Welcome to the DEPENd Lab!

Our research focuses on the development of neurobehavioral systems underlying personality and individual differences. In particular, we are interested in the maturation of processes underlying disadvantageous decision-making in young people.

The human brain changes rapidly in adolescence, potentially facilitating the integration of social information, emotions, and long-term goals. Yet for teens whose emotions are especially reactive and intense, adolescence may be a period of risk for volatile relationships and impulsive behaviors that are harmful. Our lab seeks to understand personality, brain, and behavioral differences between individuals who experience intense, unstable emotions relative to those with greater self-regulation.

The lab is directed by Michael Hallquist, Assistant Professor of Psychology.

We are a part of the Department of Psychology at Penn State in the Moore Building. We also conduct neuroimaging research at the Social, Life, and Engineering Sciences Imaging Center (SLEIC).

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January 2020
Alex Dombrovski, Bea Luna, and Michael Hallquist post new preprint describing the role of the hippocampus in learning from reinforcement in a structured one-dimensional space.

October 2019
Dr. Hallquist recognized as a 2019 ISSPD Young Investigator, along with Drs. Susan South and Johannes Zimmermann.

June 2019
Dr. Hallquist awarded R01 grant as part of the NIMH BRAINS program. The five-year study will examine social mechanisms of decision-making in borderline personality.

Michael Hallquist, Aidan Wright, and Peter Molenaar publish new paper in Multivariate Behavioral Research describing problems with centrality statistics in network psychometrics.

February 2019
New preprint from Alison Schreiber about the effect of disrupted physiological coregulation on romantic discord in couples with personality pathology.

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