Open Studies:
Appraisal
Effects of Meditation on Pain Regulation
Stress Hormones & Mood
Economic Decision-Making
Stop Smoking
Cognition & Emotion Regulation
Cortisol & Cognition
Short-Term Memory
Depression
Reducing Negative Emotion
Research Areas
Our Facilities
Posters & Presentations
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Study Participation
Training Program in Emotion Research
Below is a list of the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience's studies that are currently looking for participants. If you are interested and meet the basic eligibility requirements for the study, please contact the Study Coordinator listed.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how our cognitive and emotional processes interact when people interpret and respond to emotional stimuli. In this study we will measure your responses during a memory task and in response to emotional stimuli, as well as your answers to several brief questionnaires.
Location: The research will be conducted in the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Psychology Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison at 1202 West Johnson Street.
Compensation: The study will take approximately between 1-2 hours and you will receive $10/hour for participating in this study.
Basic Eligibility Criteria: You must be right handed, at least 18 years old, and either a US citizen or have a valid F1 or J1 visa to receive compensation.
Contact: Please direct any questions or concerns to uwappraisalstudy@gmail.com
Dr. Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin is recruiting men and women to participate in a research study of meditation. In this study, effects of meditation on the perception and regulation of pain are being examined.
The study will involve 2 visits to the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior at UW (about 2 hours each). Participation entails practicing two basic types of meditation while experiencing mildly painful heat on your hand or wrist. Your brain activity will be recorded in the scanner. At the first visit, you will receive brief instructions on the meditations being performed and will be asked to meditate at home for 15 minutes per day for 7 days prior to the second session.
Basic eligibility criteria: between 25 and 65 years old, have an interest in, but no experience with meditation, have no ongoing illicit drug use and have no psychiatric diagnosis or chronic pain or sensitivity
Compensation: Eligible participants will receive up to $75 for their participation, and will have the opportunity to receive a $50 bonus depending on the results of the scans
Contact: For more information about this study, please email: meditation_brain_research@yahoo.com or leave a message at (608) 262-9888. Please refer to the “Meditation Pain Regulation Study” in your email or call. (A downloadable flyer is available.) All information will be kept confidential.
Dr. Heather Abercrombie’s laboratory in the UW Department of Psychiatry is recruiting participants for a research study investigating stress hormones and mood. Participants will attend three sessions over the course of the study, which will last approximately two weeks. The sessions involve blood sampling, IVs, and viewing emotional words and pictures. All clinic visits and procedures associated with the research are provided at no cost.
Basic eligibility criteria: between 18 and 35 years old; nonsmokers; in good general health; if female, using hormonal contraceptives; and have no personal or family history of psychological disorders.
Compensation: Reimbursement for participation is available; up to $150.
Contact: Please leave a message with your name and contact information at 263-6114 or email emotionlab@psych.wisc.edu. We will contact you to tell you more about the study and determine your eligibility.
The purpose of this study is to test the interaction thinking and feeling processes. The study involves 3 sessions, but only a select number of people will be invited back to the laboratory based on their performance at the first session.
Session 1 is a preliminary session in which you will play a short-term memory task on a computer and complete several questionnaires. This session will take place in the Psychology Department in Brogden Hall (1202 West Johnson St) and will take about 45 minutes. Based on your responses and performance, you may be asked back to complete the second session.
Sessions 2 & 3 will again involve short computerized cognitive tasks and questionnaires, as well as tasks during which both psychophysiological and self-reported responses to emotional pictures and faces will be measured. These sessions will take place at the Psychology Department and will take 2 full days.
Basic eligibility criteria: You must be right handed, at least 18 years old, and either a US citizen or have a valid F1 or J1 visa to receive compensation.
Study location: Brogden Psychology Building, 1202 W. Johnson, Madison, WI
Compensation: You will be paid $10 for the first session, which takes less than one hour. If you are asked back to the lab and participate in the follow-up sessions, you will earn at least an additional $200.
Contact: Please direct any questions or concerns to Chelsea at 608-262-9888 or email uwcognitionemotionexperiment@gmail.com. (A downloadable flyer is available.)
We are interested in how different people make different economic decisions. If you participate, you will be asked to complete forms, and play simple decision making games over the internet with other people. This will take up to 90 minutes. Participants will have an opportunity to make between $5 and $100. In order to participate, you must be over the age of 18 and be eligible to receive payment for study participation.
Please email decisiongames@gmail.com in order to participate in a decision-making experiment
The UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention is conducting a research study on UW smokers age 18-25 who want to quit smoking. The study will use interactive learning and meditation as new approaches to managing addiction. It will start in January 2007 and will provide instruction in meditation and addiction education to help smokers quit smoking.
Basic eligibility criteria: 18-25 years old; smoker.
Compensation: Reimbursement for participation is available; up to $120 for completion of the study with a chance to win $500.
Contact: Call 265-5233 or email MTA@ctri.medicine.wisc.edu. A downloadable flier is available (PDF).
