Our research examines the neurobiology of affective development during childhood and adolescence. Affective development is incredibly protracted in the human, which provides us with an extended period of plasticity for learning from environmental cues. Our laboratory’s questions include a focus on the powerful influences of early social experiences. Using a combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), laboratory-based behavior, and physiological methods, our research spans a wide developmental age range from infancy to adulthood to I) characterize developmental trajectories of human affective neurobiology (e.g., amygdala, hippocampus, striatum, prefrontal cortex), II) understand how early social environments influence this neurobiology, and III) identify effects of early-life stress on the development of affective neurobiology. Our hypotheses about human development are influenced by both human and non-human animal literatures on affective development, and I have approached these aims by studying normative human development and development following exposure to early-life adversity.
- Gee, D.G., Gabard-Durnam, L., Flannery, J., Goff, B., Humphreys, K.L., Telzer, E.H., Hare, T.A., Bookheimer, S.Y., Tottenham, N. (2013). Early Developmental Emergence of Human Amygdala-PFC Connectivity after Maternal Deprivation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(39):15638-15643. PMC3785723
- Olsavsky, A., Telzer, E.H., Shapiro, M., Humphreys, K.L., Flannery, J., Goff, B., & Tottenham, N. (2013). PMC3818506
- Telzer, E.H., Flannery, J., Shapiro, M., Humphreys, K., Goff, B., Gabard-Durnam, L., Gee, D.G., & Tottenham, N. (2013). Early experience shapes amygdala sensitivity to race: An international adoption design. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(33) 13484-8. PMC3742934
- Gee, D.G., Humphreys, K.L., Flannery, J., Goff, B., Telzer, E.H., Shapiro, M., Hare, T.A., Bookheimer, S.Y., Tottenham, N. (2013).A Developmental Shift from Positive to Negative Connectivity in Human Amygdala-Prefrontal Circuitry. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(10)4584-4593. PMC3670947
- Goff, B. Gee, D.G., Telzer, E.H., Humphreys, K.L., Gabard-Durnam, L., Flannery, J., Tottenham, N. (2013). Reduced nucleus accumbens reactivity and adolescent depression following early-life stress. Neuroscience, 249, 129-138. PMC3646076
- Telzer, E.H., Humphreys, K., Shapiro, M., & Tottenham, N. (2013). Amygdala sensitivity to race is not present in childhood but emerges over adolescence. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25(2), 234-244. PMC3628780
- Tottenham, N., Hare, T.A., Millner, A., Gilhooly, T.,Zevin, J.D. & Casey, BJ (2011). Elevated Amygdala Response to Faces Following Early Deprivation. Developmental Science, 13(1), 46-61. PMC3050520
- Tottenham, N., Hare, T., Quinn, B., McCarry, T., Nurse, M.,Gilhooly, T., Millner, A., Galvan, A., Davidson, M., Eigsti, I.M., Thomas, K.M., Freed, P., Booma, E.S., Gunnar, M., Altemus, M., & Aronson, J., Casey, B.J. (2010) Prolonged institutional rearing is associated with atypically larger amygdala volume and difficulties in emotion regulation. Developmental Science, 13 (1), 46-61. PMC2817950