of the anticipatory reward response across individuals.

Discussion: Results suggest that the neural reward response has limited statistical power for between-person comparisons. In contrast, our intensively sampled design showed that intraindividual variation in the reward response was moderately explained by state-like mood and alertness. Overall, results indicate with reward-related neuroimaging should substantially increase attention to within-individual study. We also highlight the need for intensively sampled neuroimaging designs to understand the neural mechanisms of positive mood and related psychopathology.

Name: Defne Mull, MS – Travel Award Winner
University: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Department: Psychology Department: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology
Program or Lab: Dolcos SCOPE Neuroscience Lab, Cognitive Neuroscience PhD Program
Mentor or PI: Dr. Florin Dolcos

Poster Title: “Modulation of Emotional Relational Memory by Neurostimulation: Evidence from a Multimodal Investigation using HD-tDCS and 7T fMRI”

Emotion reliably enhances item memory, but its impact on memory for the associated context (or relational memory, RM) remains less clear. Neural evidence suggests that interactions between the amygdala and hippocampus support emotional RM enhancement, while top-down control signals from the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) modulate this interaction. The present study investigated whether neurostimulation of the left vlPFC during encoding influences emotional RM, using anodal (excitatory) or cathodal (inhibitory) high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS). Participants completed an encoding task in which attention was directed toward emotional or neutral foreground items or neutral background contexts, followed by a retrieval task assessing subjective (recollection-based) and objective
(item-context matching) RM. Preliminary behavioral results (N = 19) showed that attention modulated the experienced emotion: directing attention to the background reduced the emotional ratings of negative images. Memory results revealed that recollection-based hit rates were overall higher for emotional stimuli, particularly during the foreground attentional focus. Stimulation was associated with a pattern consistent with a directional modulation of this effect: cathodal stimulation attenuated the emotional enhancement, consistent with an inhibitory modulation, but there were no effects of anodal stimulation compared to sham. Objective RM results showed a similar pattern, consistent with an inhibitory modulation by cathodal stimulation. These results will be discussed in conjunction with data obtained from combining this neurostimulation protocol with concurrent ultra-high-field (7T) fMRI, to examine contributions of the amygdala, hippocampus, and vlPFC, at nuclear-, subfield-, and laminar-level resolution, respectively.

Name: Bernie Mulvey, PhD – Travel Award Winner
University: John Hopkins University / Lieber Institute for Brain Development
Department: Psychiatry
Program or Lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Mentor or PI: Keri Martinowich, PhD

Poster Title: “Spatial Transcriptomic Profiling of Human Hypothalamic Sex Differences: Ventromedial and Arcuate Hypothalamic Nuclei”

The tuberal hypothalamus, which includes the ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) and arcuate (ARC) nuclei, has been characterized extensively in rodents for their roles in controlling social and appetitive behavior as well as metabolism. Several functions the ARC and VMH have been shown to be sex-differential at molecular, physiologic, and behavioral levels in rodents, largely mediated through neuron populations expressing gonadal hormone receptors including estrogen receptor Esr1. To address the lack of modern transcriptomic data from metabolically healthy and reproductive-age adult hypothalamus of both sexes, we performed spatial transcriptomics (10x Visium platform) on postmortem tuberal hypothalamus in 8 healthy human donors ages 27-48 years old. We used our transcriptome-wide results to select 100 genes with specific, sex-differential, or spatially variable gene expression in ARC/VMH for single-molecule profiling with in-situ sequencing using the 10x Xenium platform, verifying distinctive marker genes in these human brain areas. The two datasets revealed retinoid pathway gene expression specific to ARC, including of retinoid metabolism gene CYP26A1—which is not expressed in the adult mouse ARC. Using cell-resolution data from Xenium, we localized sex-differential expression identified with Visium to specific neuron populations of VMH and ARC. Further, we found that genes more highly expressed in male VMH are enriched in autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-associated genes. We thus identified major spatial divisions of VMH and ARC, transcriptomic sex differences in these regions and their resident cell types, and novel human-specific features marking these cells and areas, creating a useful resource for studying hypothalamus in the context of neuropsychiatric disease.

Name: Niki Sabetfakhri, MS – Travel Award Winner
University: University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine
Department: Psychiatry
Program or Lab: Medical Scientist Training Program, Graduate Program for Neuroscience
Mentor or PI: Dr. Olusola Ajilore

Poster Title: “Static and Dynamic Salience Network Alterations in Veterans with Co-Occurring Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Alcohol Use Disorder”

