Overview
Dr. Kuhn’s research integrates neuroimaging, neuropsychological assessment and neuromodulation to investigate functional neuroanatomy - that is, what brain networks and brain functions give rise to each aspect of cognition, emotion, and behavior. This is also called the brain-behavior relationship. Neuroimaging allows the brain’s structure, activity, and connectivity to be viewed, directly measured and quantified. Neuropsychological assessment allows for cognition (e.g. attention, memory, problem solving), emotion (e.g. anxiety, depression), and behavior (e.g. motor skills, real world function) to be quantified. Brain and neuropsychological changes caused by healthy development, healthy aging, neurologic and psychiatric diseases are used to test theories about the brain-behavior relationship. Neuromodulation, such as with focused ultrasound or transcranial magnetic or electrical stimulation, also allows for specific regions of the brain to be changed. Then, neuroimaging and neuropsychological assessment can assess how those changes affect the structure and function of the brain, cognition, emotion and behavior. In this way, Dr. Kuhn’s research seeks to further our understanding of the brain-behavior relationships and help develop and validate clinical tools for improving cognition and emotion across a host of neurological and psychiatric conditions.
