Principal Investigator

Tara L. White, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Research

Dr. White serves as an Assistant Professor (Research) and founding director of the Laboratory of Affective Neuroscience at Brown University. Dr. White’s research focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms of human emotion and drug effects.   Her work is multidisciplinary and utilizes noninvasive MRI assessments in tandem with validated self-report state and trait measures of emotion, physiological assessment, and drug challenge techniques to elucidate the neural mechanisms of emotion, cognition and behavior in humans.  She is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) in recognition of her ‘sustained and outstanding distinguished contributions to psychological science.’

Graduate Student

Chloe Zimmerman

Neuroscience PhD Candidate

Chloe Zimmerman completed her BA in Contemplative Psychosomatic Medicine in 2015 at Brown University. She is a current MD/PhD student in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at Brown in the Jones Lab, and joined the White lab to investigate alterations in neurometabolic compounds (measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy) in chronic back pain and failed back surgery syndrome patients.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Roza Spencer

International and Public Affairs Concentrator

Roza is an undergraduate student at Brown University working towards an B.A. in International and Public Affairs (IAPA). She recently began working in the White Lab during the Spring of 2022 while finishing up her Sophomore year. She is interested in Dignity Neuroscience as a possible mechanism for promoting international human rights, as well as political psychology more broadly. In addition to her work in the White Lab, Roza is also a member of Brown Effective Altruism, Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE), the Brown Political Review and Club Basketball.

Hang Nguyen

Undergraduate Student

2023 +

Michelle Gibble

Undergraduate Student

2024 +

Farah Yahaya

Undergraduate Student

2024 +

Ziyuan Wang

Undergraduate Student

2024 +

Previous Lab Members

Meghan A. Gonsalves, Sc.M.

Neuroscience Ph.D.

Meg completed her Sc.B. in Cognitive Neuroscience in 2017 and her Sc.M. in Behavioral and Social Health Sciences in 2018 at Brown University. While working in the White Lab, she completed her master’s thesis on psychostimulant effects on glutamatergic compounds and positive affect. Meg then continued her research with Dr. White as a PhD candidate in Brown’s Neuroscience Graduate Program. She is primarily interested in the acute and chronic effects of psychoactive drugs and neuromodulation on (1) neurometabolic compounds (as measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy), (2) functional connectivity (as measured by fMRI), and (3) emotion and mood/anxiety-related psychopathology.