Mild TBI (mTBI) and alcohol-use disorder (AUD) commonly co-occur in Veterans, a comorbidity marked by treatment-resistance. Both conditions disrupt the salience network (SN), which coordinates transitions between default-mode (DMN) and control network (CN). Alterations in this mechanism may lock individuals into maladaptive states that impair cognitive flexibility and sustain craving, but how mTBI+AUD jointly alters SN dynamics and relates to craving remains poorly understood.
Forty-four Veterans (22 mTBI+AUD; 22 matched controls) completed resting-state fMRI (20min,
TR=555ms) and post-scan craving assessments. Static connectivity for six a priori SN edges per hemisphere (FDR-corrected) revealed reduced left CN-SN coupling (t=2.90, p=.025) and elevated right DMN-SN coupling (t=−2.92, p=.025) in the mTBI+AUD group. Higher craving across all participants correlated with elevated right DMN-SN coupling (r=.33, p=.037). These edges were recast as state-space axes, with θ (inverse tangent of CN-SN to DMN-SN coupling) summarizing salience balance.
mTBI+AUD was shifted toward DMN dominance (t=2.98, p=.005), and decreased θ (increased DMN-SN coupling) correlated with craving (r=−.35, p=.021).
We next tracked CN-SN versus DMN-SN balance moment-to-moment using sliding-window connectivity (45s overlapping, ~1,000/subject). mTBI+AUD spent less time in CN-dominant configurations (p=.004; replication in second acquisition: p=.001) and transitioned between CN- and DMN-SN less frequently
(p=.030; replication: p=.034). Phase-randomization null modeling confirmed reduced transitioning exceeded what static differences alone predict. Dynamic metrics did not associate with craving.
These findings suggest mTBI+AUD alters SN coupling at two levels— a static shift toward DMN dominance that tracks with craving and reduced dynamic transitioning between network configurations— offering potential targets for circuit-based intervention.

Name: Grace Schamber, BS – Travel Award Winner
University: Marquette University
Department: Biomedical Sciences 
Program or Lab: Neuroscience- Gilmartin Lab
Mentor or PI: Dr. Marieke Gilmartin

Poster Title: “Ovarian hormone modulation of prefrontal dependent fear learning and neural encoding ”

PTSD has a strong sex bias, yet the neurobiological basis of this difference remains unclear. We have identified the medial prefrontal cortex as a potential site where sex hormones modify learning circuits. In both rodents and humans, the prefrontal cortex is required for associating threat-related cues and shocks when the two events are separated in time as in trace fear conditioning (Gilmartin et al., 2010, 2013; Knight et al., 2004). Our lab has shown that neural activity in the prelimbic (PL) is necessary for trace conditioning (Gilmartin et al, 2013). Recently, we found that ovarian hormone state during learning influences fear memory strength and memory-related neural activity in the PL (Kirry et al, 2019; LaViola, in prep). As mPFC dysfunction contributes to disorders involving impaired cognitive control and fear regulation, including PTSD, understanding how hormonal state and age-related hormone loss shape encoding in this region is critical. We investigated how hormonal state and aging influence PL neural encoding during trace fear conditioning. Using viral expression of pan-neuronal GCaMP8f in PL neurons, we performed calcium imaging during fear learning. PL activity revealed distinct neuronal activation patterns in females trained in high versus low estrous states. To examine interactions between hormonal state and aging, additional experiments were conducted across multiple age groups and analyses are ongoing characterizing activity profiles across aging timepoints. Together, these studies will define how hormonal state and aging shape prefrontal neural representations of threat learning and may identify neural activity patterns that predict divergent fear outcomes.

Name: Patlapa Sompolpong, BA – Travel Award Winner
University: Emory University
Department: Neuroscience
Program or Lab: Stress & Neuromodulation SNLAB
Mentor or PI: Dr. Sanne van Rooij

Poster Title: “Advancing TMS for PTSD – A Neuroimaging-guided Approach to Modulate the Threat Circuitry”

Background: Resting-state functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) is now being used to guide targets for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), but many methodological, neurobiological, and clinical questions remain unanswered. Given that amygdala hyperreactivity is a main driver of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we developed a neuroimaging-guided approach to attenuate the amygdala in a TMS clinical trial for PTSD. We investigated target topography variability and stability to explore the potential clinical relevance of individualized TMS in PTSD.

Methods: 50 adults with PTSD symptoms were randomized to a 10-day treatment of 1Hz
(36,000 pulses/day, n=26) or sham (n=24) TMS. Neuroimaging data were collected a week before and after TMS. The pre-TMS resting state scan was used to define targets within the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) with strongest positive FC to right amygdala. Between-subjects target variability was assessed using a repeated measures general linear model (GLM). Effect of TMS on target topography was assessed in a 3*2*2 GLM with post-hoc analyses.

Results: We found significant variability in target topography (F(1,45)=4,438.36  p<0.001, ηp2=0.990) and an interaction effect of treatment on target change over time such that change was only significant with active(F(1,21)=5.65, p=0.027, ηp2=0.212) but not sham TMS.

Conclusions: Variability in target topography supports the use of patient-specific TMS. Furthermore, TMS-induced changes in topography suggest circuit-guided TMS may improve PTSD through altering FC in the threat circuitry.

