DEBORAH ANN YURGELUN-TODD portrait
  • Professor, Psychiatry
801-587-1538

Research Statement

A. Narrative Report of Research, Teaching, and Clinical Contributions The focus of my research has been on the identification of brain abnormalities, particularly disruptions of the fronto-temporal network, which may represent risk factors for psychiatric illness or may be the site of primary pathology in these illnesses. Research studies have primarily included the application of neuropsychological measures, neurological hard signs, and magnetic resonance imaging methods completed both in patients and their well relatives. In recent years, this work has been extended by applying magnetic resonance techniques to study the effects of development on cortico-limbic networks in healthy children and adolescents. Additional ongoing studies have examined changes in these same networks produced by therapeutic antipsychotic drugs, as well as drugs of abuse. My future investigations will continue to examine the similarities and differences between functional cortical brain changes associated with pharmacotherapy of adult illness and healthy development.

Languages

  • English, fluent.