Faculty

Finnegan J Calabro, PhD

Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Bioengineering

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email

Education & Training

PhD
Biomedical Engineering, Boston University
Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Biomedical Engineering, Boston University

Professional Affiliations

Member, Society for Neuroscience
Member, Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
Member, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Research Interests

Cognitive & affective systems in adolescence; Adolescent multi-modal neuroimaging; Adolescent neurophysiological development
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Calabro FJ, LeCroy D, Foran W, Sydnor VJ, Parr AC, Constantinidis C & Luna B, 2025. Developmental decorrelation of local cortical activity through adolescence supports high-dimensional encoding and working memory. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 73, 101541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101541
  2. McKeon SD, Perica MI, Calabro FJ, Foran W, Hetherington H, Moon CH & Luna B, 2024. Prefrontal excitation/inhibition balance supports adolescent enhancements in circuit signal to noise ratio. Progress in Neurobiology 243, 102695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pneurobio.2024.102695
  3. Tervo-Clemmens B, Calabro FJ, Parr AC, Fedor J, Foran W & Luna B. (2023). A canonical trajectory of executive function maturation from adolescence to adulthood. Nature Communications, 14(1), 6922. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42540-8
  4. Marek S, Tervo-Clemmens B, Calabro FJ, Montez DF, Kay BP, Hatoum AS, Donohue MR, Foran W, Miller RL, Hendrickson TJ, Malone SM, Kandala S, Feczko E, Miranda-Dominguez O, Graham AM, Earl EA, Perrone AJ, Cordova M, Doyle O, Dosenbach NUF. (2022). Reproducible brain-wide association studies require housands of individuals. Nature. Https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04492-9
  5. Calabro FJ, Montez DF, Larsen B, Laymon CM, Foran W, Hallquist MN, Price JC & Luna B. (2022). Striatal dopamine supports reward expectation and learning: A simultaneous PET/fMRI study. NeuroImage, 267, 119831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119831

Clinical Interests

Selected Clinical Publications & Products
  1. Cascone AD, Calabro F, Foran W, Larsen B, Nugiel T, Parr AC, Tervo-Clemmens B, Luna B & Cohen JR. (2023). Brain tissue iron neurophysiology and its relationship with the cognitive effects of dopaminergic modulation in children with and without ADHD. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 63, 101274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101274
  2. Sonnenschein SF, Mayeli A, Yushmanov VE, Blazer A, Calabro FJ, Perica M, Foran W, Luna B, Hetherington HP, Ferrarelli F & Sarpal DK. (2022). A longitudinal investigation of GABA, glutamate, and glutamine across the insula during antipsychotic treatment of first-episode schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 248, 98106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2022.08.008
  3. Mayeli A, Sonnenschein SF, Yushmanov VE, Wilson JD, Blazer A, Foran W, Perica M, Calabro FJ, Luna B, Hetherington HP, Sarpal DK & Ferrarelli F. (2022). Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex glutamate/gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) alterations in clinical high risk and first-episode schizophrenia: A preliminary 7-T magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging study. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(24), 15846. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232415846
  4. Sarpal DK, Blazer A, Wilson JD, Calabro FJ, Foran W, Kahn CE, Luna B & Chengappa KNR. (2022). Relationship between plasma clozapine/N-desmethylclozapine and changes in basal forebrain-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex coupling in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 243, 170177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2022.03.014
  5. Sarpal DK, Tarcijonas G, Calabro FJ, Foran W, Haas GL, Luna B & Murty VP. (2022). Context-specific abnormalities of the central executive network in first-episode psychosis: Relationship with cognition. Psychological Medicine, 52(12), 22992308. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720004201

Pitt Psychiatry Research Published in Molecular Psychiatry

Collage of Molecular Psychiatry Co-Authors

Multiple Pitt Psychiatry investigators have recently published studies in Molecular Psychiatry. Below is a roundup of recent original research on adolescent neurodevelopment, aging and cognition, and the association between sleep and psychosis. Adolescent maturation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex glutamate: GABA and cognitive function is supported by dopamine-related neurobiology Pitt Psychiatry investigators...

Nature Communications: A Canonical Trajectory of Executive Function Maturation from Adolescence to Adulthood

Luna and Colleagues Nature Communications 2023

Theories of human neurobehavioral development suggest executive functions mature from childhood through adolescence, a time when individuals may also experience peaks in risk-taking behaviors such as substance use, and increased vulnerability to psychiatric disorders. However, the timing of adolescent executive function development and the specific age when executive functions reach adult levels have been...

New Research on Brain Plasticity During Adolescence

Dr. Bea Luna

Postmortem studies of the prefrontal cortex have revealed changes in gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamate across adolescence, which suggests shifts in excitation and inhibition balance consistent with critical period plasticity. However, questions have persisted regarding how gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamate change through adolescence and how the balance of these inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters...

New Research on the Effects of Clozapine on Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia

Dr. Deepak Sarpal

Deepak Sarpal, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), conducts research on the neurobiology of psychosis, focusing on schizophrenia. With a particular interest in treatment outcomes in psychotic disorders, Dr. Sarpal recently published two papers examining the effects of clozapine on treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Clozapine is an antipsychotic medication that exhibits superior efficacy for psychotic symptoms...

New Psychosis Research in Neuropsychopharmacology and Psychological Medicine

New Research in Psychological Medicine and Neuropsychopharmacology

More than 20 members of the Department of Psychiatry faculty conduct a wide range of research pertaining to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other psychotic disorders. Recent Pitt Psychiatry studies in Neuropsychopharmacology and Psychological Medicine present new findings pertaining to clinical high risk for psychosis and first-episode psychosis. Reduced GABA/glutamate in the thalamus of individuals at...