Name: Haley West, MS – Travel Award Winner
University: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Department: Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience of Psychopathology 
Program or Lab: Canopy Lab
Mentor or PI: Wendy Heller

Poster Title: “Functional Connectivity Varies with Menstrual Hormones, Anxiety, and Stress”

The effects of menstrual hormones on internalizing symptoms are complex and understudied. These hormones vary substantially across a typical 28-day cycle. In addition, there are distinct neural and chemical relationships that indicate that estrogen and progesterone can have an effect on internalizing disorders, such as anxiety, and their supporting neural mechanisms. One example of these relationships is the pathway of cortisol production from available progesterone. The Human Connectome Project is one of the few large neuroimaging datasets that include menstrual cycle data. Using HCP data, the present project examined functional connectivity during a working memory task. Comparing hormonal birth control users vs. those with an active menstrual cycle, connectivity between right amygdala and right hippocampus varied by reported anxious arousal (main effect) and group (interaction): higher anxious arousal was related to higher connectivity, especially in the group without hormonal birth control. Perceived stress and group produced a similar interaction. In both cases, higher distress was related to higher connectivity. We further examined the active cycling group by comparing participants in luteal vs. follicular phases. Higher stress was related to higher connectivity in the luteal but not the follicular group. These findings suggest a role for menstrual hormones in an active cycle on psychological distress and identify potential neural mechanisms such as functional connectivity. Results also suggest a role for the more variable hormone levels of the active cycle in contrast to the more homogeneous levels of hormones produced by hormonal contraceptives.

Name: Amun Asnani, BA
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Center for Healthy Minds
Program or Lab: Center for Healthy Minds
Mentor or PI: Dr. Simon Golberg

Poster Title: “How do adverse childhood experience moderate digital meditation-based intervention responsiveness? Evidence from the BeWell randomized controlled trial”

Substantial research has demonstrated that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with heightened anxiety symptoms reflecting dysregulated negative emotional states across the lifespan. Digital meditation-based interventions (MBIs), which aim to cultivate emotional awareness and adaptive regulation of negative affect, have shown effectiveness in reducing anxiety symptoms. However, it remains unclear whether ACEs are associated with treatment response.

Using data from the Behavior, Biology, and Well-being (BeWell) Study, a remote randomized trial of the Healthy Minds Program (HMP) app, we examined whether ACEs moderated anxiety symptom trajectory during a digital MBI. Participants (N=1,157) were randomized to an intervention group, active control, or usual care (UC) group. ACEs were assessed at baseline using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and categorized into emotional/physical abuse, household dysfunction, and sexual abuse subdomains. Anxiety symptoms were measured at baseline, weekly throughout the intervention, and at 3-month follow-up using the GAD-7. Piecewise linear mixed-effects models (lmer) estimated symptom change from baseline to post-intervention and linear mixed effects models (glht) estimated trajectories from pre-intervention to follow-up, testing ACEs as moderators of treatment effects.

ACEs moderated anxiety symptom improvements in the intervention group relative to UC throughout the intervention period (ACEs×group×time b=2.34, p=.026). Among the subdomains, only sexual abuse demonstrated a significant three-way interaction (b=1.65, p =.021). No significant results were maintained at follow-up. Overall, HMP appears to be more effective in decreasing anxiety symptoms for those with ACEs than those without during an active intervention period, supporting its dissemination in populations who have experienced ACEs.

Name: Ashton Barber, MS
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Psychiatry
Program or Lab: Neuroscience Training Program
Mentor or PI: Ned Kalin

Poster Title: “Interactions between ketamine and opioid receptors in nonhuman primates”

Name: Zixiao Bian, MS
University: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Department: Psychology, Beckman Institute for Advance Science & Technology
Program or Lab: Dolcos SCoPE Neuroscience Lab
Mentor or PI: Dr. Florin Dolcos, Dr. Sanda Dolcos

Poster Title: “Regulating Emotional Experience in Middle-Childhood using Focused Attention: A Functional MRI Investigation”

Emotional well-being depends on the ability to cope with negative experiences. Previous research emphasized regulatory strategies engaged in the later stages of emotional processing (reappraisal and suppression) in adults, but less is known about early-stage strategies, such as focused attention (FA), used by children. Our functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined the neurobehavioral mechanisms of self-guided FA in 7–11-year-old children (N = 21). Participants were cued to focus either on the foreground (FG focus) or background (BG focus) of emotional and neutral composite images and rated their emotional response. Behaviorally, the BG focus decreased the affective ratings of emotional pictures down to the level of the neutral pictures. At the neural level, the BG focus increased activity in dorsal control regions (e.g., frontal eye fields, FEF) and decreased activity in affective regions including the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and the amygdala, as well as enhanced activity in higher-order visual processing areas (e.g., parahippocampal place area). Brain-behavior correlations with subjective ratings and temperament scores revealed FA condition-specific associations. For subjective ratings, there were negative associations with FEF activity, and positive associations with activity in dorsal PFC and parietal regions, during the BG focus. There was also a negative association with the vlPFC activity, during the FG focus. For temperament scores
(Orienting/Regulation), there was a positive association with activity in FEF during the BG focus. Together, these findings advance the understanding of emotion regulation in middle-childhood and highlight the role of individual differences in using self-guided FA.

