Ongoing Research

My work aims to pursue three main goals: 1) Examine the impact of self-control and emotion on motivation and reward in day-to-day life, 2) Uncover the neural representations of these processes using advanced neuroimaging methods such as multivariate pattern analysis, and structural and functional connectivity analyses, and 3) Elucidate potential biomarkers that characterize individual differences in reward and motivation and may underlie risky or otherwise unhealthy behaviors. Below, I expand on the two primary lines or research I am pursuing.

Reward Representations and Mindsets

One line of research examines a feature that has been shown to be important for self-control; mindset. The mindset that people adopt when making decisions about food is associated with more or less self-control success.

Predicting Self Regulation Across Adolescence

A second line of work aims to make predictions about when an individual may be particularly susceptible to giving into tempting cues. Adolescents have been characterized as a vulnerable population due to their heightened sensitivity to rewards.