Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

Cognition-emotion interactions in the human brain, with a focus on the following four areas: (1) emotional modulation of memory systems, (2) emotional learning using adaptations of fear conditioning paradigms from the non-human animal literature, (3) the interface between executive control systems and emotional processing, including studies of emotion regulation and distraction, and (4) the integration of emotional expression with other forms of social communication, such as eye gaze and gesture. Methods used in the laboratory include behavioral and psychophysiological assessment, fully immersive virtual reality, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and research on clinical populations, including disorders of memory, emotion, and social cognition.

Ph.D., New York University, 1996

B.A., Lafayette College, 1990

Morey, R., Petty, C., Cooper, D. A., LaBar, K. S., & McCarthy, G. (2008). Neural systems for executive and emotional processing are modulated by symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in Iraq War veterans. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 162, 59-72.

Thomas, L. A. & LaBar, K. S. (2008). Fear relevancy, strategy use, and probabilistic learning of cue-outcome associations. Learning & Memory, 15, 777-784.

Graham, R., Devinsky, O., & LaBar, K. S. (2007). Quantifying deficits in the perception of fear and anger in morphed facial expressions after bilateral amygdala damage. Neuropsychologia, 45, 42-54.