Research Overview
Our lab is focused on understanding the cognitive, neural, and computational mechanisms underlying self-regulatory control and identifying how these processes go awry in eating disorders. We are particularly interested in identifying how changes in states (internal/motivational or external/environmental) may abnormally influence control-related learning and decision-making in individuals with binge eating, purging, and extreme dietary restriction. We leverage a multi-modal approach that integrates neuroendocrinology, neuroimaging, and computational modeling, as well as experimental tasks from cognitive neuroscience and neuroeconomics. Our ultimate goal is to identify precise targets for new interventions and predictors of who will benefit from which treatments.
Some of the complex questions we’re exploring include:
How can seemingly incompatible characteristics, such as out-of-control impulsivity and compulsive perseverance, co-occur in individuals with eating disorders?
Do the brains of people with eating disorders process and learn about emotions, satiety, and other body-state signals very differently than the brains of people without eating disorders? If so, how does that impact subsequent decision-making?
Could both willingness and ability to control behavior and emotions be altered in people with eating disorders?
Laura A. Berner, PhD
laura.berner@mssm.edu
Current Projects
Several of our studies aim to clarify how and by what mechanism cognitive control fluctuates across fasted and fed states in bulimia nervosa, potentially perpetuating the cyclical nature of the disorder. In addition, we are training individuals to change their own prefrontal cortex activation with a portable imaging technology called fNIRS to mechanistically test the hypothesis that symptoms of bulimia nervosa are perpetuated by blunted activation in cognitive control circuits during eating; therefore, neurofeedback-based modulation of this activation will improve these symptoms by improving cognitive control. Finally, we are testing whether abnormal connectivity within and between brain circuits during decision-making could explain why binge-eating episodes are both impulsively initiated and inflexibly persistent, as well as promote more severe forms of binge-eating disorder. Click on the images below to learn more about each of our ongoing studies.
Meet the Team
Lab Director
Laura A. Berner, PhD
Dr. Berner is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she is a principal investigator in both the Center for Computational Psychiatry and the Center of Excellence in Eating and Weight Disorders. She is clinically trained as a psychologist, with a PhD from Drexel University that complements her undergraduate training at Princeton University in behavioral neuroscience and her postdoctoral training at UC San Diego in cognitive neuroscience and functional and structural neuroimaging. Her research combines neuroimaging, neuroendocrine, behavioral, and psychological tools with computational modeling approaches to determine how the process of engaging control to guide adaptive decision-making may go awry in eating disorders. Her work has been funded by private foundations, including the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and federal funding from the NIH.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Blair Shevlin, PhD
Blair is a postdoctoral fellow at ISMMS co-mentored by Laura Berner and Xiaosi Gu. He graduated from Goucher College with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and then received his master’s degree in Experimental Psychology from Towson University. In 2022, he earned his PhD in Decision Psychology from The Ohio State University. Dr. Shevlin’s research examines the role of value, attention, and motivation in everyday decisions. He specializes in computational modeling, incorporating theoretical perspectives from psychology, neuroscience, and economics to study how people approach their decisions in a variety of contexts.
Master’s Student
Suzie Shah
Suzie is in the Master’s in Biomedical Science program at Mount Sinai. She graduated from Georgetown University in May 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Management & Policy with a concentration in administration. She is on the pre-med track and is passionate about improving our healthcare system through a focus on the investigation of scientific advancements in clinical research.
Head Clinical Research Coordinator
Maia Chester
Maia received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Criminology with honors from the University of Pennsylvania. In the lab, she coordinates the Fasted-Fed Bulimia Nervosa study and Gut Hormone study, which investigate how fasting and feeding influence inhibitory control and decision-making in women with bulimia nervosa. Maia is passionate about investigating interoceptive processes that underlie mental and physical illness and testing how they can be targeted in evidence-based treatments to improve mental and physical health outcomes. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology with an emphasis in health psychology.
Research Coordinators
Jess Qiu
Jess graduated from New York University in 2022 with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. In the lab, she is coordinating a study that examines how real-time neurofeedback may help people with bulimia nervosa regulate binge-eating and purging behaviors. Her past research interests include the emotional mechanisms of narcissistic personality disorder, children’s perceptions of race and gender, and childhood interventions to promote diversity. Jess plans to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
Alexa Krugel
Alexa graduated from the University of Michigan in 2023 with a B.A. in psychology and minors in applied statistics and history. In the lab, she coordinates an fMRI study that examines whether abnormal connectivity within and between brain circuits during decision-making could contribute to binge eating disorder and explain symptom severity. She is particularly interested in child and adolescent psychopathology, and she is passionate about finding ways to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. She plans to pursue a PsyD in clinical psychology.
