2015 Department News

New Cognitive Neuroscience faculty memberMaureen Ritcheyby the Association for Psychological Science. Posted 12/23/15.

Jennifer Drake, vlogֱƽ̨ Psychology Ph.D 2012,. Posted 12/23/15.

Kelly DumaisandAlexa Veenemapublished a paper in the journalPsychoneuroendocrinologyentitled "." This is the first study exploring the concomitant dynamics between the oxytocin receptor and oxytocin release in a single brain region and revealing higher oxytocin receptor binding and higher oxytocin release during social recognition in male rats compared to female rats. These findings emphasize the importance of studying both sexes in order to better understand the neurobiological basis of normal and impaired forms of social behavior. Posted 12/2/15.

Incoming assistant professorKatherine McAuliffeand colleagues published atoday on how a sense of fairness develops in children in seven different cultures. News reports about this paper have appeared in,, and. Posted 11/19/15.

Gene HeymanandMichael McDannaldhave each been awarded a Faculty Fellowship for the Fall 2016 semester. Congratulations Gene and Michael! Posted 11/16/15.

Kelly Bennionhas been awarded a Dissertation Research Award from the American Psychological Association. Posted 11/5/15.

Sindy ColeandGorica Petrovichpublished a paper inScientific Reportsentitled "." Posted 11/5/15.

Donghee Han,Dolichan Kollareth, andJames Russell's paper titled "The Words for Disgust in English, Korean, and Malayalam Question its Homogeneity" is accepted for publication inJournal of Language and Social Psychology. Posted 11/5/15.

M.E. PaneroandEllen Winner's paper entitled "Do Actors Possess Traits Associated With High Hypnotizability?" has been accepted for publication inPsychology of Creativity, Aesthetics, and the Arts.This paper is a collaboration with Thalia R. Goldstein (Pace University), Robin Rosenberg (UC, San Francisco), and Hannah Hughes (a 2009-2010 Arts and Mind Lab intern from the University of Bath). Posted 11/4/15.

Sarah KarkandElizabeth Kensinger's paper entitled "" has been accepted for publication inNeuropsychologia. Posted 10/14/15.

Kelly DumaisandAlexa Veenemapublished a book chapter inentitled "Presence and Absence of Sex Differences in Structure and Function of the Brain Oxytocin System: Implications for Understanding the Regulation of Social Behavior." This book provides a comprehensive examination of the current state of sex differences research, from both basic science and clinical research perspectives. Dumais and Veenema discuss, among other topics, that the reported sex differences in the brain oxytocin system are not ubiquitous, but appear to be highly species-specific and that actions of the oxytocin system on behavior and neuronal responses are often sex-specific, but do not necessarily correspond with sex differences in oxytocin and the oxytocin receptor in the brain. Posted 10/13/15.

Christina ReppucciandGorica Petrovichhave published a paper in the journalBrain Structure and Functionentitled "." Posted 8/17/15.

Lauren AndersonandGorica Petrovichhave published a paper in the journalPhysiology & Behaviorentitled "Renewal of conditioned responding to food cues in rats: Sex differences and relevance of estradiol." Posted 8/17/15.

Caroline SmithandAlexa Veenemapublished a paper in theJournal of Neuroendocrinologyentitled "." They demonstrate that social novelty-seeking in juvenile rats is facilitated by the opioid system in the brain, while dopamine, oxytocin, or vasopressin systems do not seem to be involved in mediating this behavior. This finding is relevant because impaired social novelty-seeking is characteristic for autistic children, which may hamper their development of social skills. The next step will be to localize the effects of the opioid system to specific brain regions and neural circuits. Posted 7/31/15.

Chris Madanis co-author of "" in theJournal of Neuroscience. Posted 7/29/15.

Mary Kayyal,Joe Pochedly, andJames Russell, with an undergraduate student, recently published. Posted 7/29/15.

Kelly Bennionwas awarded the 2015 Scott Mesh Honorary Grant for Research in Psychology. Posted 7/21/15.

Sarah Karkwas awarded a travel award from the New England chapter of Graduate Women in Science. Posted 7/21/15.

Elizabeth Kensingerwas awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation, in collaboration with Jessica Payne at Notre Dame, to examine how "Stress at learning interacts with sleep to optimally consolidate emotional memories." Posted 7/21/15.

