Research
Interests
My
research is directed toward identifying and understanding the neural circuits
that underlie cognitive behaviors, specifically those that go awry in
psychosis and with age. I have used neuropsychological investigations,
structural neuroimaging, and more recently functional neuroimaging, to
address questions such as: Which cognitive abilities are relatively spared
in aging adults, and what predicts such successful neurocognitive aging?
Which areas of the brain are smaller (or larger) in schizophrenia patients?
Is white matter pathology that is seen in magnetic resonance imaging a
pathological feature of aging, and is it increased in the brains of psychosis
patients?
I
am now beginning a research program that targets 3 main areas of study:
- Functional thalamo-cortical
circuits in schizophrenia (using neuropsychological testing and functional
MRI).
- Representation
of acute pain in chronic pain patients (using functional MRI).
- Successful neurocognitive
aging (using neuropsychological testing, structural MRI, functional
MRI).
Please
feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my research.
Selected
Publications
Search all publications in the NCBI Journal Database
Symonds LL, Gordon NS, Bixby JC, Mande MM. Right-lateralized pain processing in the human cortex: An fMRI study. J. Neurophysiology, 95:3823-3830. (Epub 2006 Mar 22).
Scheid J, Holzman C, Jones N, Friderici K, Nummy K, Symonds L, Sikorskii A, Regier M 2006 Depressive Symptoms in Mid-pregnancy, Lifetime Stressors and the 5-HTTLPR Genotype. Genes, Brain and Behavior, in press. (Epub 2006 September 8; http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1601-183X.2006.00272.x ).
Symonds LL, Archibald SL, Grant I, Zisook S, Jernigan TL 1999 Does an increase in sulcal or ventricular fluid predict where brain tissue is lost? J. Neuroimaging, 9:201-209.
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Laura
L. Symonds