Faculty

Layla Banihashemi, PhD

Layla Banihashemi, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Bioengineering

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email
Website
Brain Body Stress Lab

Education & Training

PhD
Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh
Functional Neuroimaging of Stress Reactivity, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Cardiovascular Behavior Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Professional Affiliations

Member, Society of Biological Psychiatry
Member, American Psychosomatic Society
Member, International Congress of Infant Studies

Selected Honors & Awards

Top Poster Award, Society of Biological Psychiatry
MacLean Scholar Award, American Psychosomatic Society

Research Interests

Stress-related neural circuitry; Childhood threat and deprivation; Infant neurodevelopment and emotionality
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Zhang Y, Banihashemi L, Versace A. et al. Associations among white matter microstructural changes and the development of emotional reactivity and regulation in infancy. Mol Psychiatry 30, 31683174 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-025-03025-w
  2. Sibbach BM, Karim HT, Lo D. et al. Manual segmentation of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and the dorsal and ventral bed nucleus of stria terminalis?using multimodal?7?Tesla?structural?MRI: probabilistic atlases for a stress-control triad. Brain Struct Funct 229, 273283 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-023-02713-z
  3. Banihashemi L, Schmithorst VJ, Bertocci MA, Samolyk A, Zhang YJ, Lima Santos P, Versace A, Taylor M, English G, Northrup JB, Lee VK, Stiffler R, Aslam H, Panigrahy A, Hipwell AE & Phillips ML, Neural network functional interactions mediate or suppress white matter emotional Behavior relationships in infants, ISSN 0006-3223, Biological Psychiatry, Volume 94, Issue 1, 2023, Pages 57-67, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.03.004.
  4. Banihashemi L, Peng CW, Anusha R, Karim HT , Wallace ML, Sibbach BM , Singh J, Stinley MM, Germain A & Aizenstein HJ. Childhood threat Is associated with lower resting-state Connectivity within a central visceral network, Frontiers in Psychology, Volume 13 - 2022 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.805049
  5. Banihashemi L, Peng CW, Verstynen T, et al. Opposing relationships of childhood threat and deprivation with stria terminalis white matter. Hum Brain Mapp. 2021; 1 16. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25378

Clinical Interests

Mood and anxiety disorders; Trauma-related disorders; Childhood adversity

Education Interests

Research mentorship; Graduate student education; Medical student education

Molecular Psychiatry: Associations Among White Matter Microstructural Changes and the Development of Emotional Reactivity and Regulation in Infancy

Molecular Psychiatry

In infancy and throughout childhood, high levels of negative emotionality (for example, frequent and intense crying), low levels of positive emotionality (for example, limited smiling and laughter), and deficits in emotional regulation can predict future behavioral and affective disorders. White matter tracts in the brain develop rapidly in the first postnatal year, and their development is critical for...

Neuropsychopharmacology: Brain and Cardiovascular Responses to Acute Stress in Remitted and Recurrent Late-Life Depression

Neuropsychopharmacology

Among older adults who successfully achieve clinical remission from depression, 35%-45% will experience a new depressive episode within two years. The factors that contribute to the emergence of recurrent depressive episodes in older adults are not well understood. Psychological stress may play a role in depression remission and recurrence, yet important questions remain about the brain and physiological profiles...

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes Layla Banihashemi, PhD, to Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Dr. Layla Banihashemi

We are delighted to announce that Layla Banihashemi, PhD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Banihashemi earned her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh. She then joined the Department of Psychiatry as a postdoctoral scholar in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute T32 training program in cardiovascular behavioral...

Biological Psychiatry: Neural Network Functional Interactions Mediate or Suppress White Matter–Emotional Behavior Relationships in Infants 

Infant and Mother

Complex and coordinated brain development progresses rapidly within the first year of a baby’s life, and infant white matter development is associated with future cognitive processes and behavioral problems. Elucidating the neural basis of infant emotional behaviors can identify biomarkers of pathophysiological risk for subsequent behavioral and emotional problems. In Biological Psychiatry, investigators including...

New Research in Psychological Medicine and Human Brain Mapping on the Effects of Disrupted Sleep and Early Life Stress in Young People

New Research on the Effects of Disrupted Sleep and Early Life Stress in Young People

Psychological Medicine: Experimentally Imposed Circadian Misalignment Alters the Neural Response to Monetary Rewards and Response Inhibition in Healthy Adolescents During adolescence, circadian rhythm and natural sleep and wake times shift later, which can conflict with early school-start times. This incongruence commonly results in circadian misalignment (mismatch between the behavioral sleep-wake schedule and the...