Zoe Dai
Zoe received her bachelor’s degree in organismal biology and developmental psychology with honors from Vanderbilt University in 2023. As an undergraduate, Zoe’s research focused on the shared and unique mechanisms of reading skill and anxiety symptoms in 7- to 12-year-olds. In the lab, she currently coordinates the Changes in Inhibitory Control and Valuation After Eating study, which investigates the changes in cognitive control processes across fasted and fed states in bulimia nervosa using fMRI, computational modeling, and real-time mobile assessments. Zoe plans to pursue a Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology.
Research Associate
Anusha Phadnis
Anusha received her Bachelor’s degree in Information and Communication Technology from India and worked in the software industry for a while. She then pursued her interest in Scientific Computing at the University of Pennsylvania and received her Master’s degree in 2023. She is passionate about applying computational modeling methods to research problems in psychiatry. She wants to harness the quantitative power of scientific computing to advance the research on diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. She plans to pursue a PhD and then a research career in this exciting field of Computational Psychiatry.
Volunteers
Emily Aguilar
Emily received her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Rutgers University. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree at New York University in clinical psychology with an area of focus in neuroscience. She currently works in a clinic as a neuro technician for neurofeedback therapy with a population of all ages to treat symptoms and disorders like anxiety, depression, PTSD, and ADHD, along with others. Emily joined the lab as a research trainee to further understand how neurofeedback training can help individuals with bulimia nervosa regulate binge eating and purging behaviors. She is currently working towards becoming BCIA certified as a neurofeedback clinician and wants to pursue her Ph.D. in neuropsychology.
Bowei Li
Bowei is a sophomore at Columbia University majoring in Medical Humanities on the premed track. She is interested in using neuroscience research to inform advocacy about mental health and psychiatric conditions.
Lab Alumni
Claire Sun
Claire graduated with degrees in Neuroscience and Computer Science from Brandeis University in 2018. Since then, she’s been exploring where these fields intersect. She is interested in questions regarding learning, emotion, and memory, particularly how memory and other functions of the brain can go awry and interact with emotional processes in psychiatric disorders. She believes that investigating brain irregularities can illuminate a better understanding of our behavior.
Thalia Viranda
Thalia received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Richmond in 2019. In the past 4.5 years, she has coordinated various clinical and cognitive neuroscience studies that examine emotion, motivation, emotion regulation, and impulse control in healthy and clinical populations (e.g., adults with ADHD and eating disorders) using electroencephalography/event-related potential, functional magnetic resonance imaging, serial neuroendocrine assessments, and behavioral paradigms. Thalia is passionate about combining psychology, cognitive neuroscience, data science, and technology to gain a data-driven understanding of human behavior and to develop assistive technologies that can improve mental health interventions, cognitive and affective regulation, and well-being.
Raisa Alam
Raisa is in the Master’s in Clinical Research Program at Mount Sinai. She graduated from Columbia University in May 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and Behavior. She is passionate about clinical research, teaching, and advocacy. She currently coordinates the Black Undergraduate Mentorship Program. She worked in non-profit organizations (Active Minds and Synapse) that focus on mental health and disability advocacy. She also taught health sciences to middle school students in the Lang Youth Medical Program.
Siyi (Ice) Lou
Ice received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Business Studies from New York University (NYU) in 2022. She is now pursuing her master’s degree at NYU, focusing on Clinical Psychology. In the past, Ice has researched developmental disorders and basic infancy research. Ice is interested in investigating the comorbidity of ADHD and Eating disorders in children and the neuroscience of emotion/impulse control. Ice joined the lab as a research trainee to further her understanding of eating disorders and their neural mechanisms. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
Serena Yung
Serena is a junior attending the Bronx High School of Science. She has an interest in neuroscience, psychiatry, and computer science. In the future, she aims to explore the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders. She is also interested in advanced data analysis and computational modelling applications to research.