Name: Aashana Daru, BA, MD Candidate
University: University of Chicago
Department: Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience
Program or Lab: Keedy Lab
Mentor or PI: Royce Lee, MD

Poster Title: “Guilt, Shame, and Aggression: Moral Emotions in Intermittent Explosive Disorder”

Maladaptive impulsive aggression is a public health problem, with unclear relationships to moral emotions, which shape social behavior. Previous studies found that guilt proneness is associated with prosocial reactions to conflict (apologizing, amending) but shame proneness (avoidant coping) is maladaptive. We hypothesized IED would be associated with decreased guilt sensitivity and increased shame avoidance, compared to normal and psychiatric controls on the vignette-based Guilt and Shame Proneness (GASP) scale. To test if the findings held for a laboratory-based test of aggression, we hypothesized that aggressive responding on the Taylor Aggression Paradigm would be associated with decreased guilt sensitivity and increased shame avoidance.

Conducted at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at The University of Chicago, all subjects provided written, informed consent using forms approved by the IRB of the Biological Sciences Division. 299 adults were recruited: healthy controls (n=100), psychiatric controls (n=99), and people with current IED (n=100) meeting DSM-IVTR criteria.

Linear regression models of diagnosis and GASP subscale scores revealed that IED was associated with increased Shame Withdrawal (B=.647, 95% CI [.362, .932], t(290)=4.47, p=.001), but no other subscales. Higher levels of lab-tested behavioral aggression were associated with decreased shame sensitivity (r=-.325, p<.001, n=155).

IED and to a lesser degree psychiatric controls are prone to higher levels of avoidant coping in response to shame than normal controls, controlling for demographic factors. Somewhat surprisingly, lab-based behavioral aggression was not associated with shame avoidance but rather differences in guilt and shame sensitivity.

Name: Jayce Doose, MEng
University: Medical University of South Carolina
Department: College of Health Professions
Program or Lab: PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Science
Mentor or PI: Dr. Lisa McTeague

Poster Title: “Closing the Loop Faster: Closed-loop Accelerated rTMS-CBT Targeting EEG Alpha Phase for Depression and Suicide Risk “

Introduction: Synchronizing TMS pulses with individual EEG rhythms enhances neural responses, supporting personalized repetitive TMS (rTMS) for depression. In a prior trial, closed-loop EEG-rTMS targeted to individualized alpha frequency and phase showed that stronger entrainment predicted greater symptom relief, though entrainment varied across sessions during six-week treatment. Standard rTMS protocols also require weeks to achieve response, delaying relief. We conducted an accelerated trial delivering 30 synchronized EEG-rTMS sessions over five days to enable rapid symptom relief, interleaved with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to promote durability. Methods: Twenty patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder received closed-loop accelerated EEG-rTMS at their optimal alpha phase, identified via the strongest BOLD response to single-pulse TMS within emotion regulation and cognitive flexibility network regions. Patients received six daily sessions over five days, each comprising 3,000 pulses to a personalized left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex target, interleaved with CBT. The HAMD-17 was administered pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at one-, two-, and three-month follow-ups. PHQ-9 and GAD-7 were assessed daily and at each timepoint. Results: After five days, 85% of patients no longer met diagnostic threshold for major depression. On the PHQ-9, 95% met response criteria and 55% achieved remission, with gains largely maintained through three months. Entrainment magnitude correlated significantly with HAMD-17 decrease, and clinical responders demonstrated consistent changes in electrophysiological biomarkers. Discussion: These preliminary findings demonstrate rapid, durable symptom relief with measurable neurophysiological correlates. Future dismantling studies will isolate contributions of accelerated dosing, phase-locked stimulation, and CBT to guide clinical translation. Acknowledgement: Funded by DARPA HR00112320032.

Name: Daniella Fernandez, BA
University: Medical College of Wisconsin
Department: Pharmacology and Toxicology
Program or Lab: BEAR Lab
Mentor or PI: David AA Baranger, PhD

Poster Title: “Brain Structure and Substance Use: Disentangling Risk, Exposure, and Drug-Specific Effects”

Substance use is robustly associated with neuroimaging-based measures of brain structure, though it is unclear how these effects relate to risk and exposure. Family-based data are advantageous in this context, as they leverage genetic and environmental (dis)similarities to differentiate these effects. The current project aimed to examine the predispositional, exposure, and drug-specific effects on the brain in a family-based study. The sample included 1,154 participants across 457 families from the Human Connectome Project (ages 22-37; Mage=28.86). Analyses examined associations between substance use and brain structure, with an initial focus on alcohol, as the entire sample endorsed alcohol use. Between-family, within-family, and genetic variance component analyses were utilized to assess risk effects. Alcohol was associated with widespread reductions in regional brain thickness, which were explained by a reduction in global thickness (b = -0.10, p < 0.001). Although other substances were associated with reduced global thickness, only marijuana use explained unique variance over alcohol (b = -0.12, p < 0.01). Within–family analyses indicated an exposure effect of both alcohol and marijuana use on reduced global thickness (ps < 0.05). Only marijuana demonstrated a predispositional effect, both in between-family comparisons and genetic variance component analyses (ps < 0.05). Brain structural associations with substance use reflect a combination of risk factors and use/exposure, as well as both substance-general and -specific effects. Future work will utilize longitudinal designs preceding the onset of substance use to further examine these effects.

