Labs
Laboratory of Neurocognitive Development
Director, Principal Investigator:
Beatriz Luna, PhD
Location: 121 Meyran Ave. Suite 111
Contact: 412-383-8178
Graduate Student Advisees
Bart Larsen
Orma Ravindranath
BrendenTervo-Clemmens
Education & Training
- PhD, University of Pittsburgh
Research Interests
Characterizing neurocognitive development through adolescence probing cognitive control, reward, and reinforcement learning using multimodal neuroimaging (fMRI, DTI, rsfMRI, MRSI, and PET). Our primary focus is on normative development. We also study risk for substance use and psychosis.
Representative Publications
Marek S, Hwang K, Foran W, Hallquist MN, Luna B. The Contribution of Network Organization and Integration to the Development of Cognitive Control. PLoS Biol. 2015 Dec 29;13(12):e1002328. PMID: 26713863
Simmonds DJ, Hallquist MN, Luna B. Protracted development of executive and mnemonic brain systems underlying working memory in adolescence: A longitudinal fMRI study. Neuroimage. 2017 Aug 15;157:695-704. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.01.016. Epub 2017 Apr 27. PMID: 28456583.
Montez DF, Calabro FJ, Luna B. The expression of established cognitive brain states stabilizes with working memory development. Elife. 2017 Aug 19;6. pii: e25606. doi: 10.7554/eLife.25606. PMCID: PMC5578740.
Hallquist MN, Geier CF, Luna B. Incentives facilitate developmental improvement in inhibitory control by modulating control-related networks. Neuroimage. 2018 May 15;172:369-380. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.045. Epub 2018 Jan 31. PMCID: PMC5910226.
Murty V, Shah H, Montez D, Foran W, Calabro F, Luna B. Age-related trajectories of functional coupling between the VTA and nucleus accumbens depend on motivational state. 2018 J Neurosci. Aug 22;38(34):7420-7427. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3508-17.2018. Epub 2018 Jul 20. PubMed PMID: 30030394.
Larsen B, Luna B. Adolescence as a neurobiological critical period for the development of higher-order cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2018 Nov;94:179-195. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.09.005. Epub 2018 Sep 7. Review. PubMed PMID: 30201220.