Dr. Heather Abercrombie’s laboratory in the UW Department of Psychiatry is recruiting individuals currently experiencing depression for a research study investigating brain changes that occur while taking hydrocortisone (which is identical to the hormone cortisol) or a placebo. Eligible participants will be ages 18-60, in good health and not currently receiving medication for depression.
Brain activity will be measured using a brain scanning technique (fMRI). This study will involve five sessions, including two brain scans. All clinic visits and procedures associated with the research are provided at no cost.
Symptoms of depression include:
Basic eligibility criteria: between the ages of 18-60, in good health, and not currently receiving medication for depression.
Compensation: Participants may be compensated up to $300 for completion of the entire study.
Contact: Please call 608-206-0589 or email emotionlab@psych.wisc.edu for more information. Please indicate that you are interested in the "fMRI Study."
The purpose of this study is to test several short-term memory tasks in the presence of stress. The study involves 2 laboratory sessions and some on-line questionnaires that you can complete at home.
Session 1 is a preliminary training session in which you are taught to play several different short-term memory tasks. This will take about 2-3 hours. This session serves as a practice for the second session which you may or may not be asked to complete depending on how you do on the first session. If you are invited back, we will ask you to complete a battery of questionnaires on-line. This will take about 1 hour.
Session 2 will be similar to the first session with several important differences. First, we will collect a measure of your brain's electrical activity ("EEG") while you perform the tasks. Second, we will examine the impact of stress on your ability to play the different short-term memory tasks. In order to create a sense of stress, during half the blocks there will be the possibility of receiving one or more electrical shocks. The second session take about 4 hours.
Location: The Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, located in the University of Wisconsin's Department of Psychology (1202 West Johnson Street).
Compensation: You will be paid $10/hour for your time in the lab. If you complete both lab sessions and the on-line questionnaires in a timely manner, you will earn an additional $25 bonus.
Basic Eligibility Criteria: You must be right handed, 18-30 years old, native English speaker and US citizen. Uncorrected vision or glasses must be worn to the session. Contact lenses are *not* acceptable. You must be able to go several seconds without blinking (no people with dry eye syndrome). Not diagnosed with a psychiatric or mental disorder; never been treated by a neurologist, neurosurgeon or neuroradiologist; never knocked unconscious for more than a minute. You must have no implanted medical electronic devices, including but not limited to a pacemaker, cochlear implant, or insulin pump. You cannot have been shocked in a previous laboratory experiment. You must have a hair style that permits us to gather EEG data.
Contact: Go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=386221196234 and follow the directions there. Please direct any additional questions or concerns to the Study Coordinator at uwmemoryexperiment@gmail.com.
Dr. Greg Kolden is recruiting people who have depression for two different studies of brain changes occurring as the result of treatment for depression. One study involves interpersonal therapy and the other involves antidepressant medication. The treatments used in both studies are standard, effective treatments for depression. (Downloadable flyer available.)
Interpersonal Therapy: Participants attend weekly Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) sessions. IPT focuses on difficulties in interpersonal relationships that are usually associated with depression. Eligible subjects cannot use medication for depression for the six months they are in the study.
Antidepressant Medication: Participants will take one of 2 antidepressant medications. Both antidepressants will be prescribed by a psychiatrist. Eligible subjects cannot be in therapy for depression for the six months they are in the study or take any other antidepressant medications.
Participants in both studies will undergo 3 MRI brain scans. MRI brain scans measure brain activity and require subjects to lie on their backs for up to 2 hours. The MRIs and study-related visits are provided at no cost and occur over a 6-month period.
Basic eligibilty criteria: Eligible subjects cannot use medication for depression for the six months they are in the study. Subjects must meet clinical criteria for depression and must:
Compensation: Subjects will be paid $375.
Study location: This research will be conducted in the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging & Behavior at the Waisman Center.
Contact: Call 608-265-8245 or email MRI_brain_research@psych.wisc.edu or visit https://psychiatry.wisc.edu/mridepressionstudy/index.htm.
Description: This study looks at the effects of training in cognitive reappraisal (similar to cognitive-behavioral therapy) and compassion meditation on emotion regulation to aversive pictures. The training entails listening to a CD or a CD with an accompanying written assignment for 30 minutes a day for two weeks. Response to aversive pictures will be indexed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), psychophysiological measures, a number of self-report measures, and an economic task before and after training. You will need to go to the Waisman Center for approximately 7 hours in 3 visits to complete the mock fMRI scan (Visit 1), self-report measures (Visit 2 and 3), fMRI scan (Visit 2 and 3), and economic games (Visit 3). 2 weeks of training will occur between Visit 2 and Visit 3.
Compensation: $165 for full completion of the study. You may earn between $5-$50 each time you play an economic game.
Inclusion Criteria: 18-45 years of age, ability to make time commitment, English speaking, right-handed, willing to provide informed consent
Exclusion Criteria: Metal implants or failure of MRI safety screen; prior psychiatric or neurological disorder; current psychiatric medications; claustrophobia; pregnancy; previous experience in meditation or cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Contact: Helen Weng, Graduate Student. compreg@gmail.com
Note: Daily practice is essential for this study. If you do not have the time to do the daily training, please do not participate.