Name: Mariza Francis, BS
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Psychiatry
Program or Lab: Neuroscience Training Program – PhD
Mentor or PI: Dr. Ned Kalin

Poster Title: “Exploring Associations between Psychopathology and Uncinate Fasciculus White Matter Microstructure in the ABCD Study”

The uncinate fasciculus (UF) is a prefrontal-subcortical white matter tract found to be altered in anxiety disorders and other types of psychopathologies. Studies have typically focused on patients with singular diagnoses and minimal comorbidities. However, children typically present with transdiagnostic symptoms, and analyses accounting for these comorbidities are important. We used the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) sample to understand how comorbid symptoms and sociodemographic factors affect the relationship between dimensional anxiety and UF microstructure integrity (fractional anisotropy/FA).

Tabulated diffusion tensor imaging data, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) DSM-oriented psychopathology scales, and demographic variables were assembled for 8503 youth (age 9-10). Linear regression models examined the association between UF FA and dimensional anxiety, covarying for age, sex, race, multidimensional SES variables, trauma history, and intracranial volume. Follow-up analyses covaried for depression and ADHD scores.

There was a significant negative relationship between dimensional anxiety and UF FA (p=.031). Other significant predictors of UF FA included age, sex, race, several SES variables, ICV, and an anxiety-trauma interaction (p=.048-<.001). When covarying for depression and ADHD scores, dimensional ADHD was the only psychopathology factor that significantly predicted UF FA (p<.001).

In this large representative community sample, dimensional anxiety was associated with reductions in UF FA, as were sociodemographic variables. Analyses accounting for dimensional anxiety, depression, and ADHD revealed a significant relationship only between ADHD scores and UF FA. These results demonstrate the value of large diverse samples in understanding interactions among complex factors that contribute to measures of white matter microstructural integrity.

Name: Ehda Gharavi Roudsari, MS
University: University of Michigan
Department: Department of Psychology 
Program or Lab: Cognitive Neuroscience
Mentor or PI: Dr. Dominik Mischkowski

Poster Title: “The Role of Prostanoid System in Affective Reactivity: Ibuprofen’s Effect on Negative and Positive Affective Evaluations”

Name: Lauren Karas
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Psychology
Program or Lab: PIVOT Lab
Mentor or PI: Kate Walsh

Poster Title: “PTS Symptom Clusters and Formal Help-Seeking After Sexual Violence: Understanding Service Utilization Among College Survivors”

Sexual violence (SV) refers to any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, or other act without consent. College students experience high rates of SV which is associated with posttraumatic stress (PTS). Although existing studies have examined associations between PTS severity and service use, limited literature has examined how PTS clusters relate to service use. This study investigates associations between PTS clusters and service utilization among college SV survivors. 3,000 undergraduate students at a Midwestern university were randomly sampled to complete a survey on sexual experiences and service utilization. From those invited, 167 participants who reported experiencing SV since enrolling in college (Mage = 20.08; SDage = 1.43; 74.9% White; 82.0% Women) were included in the analyses. Greater severity of cluster D (b = 0.069, OR = 1.071, p = .033) and cluster E symptoms (b = 0.104, OR = 1.110, p = .007) were associated with higher likelihood of service utilization. In contrast, this relationship was not observed with cluster B (b = 0.080, OR = 1.083, p = .075) and cluster C symptoms (b = 0.145, OR = 1.156, p = .094). Symptoms of clusters D and E may produce more salient distress, prompting help-seeking, whereas symptoms of clusters B and C may be less disruptive or identified as warranting support. Findings imply that campus resources should maintain trauma-informed services to support SV survivors experiencing PTS symptoms, specifically clusters D and E. PTS symptoms that impair daily functioning are more likely to drive help-seeking.

Name: Brian Kleinschmidt, BS
University: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Department: Psychiatry
Program or Lab: BRAVE Research Collaborative
Mentor or PI: Galit Karpov

Poster Title: “Internalizing Disorders disrupt developmental trajectory of emotion regulation in adolescence”

Adolescence is a period of significant neurodevelopmental changes related to emotion regulation (ER) which also coincides with peak onset in internalizing disorders (IDs). While difficulties with ER are characteristic of IDs, developmental trajectories are poorly understood in youth, particularly across implicit and explicit ER. To address this gap, this study set out to better understand the developmental process behind both implicit and explicit ER and to see how IDs influence this developmental process in adolescence.

