Clinical Neuroscience Lab

The CNS Lab is affiliated with the Clinical Psychology and Behavior and Brain Science programs in the Department of Psychology and the multidisciplinary Neuroscience Program at the University of Georgia. The CNS lab integrates multimodal neuroimaging and neuropsychological assessments with other clinical research methodology to examine brain-behavior relationships as they pertain to neuropsychiatric disorders. The CNS Lab specializes in experimental design, and data acquisition, analyses, and interpretation for clinical studies that employ functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), perfusion MRI (arterial spin labeling techniques), and structural morphometry (e.g., volumetrics, cortical thickness, lesion quantification). The CNS Lab is responsible for data analyses and consultation for several local and multi-site clinical research studies. Current projects vary from methodological development to empirically driven clinical research (e.g., aging, cardiovascular disease, addiction, obesity, chronic stress).

PI: Lawrence Sweet
Contact: Lawrence Sweet

Selected Publications

  1. Sweet, LH, Paskavitz, JF, O’Connor, MJ, Browndyke, JN, Wellen, JW, and Cohen, RA. FMRI correlates of the WAIS-III Symbol Search subtest. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 2005; 11(4):471-476.
  2. Sweet, LH, Rao, SM, Primeau, M, Durgerian, S, and Cohen, RA. FMRI response to increased working memory demands among patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Human Brain Mapping. 2006; 27(1):28-36.
  3. Sweet, LH, Paskavitz, JF, Haley, AP, Gunstad, JJ, Nyalakanti, PK, Cohen, RA. Imaging phonological similarity effects in verbal working memory. Neuropsychologia. 2008; 46:114-1123.
  4. Sweet, LH, Jerskey, BA, Aloia, MS. Withdrawal of positive airway pressure treatment and default network response to a verbal working memory challenge in obstructive sleep apnea. Brain Imaging and Behavior. 2010; 4(2):155-63.
  5. Sweet, LH, Mulligan, RC, Finnerty, C, Jerskey, BA, Cohen, R, and Niaura, R. Effects of nicotine withdrawal on verbal working memory. Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging. 2010; 183(1):69-74.
  6. Hassenstab, JJ, Sweet, LH, McCaffery, J, Demos, K, Cohen, R, Del Parigi, A, Wing, RR. Cortical thickness of the cognitive control network in obesity and successful weight loss maintenance: A preliminary MRI study. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging. Psychiatry Res. 2012 Apr 30;202(1):77-9. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2011.09.008. Epub 2012 May 16.
  7. Sweet, LH, Hassenstab, J, McCaffery, JM, Haley, AP, Bond, D, Raynor, HA, Del Parigi, A, Cohen, R, Wing, RR. Brain response to food stimulation in obese, normal weight, and successful weight loss maintainers. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2012 Nov;20(11):2220-5. doi: 10.1038/oby.2012.125. Epub 2012 May 9.
  8. Philip NS, Sweet LH, Tyrka AR, Price LH, Carpenter LL, Kuras YI, Clark US, Niaura RS. Early life stress is associated with greater default network deactivation during working memory in healthy controls: a preliminary report. Brain Imaging Behav. 2013 Jun;7(2):204-12. doi: 10.1007/s11682-012-9216-x.
  9. Philip NS, Sweet LH, Tyrka AR, Price LH, Bloom RF, Carpenter LL. Decreased default network connectivity is associated with early life stress in medication-free healthy adults. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013 Jan;23(1):24-32. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2012.10.008. Epub 2012 Nov 8.
  10. Alosco, M.L., Gunstad, J., Jerskey, B.A., Xu, X., Clark, U.S., Hassenstab, J., Cote, D.M., Walsh, E.G., Labbe, D.R., Hoge, R., Cohen, R.A., & Sweet, L.H. (in press). The Adverse Effects of Reduced Cerebral Perfusion on Cognition and Brain Structure in Older Adults with Cardiovascular Disease. Brain and Behavior. 2013 SweetsNov;3(6):626-36. doi: 10.1002/brb3.171. Epub 2013 Sep 10