DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Research Interests

My research program uses neuroscientific methods to examine order and disorder in the emotional brain. Specifically, we use neurophysiology and both structural and functional neuroimaging to study the brain systems involved in generating both positive and negative emotions, and the regulation of these systems by the prefrontal cortex. We then aim to translate our research on the emotional brain to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying emotional disorders, including depression, anxiety, addiction, and mania. I’m also interested in how stress affects brain systems involved in generating emotion, and bidirectional signaling between the brain and the immune system in generating risk and resilience for mental and physical health problems.

Selected Publications

Nusslock, R., Alloy, L.B., Brody, G.H., & Miller, G.E. (2024). Neuroimmune network model of depression: A developmental perspective. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 65, 538-567.

Miller, G.E., Carroll, A.L., Armstrong, C.C., Craske, M.G., Zinbarg, R.E., Bookheimer, S.Y., Chat, I.K.Y., Vinograd, M., Young, K.S., & Nusslock, R. (2024). Major stress in early childhood strengthens the association between peripheral inflammatory activity and corticostriatal responsivity to reward. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 117, 215-223.

Anderson, Z., Damme, K.S.F., Carroll, A.L., Chat, I.K., Young, K.S., Craske, M.G., Bookheimer, S.Y., Zinbarg, R.E., & Nusslock, R. (2023). Association between reward-related brain functional connectivity and tri-level mood and anxiety symptoms. Neuroimage: Clinical, 37, 103335.

Craske, M.G., Herzallah, M.M., Nusslock, R., & Patel, V. (2023). From neural circuits to communities: An integrative multidisciplinary roadmap for global mental health. Nature Mental Health, 1, 12-24.

Kraus, B., Zinbarg, R., Braga, R. M., Nusslock, R., Mittal, V. A., & Gratton, C. (2023). Insights from Personalized Models of Brain and Behavior for Identifying Biomarkers in Psychiatry. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 152, 105259.

Nusslock, R., & Farah, M. J. (2022). The Affective Neuroscience of Poverty. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 34, 1806–1809.

Miller, G.E., Chen, E., Finegood, E., Lam, P., Weissman-Tsukamoto, R., Leigh, A.K.K., Hoffer,L., Carroll, A.L., Brody, G.H., Parrish, T.B., & Nusslock, R. (2021). Resting-state functional connectivity of the central executive network moderates the relationship between neighborhood violence and pro-inflammatory phenotype in children. Biological Psychiatry, 90, 165-172.

Young, K.S., Bookheiner, S.Y., Nusslock, R., Zinbarg, R.E., Damme, K.S.F., Chat, I.K., Kelley, N.J., Vinograd, M., Perez, M., Chen, K., Echiverri Cohen, A., & Craske, M.G. (2021). Dysregulation of threat neurocircuitry during fear extinction: The role of anhedonia. Neuropsychopharmacology, 46, 1650-1657.

Miller, G.E., White, S.F., Chen, E., & Nusslock, R. (2021). Association of inflammatory activity with larger neural responses to threat and reward among children living in poverty. American Journal of Psychiatry, 178, 313-320.

Damme, K.S.F., Alloy, L.B., Young, C.B., Kelley, N.J., Chein, J., Ng, T.H, Titone, M.K., Black, C.L., & Nusslock, R. (2020). Amygdala subnuclei volume in bipolar spectrum disorders:  Insights from diffusion-based subsegmentation and a high-risk design. Human Brain Mapping, 41, 3358-3369.

Nusslock, R., Brody, G.H., Armstrong, C.C., Carroll, A.L., Sweet, L.H., Yu, T., Barton, A.W., Hallowell, E., Chen, E., Higgins, J., Parrish, T.B, Wang, L., & Miller, G.E. (2019). Higher peripheral inflammatory signaling associated with lower resting state functional brain connectivity in emotion regulation and central executive networks. Biological Psychiatry, 86, 153-162.

Brody, G.H., Yu, T., Nusslock. R., Barton, A.W., Miller, G.E., Chen, E., & Sweet, L.H. (2019).
Effect of supportive parenting on the relationship between adolescent poverty and resting state functional brain connectivity during adulthood. Psychological Science, 30, 1040-1049.

Miller, G.E., Chen, E., Armstrong, C.C., Carroll, A.L., Ozturk, S., Rydland, K.J., Brody, G.H., Parrish, T.B., & Nusslock, R. (2018). Functional connectivity in central executive network protects youth against cardiometabolic risks linked with neighborhood violence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115, 12063-12068. 

Nusslock, R., & Alloy, L.B. (2017). Reward processing and mood-related symptoms: An RDoC and translational neuroscience perspective. Journal of Affective Disorders, 216, 3-16.

Damme, K., Young, C.B., & Nusslock, R. (2017). Elevated nucleus accumbens structural connectivity associated with proneness to hypomania. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12, 928-936.

Nusslock, R., & Miller, G.E. (2016). Early-life adversity and physical and emotional health across the lifespan: A neuro-immune network hypothesis. Biological Psychiatry, 80, 23-32.