Research Interests
Our research focuses on three scholarly areas: (1) the neuroscience foundations of universal rights, (2) the basic neuroscience of emotion, and (3) drug and alcohol effects in the human brain. In the area of universal rights, Dr. White’s work focuses on neuroscience foundations of human rights domains of agency, freedom from want, freedom from fear, unconditionality, and uniqueness. In the area of affective neuroscience, Dr. White’s research focuses on brain mechanisms of emotional fluidity, agency, connection and fearlessness in healthy adults. In the area of neuropharmacology, Dr. White’s research focuses on individual differences in responses to monoaminergic drugs which affect dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin function.
Current projects include:
- MRI investigation of basic traits of emotional health, such as agency, fluidity and connection
- MRI investigation of glutamate and positive emotion
- MRI investigation of psychostimulant effects on risk-taking
- MRI investigation of brain alpha-1 receptor mechanisms relevant to treatment of alcohol dependence
The studies provide basic science information about the neural foundations of human emotion, wellness and flourishing; and inform vulnerability and resilience factors relevant to the prevention and treatment of drug and alcohol use, misuse and dependence.
Background
Dr. White received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Cornell University. She carried out her postdoctoral training in human behavioral psychopharmacology at The University of Chicago and in alcohol and addiction research at Brown University. She was an International Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall and the British Academy in 2018, and is currently a Life Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, England U.K.
In 2019 she was named a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) in recognition of her ‘sustained and outstanding distinguished contributions to psychological science.’
Dr. White has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health and private and public foundations since 2003. Dr. White serves on the Editorial Board of the academic journals Emotion; Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology; and Behavioral Neuroscience. She is affiliated with Brown’s Carney Institute for Brain Science, School of Public Health, and the Watson Institute’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies. She is a faculty trainer in graduate and undergraduate training programs in Neuroscience, Cognitive Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Contemplative Studies, and Public Health.