Collaborators
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Mount Sinai Center for Computational Psychiatry
- Mount Sinai Center of Excellence in Eating and Weight Disorders
- Muhammad Parvaz
- Ki Goosens
- Laurel Morris
- Priti Balchandani
Other Institutions
- The ENIGMA Consortium Eating Disorders Working Group
- Candace Raio
- Andrew Westbrook
- Joanna Steinglass
- Claire Gillan
- Robert Dvorak
- Stephen Wonderlich
- Tanzeem Choudhury
- Joseph Heffner
- The UC San Diego Eating Disorders Treatment and Research Center
- Katia Harlé
- Alan Simmons
- Angela Yu
- Martin Paulus
Please reach out if you are interested in collaborating with or joining the team.
Funding & Awards
R01 MH132786 (PI: Berner)
R21 MH129898 (MPI: Berner and Fiore)
R01 MH126448 (Co-I: Berner)
R21 MH124352 (Co-I: Berner)
ISMMS Friedman Brain Institute Research Scholars Award (PI: Berner)
National Eating Disorders Association Feeding Hope Fund for Clinical Research Grant (PI: Berner)
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD Young Investigator Award (PI: Berner)
K23MH118418 (PI: Berner)
Participate in Our Research Studies
Thank you for your interest in our studies! Please read details of our studies below.
fMRI Study of Self-Control in Bulimia Nervosa
We are interested in learning about whether differences in behavior and brain responses after fasting and after eating a meal could help to explain bulimic symptoms.
What Is Involved?
- Phone interview to confirm qualification (15 to 20 minutes)
- Clinical interviews remotely or at Mount Sinai (approximately 2.5 hours)
- In-person medical screening and computer tasks (approximately 1.5 hours)
- Online questionnaires (approximately 1 hour)
- Two testing visits at Mount Sinai: MRI scans and computer tasks — once after a 16-hour fast and once after a standardized meal that we provide (3 hours total per visit)
Why Participate?
- Reimbursement for travel
- Complimentary psychological evaluation
- Referrals for treatment if desired
- Help Mount Sinai researchers better understand binge eating and purging behaviors. This could inform new treatments.
Who Can Participate?
Females who are right-handed, 18-35 years old, and able to attend three study visits in Manhattan.
Gut-Brain Study of Bulimia Nervosa
We are interested in learning about whether differences in behavior and gut hormone levels after fasting and eating a meal could help explain symptoms of bulimia nervosa.
You may be eligible to participate if you:
- Binge-eat and make yourself vomit to control your shape or weight OR are a healthy adult who has never been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder
- Are a right-handed female between the ages of 18 and 35
- Are able to attend 2 study visits in Manhattan, New York
Your participation will include:
- a phone screening to confirm qualification (15-20 minutes)
- remote or in-person clinical interviews (~2.5 hours)
- in-person screening and assessments (~1.5 hours)
- a study visit that involves questionnaires, computer tasks, a taste test, and blood draws after a 16-hour fast and after eating a meal that we provide (~4 hours)
You will receive:
- Reimbursement for travel
- Complimentary psychological evaluation
- Referrals for treatment, if desired
- Compensation of up to $180
Neurofeedback Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa
This study examines whether training people with bulimia nervosa to use certain thought patterns to increase their own brain activation in real-time, called “real-time neurofeedback,” can help reduce their eating disorder symptoms. By participating in this study, you or someone you care about could help advance research on treatment for bulimia nervosa.
If you (or if you know someone who) binge-eat and purge (e.g., self-induced vomiting, misusing laxatives or diuretics or diet pills, exercising intensively and compulsively, or fasting) to control your shape or weight, and are interested in learning more about our research study, please continue to read the study details below.
WHAT IS NEUROFEEDBACK?
Neurofeedback is a non-invasive brain training that is administered via a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device that records and displays your brain activity in real-time. The purpose of this training is to help you train your brain function. Specifically, we are interested in learning whether this type of brain training will help people with bulimia nervosa reduce their eating disorders symptoms.
WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (fNIRS)? IS IT SAFE FOR ME?
fNIRS is a brain imaging technology that detects brain activity in different areas of your brain using infrared technology. When you are doing an activity and use specific parts of your brain, the blood flow to those brain areas is higher than the blood flow to other areas of your brain. The fNIRS device can detect the “color” of the blood that flows into these specific brain areas; the darker the color, the more active the brain areas are.