Name: Victoria Leifel
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Psychology
Program or Lab: PIVOT – Preventing Interpersonal Violence and Overcoming Trauma
Mentor or PI: Kate Walsh

Poster Title: “Examining the role of self-blame and gender in psychopathological outcomes among college sexual assault survivors”

Sexual violence (SV) is prevalent among college students and is associated with a wide range of adverse outcomes. Survivors’ self-blame has been shown to exacerbate the severity of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet, limited work has explored how these associations may differ by gender. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship between self-blame and mental health outcomes and whether these associations vary across gender. A Qualtrics survey measuring college students’ sexual experiences was given to a random sample of undergraduate students in the U.S. Participants who endorsed a lifetime SV were included in the analytic sample (N = 322, Mage = 19.9 years, SDage = 1.69, 76.1% Women, 72.7% White). Greater endorsement of self-blame was associated with greater severity of depression (b = 0.21, p < .001), anxiety (b = 0.21, p < .001), and PTSD (b = 1.00, p < .001). Men reported higher levels of PTSD than women and non-binary people (b = -5.76, p = .04). Gender was not significantly related to depression and anxiety. The interactive effect between gender and self-blame on PTSD was not statistically significant. Findings are consistent with cognitive models of trauma, whereby internalizing SV responsibility fosters negative self-appraisal and greater severity of psychopathological outcomes. In contrast to prior literature, college students who identified as men reported higher PTSD severity, which may highlight the role of gender stereotypes and barriers associated with reporting SV. Further research needs to focus on gender differences among survivors of SV in order to best tailor treatment.

Name: Julia Light, BS
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Psychiatry
Program or Lab: Neuroscience Training Program & Kalin Lab
Mentor or PI: Dr. Ned Kalin

Poster Title: “Home and Laboratory EEG Reveal Anxiety-Related Slow Wave Sleep Reductions in Preadolescent Girls”

Sleep-related problems are common for children with anxiety disorders (ADs), but few studies have characterized their biological correlates using electroencephalography (EEG). At-home single channel EEG and laboratory high-density EEG (hdEEG) have unique advantages for studying sleep and ADs. We compared these methods in a sample of preadolescent girls with a range of anxiety, focusing on anxiety-related alterations in sleep slow wave activity (SWA), a critical process for emotion regulation and fear learning.Thirty-two females (age 8-12; 18 control/9 subthreshold-AD/5 AD) collected sleep EEG at home (up to 10 nights-single channel, Philips SmartSleep headband) and in the laboratory (2 nights-128-channel hdEEG). Correlations between home-sleep EEG (average across nights) and laboratory hdEEG (global power-average across electrodes) were examined for absolute and relative power in canonical frequency bands. Current child-rated anxiety (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders-SCARED) was examined in relation to SWA (delta power-0.5-4 Hz; linear regression-controlling for age). Within subjects, absolute and relative power from home and laboratory sleep EEG were highly correlated for all frequency bands (p<.001, R-values 0.65-0.91). Child-SCARED scores were negatively correlated with relative SWA during home sleep (p=.006); a similar negative correlation was observed for laboratory hdEEG global relative SWA (p=.152). Sleep assessments at home and with hdEEG in the laboratory consistently demonstrate anxiety-related reductions in SWA. Additionally, measures of NREM band power are highly stable within individuals across time and acquisition methods. These findings demonstrate a linkage between sleep physiology and daytime anxiety with potential implications for understanding and treating ADs.

Name: Mingtong Liu, PhD
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Institute on Aging
Program or Lab: MIDUS Neuroscience Project
Mentor or PI: Stacy M. Schaefar

Poster Title: “Associations between Perceived Stress, Stress-related Negative Affect, and Anxious/Depressive Symptoms with Representational Similarity in the Amygdala’s Reactivity to Negative vs. Neutral Stimuli”

Anxiety and depressive symptoms are reported by at least 20% of adults in the US. Therefore, understanding the neural mechanisms underlying anxiety and depressive symptoms is critical. Whether individual differences in neural responses to affective stimuli are associated with symptom levels is important for understanding the neural mechanisms underlying mental health disorders. This study examined associations between representational pattern dissimilarity in the amygdala’s reactivity to negative and neutral stimuli with self-reported levels of anxious and depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and stressor reactivity using data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study (n = 259, mean age = 57.57, 57% Female, 30% BIPOC). While the Perceived Stress Scale assesses the degree to which a person finds circumstances in their life to be unpredictable, uncontrollable, and/or overwhelming, “stressor reactivity” reflects the self-reported difference in negative affect levels on days with and without stress from daily diaries obtained over 8 days. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and representational similarity analysis were used to measure amygdalar reactivity to negative and neutral images. Greater bilateral amygdalar pattern dissimilarity when viewing negative compared to neutral images was significantly associated with higher levels of perceived stress.

Name: Cecila Nam, BA
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Center for Healthy Minds
Program or Lab:
Mentor or PI: Simon B Goldberg

Poster Title: “Emotion regulation strategies moderate stress trajectories during a digital app-based meditation training”

