Chiu Lab
Led by principal investigator Pearl Chiu, Ph.D., the Chiu Laboratory examines the neuroscience of human motivation and social decision-making. Dr. Chiu’s work is also at the forefront of Computational Psychiatry, an emerging field that broadly applies quantitative model-based understandings of neural functioning to understand the neural and behavioral decision-making processes that break down in mental illness.
Techniques
Ongoing projects use multiple methods, including behavioral tasks, self-report, clinical interviews, computational models, and functional neuroimaging to:
- Study the neural substrates of how, when, and why humans make and change their decisions;
- Detail how these neurobehavioral systems are affected in disorders marked by difficulties in motivated decision-making (e.g., major depression, addiction, PTSD, autism)
- Develop biologically-informed interventions to remediate these functional deficits.
Decision Making and Brain Development Study
A study to understand how individual differences in decision making affect the development of the brain.
Teen Neurofeedback Study
A study that shows teenagers, ages 12-16, the activity in their brains as they make decisions in an MRI scanner. This technique, called neurofeedback, will help us to learn more about how the brain works.
Teen Decision Study
A study to understand how individual differences in decision-making affect the development of the brain during adolescence.
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Brain Imaging Study of Smokers and Vapers
A study to understand how cigarette or e-cigarette users process different kinds of information.
A study to understand how feelings related to depression or anxiety may affect how the brain makes decisions.
A study to understand how people with and without a range of difficulties process different kinds of information.
Teenager Brain Imaging Study
A brain research study of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 14.5.
![Chiu and Casas lab teams Chiu and Casas lab teams](/content/fbri_vtc_vt_edu/en/research/labs/chiu/_jcr_content/content/vtcontainer/vtcontainer-content/vtcontainer/vtcontainer-content/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.jpg)
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Bio ItemVansh Bansal , bio
Graduate Student, Clinical Psychology, College of Science
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Bio ItemGrace Collins , bio
Research Assistant
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Bio ItemAbigail Craig , bio
Research Assistant
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Bio ItemRebecca Faubion-Trejo , bio
Lab Manager and Research Coordinator
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Bio ItemShivani Goyal , bio
Graduate Student, Clinical Psychology
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Bio ItemSarah Hirsch , bio
Lab Manager
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Bio ItemClare Hogan , bio
Research Assistant
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Bio ItemCabel Jarrett , bio
Research Assistant
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Bio ItemDong-Youl Kim, Ph.D. , bio
Research Scientist
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Bio ItemJacob Lee , bio
Research Programmer
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Bio ItemNatalie Melville , bio
Graduate Student, Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health
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Bio ItemOlivia Murray , bio
Research Assistant
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Bio ItemEthan Nichols , bio
Research Assistant
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Bio ItemGates Palissery , bio
Graduate Student, Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health
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Bio ItemNanda Sankarasubramanian , bio
Clinical Research Coordinator/Associate
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Bio ItemVictoria Tredinnick , bio
Clinical Research Interviewer/Research Associate
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Bio ItemAmruta Turlapati , bio
Research Programmer
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Bio ItemCong Wang, Ph.D. , bio
Postdoctoral Associate
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Bio ItemJohn Wang, Ph.D. , bio
Research Scientist
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Bio ItemShuhan Wang , bio
Graduate Student, Biological Psychology
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Bio ItemKelsey Winkeler , bio
Graduate Student, Clinical Psychology
Collaborators
- Kevin McKee, Ph.D., Postdoctral Statistician, Center for Biostatistics and Health Data Science, Virginia Tech
- Katherine McCurry, Ph.D., Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
- Mark Orloff, Ph.D., Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
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