This technology does not involve any magnets or radiation and it’s even been used to study babies.
WHAT’S INVOLVED IN THIS STUDY?
- Phone interview to confirm qualification (~15-20 minutes)
- Clinical interviews remotely or at Mount Sinai (~2.5 hours)
- In-person screening and computer tasks (~1.5 hours)
- A neurofeedback session (~1.5 hours)
- Pre- and post-neurofeedback online questionnaires and two weeks of symptom assessments (one week before and one week after the neurofeedback visit; ~3.5 hours total)
- A follow-up remote assessment (~1 hour)
WHY PARTICIPATE?
- Reimbursement for travel.
- Complimentary psychological evaluation.
- Referrals for treatment, if desired.
- Compensation of up to $280 for time.
- Help Mount Sinai researchers better understand and treat binge eating and purging behaviors.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
Females who are currently binge-eating and purging, right-handed, 18-35 years old, and able to attend two study visits in Manhattan.
Neuroimaging Study in Adults with Binge-Eating Disorder
- Currently binge eat (eat an unusually large amount of food and experience a sense of loss of control)
- Are a right-handed and between the ages of 18 and 45
- Are able to attend 2 study visits in Manhattan, New York
- Reimbursement for travel
- Complimentary psychological evaluation
- Referrals for treatment, if desired
- Compensation of up to $230
Study of Control-Related Decisions in Bulimia Nervosa
- In-person screening and computer tasks (approximately 2 hours)
- Two brain imaging visits at Mount Sinai: MRI scans and computer tasks — once after a 16-hour fast and once after a standardized meal that we provide (3.5 hours total per visit)
- Phone interview to confirm qualification (approximately 20 minutes)
- Clinical interviews (these can also be completed at Mount Sinai if you prefer; approximately 2.5 hours)
- Online questionnaires (approximately 1 hour)
- Two weeks of remote, online symptom assessments via ecological momentary assessment (EMA; approximately 3 hours and 40 minutes in total over 2 weeks)
- For participants with bulimia nervosa: a six-month follow-up assessment consisting of remote interviews, online questionnaires, and two weeks of online symptom assessments via EMA (approximately 5 hours in total over 2 weeks)
- Compensation of $500-750 for time
- Reimbursement for travel
- Complimentary psychological evaluation
- Referrals for treatment, if desired
- Help Mount Sinai researchers better understand and treat bulimia nervosa
Females who are right-handed, 18-45 years old, and able to attend three study visits in Manhattan.
If you are interested in participating or learning more about any of our studies, please click here or scan the QR code below to securely provide your contact information, or call 212-659-8799.
Job Openings!
The Center for Computational Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is seeking a full-time Postdoctoral Fellow. Leveraging the rich clinical resources and computational expertise across departments, the Center for Computational Psychiatry is dedicated to deepening our understanding of how mathematical models and the brain’s biology can contribute to what we know about mental health issues such as addiction, eating disorders, autism, and personality disorders.
Click the button for the official job listing for more information.
Lab News
November 16-19, 2023 – At ABCT’s 57th Annual Convention, Maia and Thalia presented a poster titled “Gut Feelings: Body Mistrust and Emotion Dysregulation in Bulimia Nervosa“ and Jess presented a poster titled “How Does Mood Control Relate to Food Control in Bulimia Nervosa? An fNIRS Investigation.”
May 12, 2023 – Maia will be presenting a poster at Friedman Brain Institute’s Annual Neuroscience Retreat titled “Gut Feelings: Body Mistrust and Emotion Dysregulation in Bulimia Nervosa“
May 5, 2023 – New publication in Molecular Psychiatry: State-specific alterations in the neural computations underlying inhibitory control in women remitted from bulimia nervosa
March 20, 2023 – Congrats to Claire Sun and Thalia Viranda on their grad school acceptance! Claire will be heading to the University of Rochester Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and Thalia will be going to the Cornell University Department of Information Science (Cornell Tech)!
March 13, 2023 – Congrats to Dr. Laura Berner for the funding of her R01!
December 2, 2022 – Congrats to Dr. Laura Berner for the funding of her R21!
San Diego, CA, November 12-16, 2022 – Claire Sun will be presenting a poster at Society for Neuroscience titled “Emotion regulation in Bulimia Nervosa: a potential central role for the Inferior Parietal Cortex“