There has been substantial evidence linking emotion regulation strategies to perceived stress, with higher cognitive reappraisal and lower emotion suppression associated with lower stress. Although this relationship has been well established cross-sectionally, it remains unclear the degree to which baseline emotion regulation strategies moderate stress trajectories across digital interventions. In a four-week digital app-based meditation intervention trial, we examined whether baseline emotion regulation moderated within-person trajectories of perceived stress. Participants (N=764) were U.S. adults with elevated depressive symptoms (PHQ-9≥5). They completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire at baseline and the Perceived Stress Scale weekly throughout the four-week intervention and again at a three-month follow-up. Growth curve modeling was used to estimate whether baseline reappraisal and emotion suppression moderated changes in perceived stress over time. Higher baseline reappraisal was associated with greater reductions in perceived stress across the intervention and follow-up periods (b=-0.006, p=.016), indicating that individuals higher in reappraisal exhibited steeper declines in perceived stress relative to those lower in reappraisal. Emotion suppression did not significantly moderate stress trajectories (b=0.0001, p=.986). These findings may reflect reappraisal’s alignment with mechanisms commonly targeted in meditation-based interventions, whereas suppression habits may be less directly engaged. Reappraisal may function as an individual difference factor influencing stress reduction in digital mental health interventions, underscoring the importance of considering baseline emotion regulation when evaluating intervention outcomes and as a candidate variable for personalizing treatment recommendations. Future research should examine whether engagement with meditation practice (e.g. app usage, time practiced) further shapes these relationships.

Name: Cindy Nunez
University: Medical College of Wisconsin
Department: Pharmacology & Toxicology
Program or Lab: Sang Lee Lab
Mentor or PI: Sang Lee, PhD

Poster Title: “The Role of Novel Chemokine-like Protein TAFA2 in the Modulation of GABAergic Synaptic Transmission and Emotional Behavior”

Disruptions in excitation-inhibition balance are involved in many neurological and mental disorders, which can involve the dysfunction or loss of inhibitory synapses, making it important to uncover the molecular mechanisms that underlie these processes. TAFA2 may play a role in these processes as it is an activity-dependently secreted protein highly expressed in the brain, and previous studies have shown that global knockout of TAFA2 increases anxiety and fear in mice and zebrafish. How the loss of TAFA2 leads these aberrant behaviors, however, remains unknown. Due to TAFA2’s high expression in the dentate gyrus (DG) and this area’s role in processing emotional behavior, we used DG-TAFA2 KO mice to evaluate the effect of TAFA2 loss in this area on anxiety-like behavior and on GABAergic synapses. Additionally, we used cultured primary rat hippocampal neurons and immunocytochemical markers of GABAergic synapses to evaluate the changes in the number of GABAergic synapses following both overexpression and knockout of TAFA2. We found that TAFA2 overexpression and the application of purified TAFA2 protein causes a significant loss of GABAergic synapse numbers and a decrease in both the amplitude and frequency of mIPSCs in rat hippocampal slices, indicating that TAFA2 dampens G

Name: Lauren Parkins
University:  University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Psychiatry
Program or Lab: Kalin Lab
Mentor or PI: Ned Kalin

Poster Title:  “Exploration of the molecular basis of early life pathological anxiety through cell-type-specific gene expression in the basal amygdala region of nonhuman primates”

Anxiety Disorders (ADs) are the most common psychiatric illness and often emerge early in life. Understanding the neurobiological processes underlying early life pathological anxiety is critical for developing novel treatments for ADs. Nonhuman primates (NHPs) provide a highly translational model for studying human psychopathology because their brain structure and function closely resemble those of humans. Anxious Temperament (AT), a nonhuman primate model of early life trait anxiety, is a composite measure of threat-related behavioral and physiological responses, including freezing behavior, vocalizations (cooing), and blood levels of the stress-related hormone cortisol. The basolateral amygdala is a key component of AT-related neural circuitry and overall threat processing. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the basolateral amygdala’s role in anxiety-related responses, we performed single-nucleus RNA sequencing from tissue obtained from 68 peri-pubescent rhesus macaques, collected from an amygdala region encompassing the basal and accessory basal nuclei. Although no differentially expressed genes were identified for the composite AT phenotype, cell-type-specific gene expression was predictive of individual differences in threat-related freezing and cortisol. Notably, increased expression of LYPD6 with increased threat-related freezing suggests the possibility that altered cholinergic signaling may contribute to maladaptive anxiety responses. In addition, a cluster of FOXP2-defined inhibitory neurons displayed gene expression patterns associated with threat-related cortisol, suggesting that altered development/function of this cell type may contribute to dysregulated stress responses. These findings in NHPs advance mechanistic insight into early life AD risk in humans and highlight candidate molecular targets that may inform the development of therapeutic interventions.

Name: Alaina Srivastav
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Center for Healthy Minds
Program or Lab:
Mentor or PI: 

Poster Title: “Loneliness Reduction Mediates the Effect of a Mediation Program on Human Flourishing”

Human flourishing encompasses happiness, life satisfaction, and close social relationships. While mindfulness interventions can improve flourishing, the mechanisms underlying these effects require further inspection. Understanding these pathways is critical for optimizing interventions to promote well-being.
Objective: We tested whether the Healthy Minds Program (HMP), a technology-based mindfulness intervention, improves flourishing by reducing loneliness. We then quantified the proportion of HMP’s effect operating through this pathway.
Methods: Data came from the BeWell randomized controlled trial comparing HMP (n=468) to usual care (n=234). Participants completed measures of loneliness (NIH Toolbox) and flourishing (Harvard Human Flourishing Scale) at baseline, weekly during the 4-week intervention, and at 3-month follow-up. We conducted change-score mediation analysis with bootstrapped confidence intervals (5,000 iterations) to test whether loneliness reduction (baseline to 3 months) mediated HMP’s effect on flourishing at 3 months, controlling for baseline flourishing.

