Untitled Document

Research

Richard J. Davidson

Ph.D., Harvard University
William James and Vilas Professor, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry
rjdavids@wisc.edu
http://psyphz.psych.wisc.edu/web/personnel/director.html

Biological Bases of Affective Style Through the Lifespan

My laboratory conducts research on the biological substrates of emotion, affective style and affective disorders throughout the lifespan. We use a variety of different methods to make inferences about brain mechanisms and other physiological substrates of affective processes including regional brain electrical activity, positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging. We study normal individuals as well as those at risk for affective and anxiety disorders. We also study individuals who are putatively resilient and relatively invulnerable to stressful life events. Our laboratory has an interest in relations between the neural mechanisms of emotion and physical health. Some of our research involves examining in the same individuals measures of brain and bodily responses, as well as indices of immune function and physical health to determine the potential mechanisms by which emotions affect health and disease. In aging samples, we have been interested in examining the biological bases of resilience and tracking connections between patterns of neural and autonomic function associated with particular affective styles, on the one hand, and health status and immune function on the other. Much of our work is focused on the role of different regions of the prefrontal cortex in affect regulation and relations between prefrontal cortex and subcortical structures that are part of the circuitry of emotion.

Representative Publications
Kern, S., Oakes, T.R., Stone, C.K., McAuliff, E.M., Kirschbaum, C., & Davidson, R.J. (2008). Glucose metabolic changes in the prefrontal cortex are associated with HPA axis response to a psychosocial stressor. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33(4), 517-529.

Salomons, T.V., Coan, J.A., Hunt, S.M., Backonja, M., & Davidson, R.J. (2008). Voluntary facial displays of pain increase suffering in response to nociceptive stimulation. The Journal of Pain, 9(5), 443-448.

Putnam, K.M., Pizzagalli, D.A., Gooding, D.C., Kalin, N.H., & Davidson, R.J. (2008). Neural activity and diurnal variation of cortisol: Evidence from brain electrical tomography analysis and relevance to anhedonia. Psychophysiology, 45(6), 886-895.

Johnstone, T., van Reekum, C.M., Urry, H.L., Kalin, N.H., & Davidson, R.J. (2007). Failure to regulate: Counterproductive recruitment of top-down prefrontal-subcortical circuitry in major depression. Journal of Neuroscience, 27(33), 8877-8884.

Salomons, T.V., Johnstone, T., Backonja, M., Shackman, A.J., & Davidson, R.J. (2007). Individual differences in the effects of perceived controllability on pain perception: Critical role of the prefrontal cortex. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19(6), 993-1003.

Davidson, R.J., Fox, A., & Kalin, N.H. (2007). Neural bases of emotion regulation in nonhuman primates and humans. In J.J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 47-68). New York: Guilford Press.

Johnstone, T., van Reekum, C.M., Urry, H.L., Kalin, N.H., & Davidson, R.J. (2007). Failure to regulate: Counter-productive recruitment of top-down prefrontal-subcortical circuitry in major depression. Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 8877-8884.

Friedman, E.M., Love, G.D., Davidson, R., Urry, H., Rosencranz, M., Singer, B.H., & Ryff, C.D. (2007). Socioeconomic status predicts subjective and objective sleep quality in aging women. Psychosomatic Medicine, 69, 682-691.

van Reekum, C.M., Urry, H.L., Johnstone, T., Thurow, M.E., Frye, C.J., Jackson, C.A., Schaefer, H.S., Alexander, A.L., & Davidson, R.J. (2007). Individual differences in amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity are associated with evaluation speed and psychological well-being. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19(2), 237-248.

Maxwell, J.S., & Davidson, R.J. (2007). Emotion as motion: Asymmetries in approach and avoidant actions. Psychological Science, 18(12), 1113-1119.

Larson, C.L., Nitschke, J.B., & Davidson, R.J. (2007). Common and distinct patterns of affective response in dimensions of anxiety and depression. Emotion, 7(1), 182-191.

