Ongoing Research Projects and Research Opportunities
Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (Bouchard)
A longitudinal study of mono- and dizygotic twins reared apart from an average age of a few months. Minnesota Twin Family Study (Iacono, Lykken, McGue, Tellegen) - a longitudinal study of over 1,400 pairs of twin children, 600 pairs of adoptees and their parents, focused on parental psychopathology (especially substance abuse) and the development of psychopathology in the children.
Minnesota Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (Iacono, McGue)
A longitudinal study of 600 pairs of adolescent siblings, two-thirds of whom are domestic or international adoptees, focused on the development of substance abuse and related psychopathology.
Minnesota Study of Aging Twins (McGue)
A longitudinal study of the genetics of the psychological and physiological aspects of aging in normal twins.
Psychophysiology of emotional perception and activation (Cuthbert).
Studies employing event-related potentials, the startle probe, and other methodologies to investigate dimensions of emotional responses to the viewing or imagination of affective stimuli.
Psychophysiology of internalizing disorders (Cuthbert):
Studies using psychophysiological measures to explore emotional responses in patients with anxiety and/or mood disorders, and individual differences that may constitute risk factors for emotional disorders in college student populations.
Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy (Iacono)
Studies on Lie Detection (Iacono) Methodological Studies in Taxometrics (Grove) - development and validation of novel statistical techniques for classification research.
Eating Disorders Research Program (Crow, Peterson)
Mechanical vs. Statistical Prediction (Grove)
How best to make predictions in psychology and medicine.
Meta-Analytic Studies of the Validity of the Rorschach (Grove)
Re-examines the validity of interpretations based on the Rorschach Inkblot Technique.
Studies of Psychological Stress and Adaptation with relevance to Astronauts (Leon)
This study is funded by NASA.
General and Cross-Cultural Research on the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Tellegen)
Development, validation, translation into other languages, checking cross-national comparability of MMPI-2 profiles, etc.
Research on the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (Tellegen)
Validation, development studies, etc.
Research on the Structure of Mood (Tellegen)
Research on Hypnotizability (Tellegen)
The neurobehavioral development of the prefrontal cortex in adolescents (Luciana)
Examines the neuropsychological development of prefrontal cortex in healthy adolescents, ages 9 to 18. This study has recently been expanded to include neuroimaging and genetic components.
Neurocognitive effects of drug-induced alterations in brain serotonin activity (Luciana)
Examines the cognitive effects of brain neurotransmitter changes in normal and affectively-disordered adults and in people who abuse the drug Ecstasy.
Dopamine System Reactivity and Cognition (Luciana)
Pharmacological probes of dopamine function in healthy adults and young adults treated for PKU.
Ventromedial Prefrontal Function in College-Aged Substance Abusers. (Luciana)
Examines prefrontal function in young adult alcohol abusers, focusing on behaviors mediated by the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
Cognitive Deficits as Indicators of Genetic Liability for Schizophrenia (Sponheim)
Veterans Administration and Medical Center study
Decision-making and Emotional Mechanisms in Schizophrenia (MacDonald). Game theory models and emotional probes of trust used to evaluate cognitive mechanisms underlying the development of paranoia in schizophrenia patients. (Collaboration with Aldo Rustichini, Dept. of Economics)
Cognitive and Functional Neuroanatomical Indices of the Genetic Predisposition to Schizophrenia (MacDonald, Sponheim).
Alcoholism Resulting from Use of Alcohol to Self-Medicate for Panic Disorder (Kushner)
The study of psychopathology co-occurring with substance use disorders ("comorbidity") (Kushner)
Studies of Psychoactive Substance Craving (e.g., nicotine, "crack" cocaine) (Hatsukami)
Primate Models of Drug Abuse; Neurological Models of Drug Addiction (Carroll)
Borderline Personality Disorder (Kroll)
Adolescent Drug Abuse Assessment and Treatment (Winters)
Young Adult Functioning of Drug Abusers (Winters)
Pathological Gambling (Winters)
Stepped care versus best available care for bulimia nervosa (Crow)
Treatment of binge eating disorder (Crow)
Minnesota Obesity Center (Crow)
A series of studies examining all aspects of obesity from molecular biology through psychopathology.
Cluster analysis of personality styles in bulimia nervosa (Crow)