Lab Manual:Mission Statement

Lab Goals To characterize the anatomical trajectories of affective circuits in the brain. To characterize how psychopharmacological manipulations modulate affective experience. To understand how the function of these affective circuits is damaged in affective disorders and addiction. To understand how psycho- and pharmaco- therapies can normalize damaged affective circuits. To understand how affective circuitry modulates decision-making and economic behavior To innovate and create new technologies and techniques for tracking affective dynamics in the brain.� Our current focus has been on how affective circuits (affective neuroscience) influence mental health symptoms (neurophenomics) and choice (neuroeconomics). Our proactive view of affect differs from the traditional view of emotion, which emphasizes its' reactive nature. Thus, the phrase "anticipatory affect" refers to valenced and aroused emotions that occur when people are anticipating an uncertain outcome. Evidence suggests that anticipatory affective states (i.e., positive and negative arousal) are best situated to influence upcoming behavior.