Gene Heymanhas been awarded an Ignite Award for his research on attention allocation. Posted 7/8/15.

Kelly DumaisandAlexa Veenemapublished a review paper in the journalFrontiers in Neuroendocrinologyentitled "." Among the most interesting findings is that vasopressin parameters are typically higher in males than in females across species. Fewer sex differences have been reported for oxytocin parameters, but if such sex differences are reported, oxytocin is typically higher in females while oxytocin receptors are typically higher in males. Posted 6/29/15.

Sara CordesandNadia Chernyakhave been awarded a three-year grant from the Templeton Foundation on the “Cognitive Underpinnings and Consequences of Generosity.” Posted 6/22/15.

Shannon Snapp(Ph.D. 2010 with advisor Karen Rosen) will join the Psychology department at California State Monterey Bay as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the fall of 2015. Shannon will teach undergraduate courses and continue her research on adolescent health and sexuality. Posted 6/4/15.

Alexa Veenemawas appointed to serve on the Editorial Board of the journalHormones and Behavior.Posted 5/22/15.

Barry Schneiderhas been elected fellow of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development. Posted 5/18/15.

Kelly Bennionwon the Donald J. White Teaching Excellence Award. Posted 5/7/15.

Sara Keeferwas selected to present a talk at the 2015 Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior meeting. She was awarded a NITA, New Investigator Travel Award, to present her data at the annual meeting in July in Denver. Posted 4/27/15.

Lauren Andersonwas awarded the Florence P. Haseltine award for best poster presentation by a new investigator at the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences annual meeting. Posted 4/27/15.

Jill Waring, who received her Ph.D. in 2011, has accepted a tenure-track position at Saint Louis University. Posted 4/23/15.

Drew Linsleywas awarded a $1,500 grant by Sigma Xi to support his dissertation research. Posted 4/23/15.

Kelly BennionandElizabeth Kensingerhave published a new paper entitled "" inTranslational Issues in Psychological Science. Posted 4/22/15.

Laura Niemiwas awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Research Award co-sponsored by Dr. Steven Pinker and Dr. Jesse Snedeker at Harvard University. Posted 4/17/15.

Kelly Bennionwon anto spend summer 2015 at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore researching the effects of sleep restriction on long-term memory and false memory in adolescents. Posted 4/8/15.

Barry Schneiderpresented a continuing-education workshop for Montreal clinical psychologists entitled "Adolescent Depression: Treating Moods, Not Just Cognitions." Posted 4/7/15.

Kelly Dumaiswas awarded a Dissertation Fellowship for the 2015-2016 year by the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Posted 4/6/15.

Michelle Hurstwas selected to present a poster at the 2015 NIH Math Cognition Conference and received a $500 travel award. The poster competition selects a maximum of eight posters to be presented at the conference. Posted 4/2/15.

Posters byJordan TheriaultandJohn Ksander,Drew Linsley, andChris Madanhave won SANS Poster Awards from the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society. Posted 3/30/15.

Kelly Bennionwon a Sleep Research Society Abstract Merit Based Award for an abstract that she submitted for presentation at SLEEP 2015, the 29th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Posted 3/25/15.

Larisa Heiphetz, postdoctoral fellow in Liane Young’s Morality Lab, will be joining the Department of Psychology at Columbia University in July 2016. Congratulations Larisa! Posted 3/24/15.

Incoming faculty memberJosh Hartshorne's. Posted 3/6/15.

Liane Youngwas awarded a university Research Across Disciplines and Schools (RADS) grant for her proposal “Knowledge is Power: The Impact of Education on Knowledge of and Attitude about Terrorism,” in collaboration with Peter Krause from the Political Science Department. Posted 2/26/15.

Liane YoungandEhri Ryuhave both been granted tenure and will be promoted to Associate Professor. Congratulations Liane and Ehri! Posted 2/26/15.

Scott Slotnickwas awarded a university Ignite grant for his proposal, “The Role of the HumanHippocampusDuring Spatial Memory.” Posted 2/25/15.

Kelly Bennionwon the. Posted 2/12/15.

Scott Slotnickis the new Editor-in-Chief of the journalCognitive Neuroscience(published by Taylor & Francis in the United Kingdom). In this role, Scott has appointed, revised, and revamped. Posted 1/21/15.

Barry Schneiderhas a. Posted 1/15/15.