News

The Psychiatry Research Pathway (PRP) Symposium provides UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital residents engaged in research the opportunity to present their work to fellow residents, faculty mentors, T32 postdoctoral research program directors, and interested members of our academic community. The PRP is led by Director and PRP alum Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), together with associate...

Alterations in reward-related brain activity have been linked to response to psychological treatment in adolescents with anxiety disorders. However, it remains unknown whether these effects are driven by reward anticipation or feedback, which reflect different functional roles in motivated behavior, or to what extent brain activity changes as a function of treatment response and relates to future depression. A team...

Rui Peixoto, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), is an expert in developmental neuroscience and investigates abnormalities in cortical and striatal development associated with autism spectrum disorder. He is senior author of recent papers published in Cell Reports and Molecular Psychiatry. “Our recent findings provide new insight into how the striatum and basal ganglia shape the maturation of prefrontal...

As adolescents increasingly use screen-based devices to watch videos, text, use social media, videochat, and play games, health care professionals have grown concerned that excessive screen time could contribute to mental health problems (such as depression) in this population. Excessive screen time may impact sleep duration and brain structural connectivity—such as white matter organization—which are critical for...