Ryff, C.D., Love, G.D., Muller, D., Urry, H., Friedman, E.M., Davidson, R., & Singer, B. (2006). Psychological well-being and ill-being: do they have distinct or mirrored biological correlates? Psychotherapy & Psychosomatics, 75, 85-95.

Johnson, S.C., Schmitz, T.W., Rowley, H.A., Alexander, A.L., Lee, J., & Davidson, R.J. (2005). The cerebral response during subjective choice with and without self-reference. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 17(12), 1897-1906.

Friedman, E.M., Hayney, M.S., Love, G.D., Urry, H.L., Rosenkranz, M.A., Davidson, R.J., Singer, B.H., & Ryff, C.D. (2005). Social relationships, sleep quality, and interleukin-6 in aging women. PNAS, 102, 18757-18762.

Davidson, R.J., Irwin, W., Anderle, M.J., & Kallin, N.H. (2003). The neural substrates of affective processing in depressed patients treated with Venlafaxine. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1-12.

Davidson, R., Kabat-Zinn, J., Schumacher, J,, Rosenkrantz, M., Muller, D., Santorelli, S., Urbanowski, F., et al. (2003). Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 564-570.

Davidson, R.T., Arias, E.B., & Cartee, G.D. (2002). Calorie restriction increases muscle insulin action, but not IRS-1-, IRS-2- or phosphotyrosine-PI3-kinase. Am. J. Physiol., 282, E270-E276.

Davidson, R.J. (2002). Anxiety and affective style: Role of prefrontal cortex and amygdala. Biological Psychiatry, 51, 68-80.

Davidson, R.J., Pizzagalli, D., Nitschke, J. B., & Putnam, K.M. (2002). Depression: Perspectives from affective neuroscience. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 545-574.

Davidson, R.J., Lewis, D., Alloy, L., Amaral, D., Bush, G., Cohen, J. Drevets, W., Farah, M., Kagan, J., McClelland, J., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Peterson, B. (2002). Neural and behavioral substrates of mood and mood regulation. Biological Psychiatry, 52, 478-502.

Pizzagalli, D.A., Lehmann, D., Hendrick, A.M., Regard, M., Pascual-Marqui, R.D., & Davidson, R.J. (2002). Affective judgments of faces modulate early activity (~160 ms) within the fusiform gyri. NeuroImage, 16, 663-677.

Pizzagalli, D.A., Nitschke, J.B., Oakes, T.R., Hendrick, A.M., Horras, K.A., Larson, C.L., Abercrombie, H.C., Schaefer, S.M., Koger, J.V., Benca, R.M., Pascual-Marqui, R.D., & Davidson, R.J. (2002). Brain electrical tomography in depression: The importance of symptom severity, anxiety, and melancholic features. Biological Psychiatry, 52, 73-85.

Kosslyn, S.M., Cacioppo, J.T., Davidson, R.J., Hugdahl, K., Lovallo, W.R., Spiegel, D., & Rose, R. (2002). Bridging psychology and biology. The analysis of individuals in groups. Am. Psychol., 57, 341-351.

Nitschke, J.B., Larson, C.L. Smoller, M.J., Navin, S.D., Pederson, A.J.C., Ruffalo, D., Mackiewicz, K.L., Gray, S.M., Victor, E., Davidson, R.J. (2002). Startle potentiation in aversive anticipation: Evidence for state but not trait effects. Psychophysiology, 39, 254-259.

Rusch, B.D., Abercrombie, H.C., Oakes, T.R., Schaefer, S.M., & Davidson, R.J. (2001). Hippocampal Morphometry in depressed patients and controls: Relations to anxiety symptoms. Biological Psychiatry, 50, 960-964.

Gazdag, A.C., Wetter, T.J., Davidson, R.T., Robinson, K.A., Buse, M.G., Yee, A.J., Turcotte, L.P., & Cartee, G.D. (2000). Lower calorie intake enhances muscle insulin action and reduces hexosamine levels. Am. J. Physiol., 278, R504-R512.

Davidson, R.J., Coe, C.L., Dolski, I., & Donzella, B. (1999). Individual differences in prefrontal activation a symmetry predict natural killer cell activity at rest and in response to challenge. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 13, 93-108.

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