Name: Kianna Suchla
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Department of Psychology
Program or Lab: Center for Healthy Minds
Mentor or PI: Matthew J. Hirshberg, PhD; Richard J. Davidson, PhD

Poster Title: “Stress, Inflammation, and Resilience: Biomarker and Psychological Changes Following Digital Well-Being Training”

This study takes a psychoneuroimmunology approach to examine how chronic stress is associated with increased inflammation and adverse health outcomes, particularly among healthcare professionals. This study examined whether a digital well-being intervention influenced inflammatory biomarkers and psychological outcomes in a large sample of Mexican healthcare workers enrolled in a randomized, waitlist-controlled trial. Assessments were conducted at baseline, post-intervention (13 weeks), and follow-up (37 weeks). Dried blood spot samples were used to measure CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-10, alongside measures of stress, anxiety, depression, and well-being.

Linear and Tobit regression models assessed changes over time and differences between intervention and control groups, adjusting for infection status and time since last meal. No significant group-by-time effects were observed for inflammatory biomarkers, though baseline inflammation strongly predicted later levels. Exploratory analyses suggested small, non-significant trends in moderation by baseline inflammation.

These findings suggest that while the intervention may improve psychological well-being, short-term effects on inflammatory biomarkers are limited. Future research should examine longer intervention durations and mechanisms linking psychological and physiological change.

Name: Ziyue Zhang
University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department: Department of Psychology
Program or Lab: Center for Healthy Minds
Mentor or PI: Simon B. Goldberg

Poster Title: “Psychological Resources Demonstrate Stronger Associations with Mindfulness Practice Adherence than Psychological Distress”

Adherence to mindfulness practice has frequently been associated with better practice-related outcomes. Prior research has observed baseline predictors of meditation adherence, but findings are relatively fragmented and have not been examined within an integrated framework.
The present study examined whether baseline psychological resources and distress predicted meditation adherence. Psychological resources include readiness to change, self-compassion, decentering, and positive affect, while psychological distress include depression, anxiety, perceived stress, and negative affect. They were further combined into composite indices due to conceptual overlap and moderate intercorrelations. Data were drawn from the Advancing Dynamic And Personalized Training (ADAPT) study, which used a digital wellbeing intervention for adults with depressive symptoms. Participants completed baseline measures, and adherence was assessed after the 4-week intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Bivariate analyses showed that psychological resource variables were positively associated with adherence at week 4 of the intervention (rs=.36–.45) and 16-week follow-up (rs=.31–.51), whereas psychological distress variables were negatively associated at week 4 (rs=-.14– -.25) and follow-up (rs=-.17– -.31) (all ps<.001). Decentering was the strongest bivariate predictor overall (week 4: r=.45; 3-month: r=.51). Regression analyses showed that each variable within composites were significantly correlated with adherence (ps<.001). When combined into the two composites, only psychological resources remained significant (β=0.21, p<.001), while distress was not (β=0.02, p=.16).
These results indicate that psychological resources were a significant predictor of sustained mindfulness adherence, whereas distress was not associated with adherence after accounting for resources.

Name: Joseph Hennessey, BS
University: Medical College of Wisconsin
Department: Pharmacology & Toxicology
Program or Lab: Medical Scientist Training Program
Mentor or PI: John Mantsch, John McCorvy

Poster Title: “Effects of Psilocybin on Attentional Set-Shifting Following Chronic Unpredictable Stress in Rats”

Rationale: Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) shows immense potential for the treatment of a wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, much is still unknown about the neural mechanisms of action of psychedelics. Cognitive flexibility has been shown to be impaired in many neuropsychiatric diseases, including depression, and PAT has been shown to promote cognitive flexibility in these patients. We sought to model cognitive flexibility in animals to investigate the pharmacological and neural basis of long-term promotion of cognitive flexibility with psychedelics.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats (8-10 weeks old upon arrival) were trained on a within-session attentional set-shifting task and then exposed to 21d of chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) while training continued. 12 hours after the last stressor animals received a single dose of psilocybin (1 mg/kg, i.p.) or saline. Performance on the original within-session attentional set-shifting task was assessed 20min and 24h post-injection; on days 5–9 animals were challenged with a novel attentional set-shift.

Results: CUS exposure did not affect familiar set-shifts but trended toward increasing trials to criterion on the novel set-shift. Psilocybin did not alter familiar shifts at 20min or 24h in any group, yet normalized novel-shift performance in CUS rats relative to stressed controls on days 5-9. All groups successfully acquired the novel tone rule, indicating this paradigm can be used in future set-shifting experiments.

Conclusions: Chronic stress selectively disrupts the capacity to adopt new attentional sets while sparing well-rehearsed behavioral strategies and set-shifts between those familiar strategies. A single exposure to psilocybin produced a sustained rescue of this higher-order flexibility, extending prior acute findings to a disease-relevant model. This work advances understanding of the cognitive consequences of stress and provides a highly translational model for studying the effects of psychedelics on models of disease states in rodents.