Lauren A. M. Lebois, PhD 

Lauren A. M. Lebois, PhD, is a cognitive neuroscientist focusing on the biomarkers of trauma-related and dissociative disorders as a post-doctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Kerry J. Ressler, M.D., Ph.D.  She is also the Director of Neuroimaging for the Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Research Program.
 
Currently, she employs cutting-edge functional magnetic resonance imaging, neuroimaging genetic, and behavioral techniques to better understand the neural mechanisms related to pathological dissociation, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) dysfunction and recovery.  She has a particular interest in distorted self-processing related to PTSD, which she is exploring with the support of a postdoctoral NRSA.
 
Her work aims to inform how to identify those at risk for certain PTSD symptoms, determine what neural circuits to target for treatment, and ultimately how to better identify those who will respond most optimally to a particular intervention so that treatment can be individually tailored.
 
Lauren has a background in human neuroimaging and behavioral research, as well as both undergraduate and graduate level teaching experience. Her previous work examined the role of context and learning in emotional experience, suggesting dysfunctional emotional conceptualizations can be learned.  With the support of a predoctoral NRSA, she has also examined the cognitive and neural mechanisms of stressful thought and mindfulness, suggesting that part of what makes a thought stressful is a sense of vivid immersion in the imagined event and a neural representation of visceral states.  Importantly, this work suggests that part of why mindfulness may have a therapeutic effect is by allowing one to disengage from self-processing.
 
Lauren is passionate about all things Irish.  In her spare time, she enjoys fiddling and running.