Shmuel Lissek, PhD, associate professor of psychology and director of the Anxiety Neuroscience Grounded in cross-Species Translation (ANGST) Lab was featured in Inquiry, published by the Office of Vice President for Research (OVPR).
Lissek studies what happens in the human brain and body during fear-related learning, memory, and decision making. His team’s research can help reveal where psychological states like fear and anxiety “happen” inside our brain and help shed light on how to treat those who suffer from anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“When I was in graduate school, I became interested in the brain basis of psychological states, and some of the most exciting progress was made in fear and anxiety,” Lissek said. “A lot of that work was done in animals, and I wanted to get into looking at the extent to which these findings applied to humans.”In the article "Psychology of Fear: How Anxiety Turns the Everyday into a Threat" Lissek describes how he uses computer games to unlock how the brain processes fear and anxiety.
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| Computer game Lissek uses in his research |