Current Research and Scholarly Interests
My primary interest is in the neural basis of emotion. I believe that a certain class of neurotransmitters (the biogenic amines) can powerfully modulate emotional experience at specific brain locations. I have addressed this topic with progressively more intricate methods including self-report, measurement of nonverbal behavior, comparative ethology, psychopharmacology, and functional brain imaging. My long-term goal is to understand the neurochemical and neuroanatomical mechanisms responsible for emotional experience and to explore the implications of these findings for the assessment and treatment of clinical disorders of affect and addiction, as well as economic behavior.
