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Division of Intramural Research

Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain

Atlas Lab Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain New Image Feb 2022

Lauren Y. Atlas, Ph.D., leads the Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain in the NCCIH Intramural Research Program. The lab’s work focuses on characterizing the psychological and neural mechanisms by which expectations and other cognitive and affective factors influence pain, emotional experience, and clinical outcomes. Our approach is multimodal: We integrate experimental psychology, neuroimaging, psychophysiology, computational approaches, and other interventions to understand how psychological and contextual factors influence subjective experience. Current projects focus on dissociating components of expectancy (e.g., instructions vs. conditioning; stimulus vs. treatment expectancies), relating pain with other types of hedonic affective responses, and understanding social influences on pain (e.g., patient-provider interactions; health disparities). Long-term goals include revealing how specific features of the clinical context and interpersonal aspects influence patient outcomes, as well as determining whether expectancy-based processing is altered in specific patient populations.

Lab Chief

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Dr. Atlas received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Chicago in 2003, and her Ph.D. in psychology in 2011 from Columbia University, where she studied under the mentorship of Dr. Tor D. Wager. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Elizabeth Phelps at New York University’s Department of Psychology in 2014. Dr. Atlas joined NCCIH in 2014 as a tenure-track clinical investigator and chief of the Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain. She became a tenured senior investigator in 2023. She holds joint appointments with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Her laboratory uses a multimodal approach to investigate how expectations and learning influence pain and emotion, and how these factors influence clinical outcomes.

Lab Members

Jolyna Chiangong, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow Atlas Lab

Jolyna Chiangong, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Jolyna Chiangong is a postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) research fellow and Office of Intramural Training and Education Postbac Enrichment Program (OITE-PEP) Scholar investigating biopsychosocial influences on pain and pain assessment through studying facial expressions. She obtained her B.S. in biology, health, and society and gender and health from the University of Michigan. Under the mentorship of Dr. Clayton Shuman, she researched perinatal experiences of birthing patients during and following the COVID-19 pandemic and maternal health disparities. She also obtained her M.S. in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, where, under the mentorship of Dr. Wendy Bennett, she explored technology-based interventions to limit gestational diabetes and obesity. At the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, she worked in the lab of Dr. Faustine Williams and explored the intersections between psychosocial factors and immigrant, racial/ethnic minority, and gender minority mental health. In the Atlas lab, Jolyna hopes to investigate biopsychosocial influences on pain perception and expressions and their influence on physician-patient relationships in relation to pain treatment. She can be contacted at jolyna.chiangong@nih.gov.

Jasdeep Kang, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Jasdeep Kang, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Jasdeep Kang is a postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) fellow who is currently investigating social influences of pain assessment through studying facial expression. In 2022, Jasdeep received his B.S. in neuroscience with a specialization in behavioral systems from Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to joining NCCIH, Jasdeep conducted research in the OSU Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Lab with Dr. Daniel Shanahan. His projects at OSU were focused on investigating how music is processed into memory by the brain. Projects that Jasdeep worked on have been presented at the Society for Music Perception and Cognition in Portland, Oregon as well as the International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition in Tokyo, Japan. Jasdeep is planning to use his experience in the Atlas lab to better understand the complexity behind pain as a physician. Outside of research, you can find Jasdeep engaged in a variety of different hobbies including, but certainly not limited to, rock climbing, running, playing music, baking bread, and brewing coffee. Jasdeep can be reached at jasdeep.kang@nih.gov.

Ruth Mosunmade DIR Atlas Lab Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Ruth Mosunmade, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Ruth Mosunmade is a postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) research fellow who is currently investigating facial recognition of pain and the social influences on pain and pain assessment. In 2020, Ruth received her B.A., with honors, from Amherst College in biochemistry and biophysics. Throughout the duration of her undergraduate career, she worked in the Carter Biophysics laboratory under Professor Ashley Carter. With the guidance of Professor Carter, she completed a thesis, “Unraveling the Histone Replacement Process in Sperm,” researching the biophysical properties of the protamine-histone replacement process during spermatogenesis. Her progress led her to present her work during the American Physical Society and Biophysical Society conference poster sessions in 2019 and 2020. While Ruth is pursuing a career as an orthopedic surgeon, her career goals involve using her work in the Atlas lab to better perceive pain in her patients. She can be reached at ruth.mosunmade@nih.gov.

Qingbao Yu, DIR Atlas Lab

Qingbao Yu, Ph.D., Senior MRI Data Analyst

Qingbao Yu, Ph.D., is a senior MRI data analyst. He performs analyses on pain-related fMRI data. Dr. Yu received his B.A. in physics as well as his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering (neuroinformatics) from Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China. While obtaining his Ph.D., Dr. Yu worked under Dr. Yiyuan Tang, where he performed fMRI and EEG studies to investigate functional brain connectivity during Chinese language tasks and gender differences in mental rotation tasks. Dr. Yu’s postdoctoral and research scientist research was conducted in Dr. Vince Calhoun’s laboratory at the Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he combined ICA and graph theory–based analysis to examine brain connectivity in patients with schizophrenia. In May 2018, Dr. Yu joined the Affective Neuroscience and Pain lab at NCCIH to work with Dr. Lauren Atlas. View Dr. Yu's publications.

Yili Zhao, Ph.D., Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow

Yili Zhao, Ph.D., Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow

Yili Zhao, Ph.D., is a visiting postdoctoral fellow who is currently investigating the neural mechanisms underlying the learning process of pain and other negative emotions. Dr. Zhao received her M.Sc. in psychology from Chinese Academy of Sciences under the mentorship of Dr. Wencai Zhang, where she studied the placebo effects on pain, noise, and other unpleasant experiences. She then moved to Europe and received her Ph.D. in natural sciences (psychology) from University of Vienna under the mentorship of Dr. Claus Lamm, where her research was focused on neural mechanisms of empathy for pain and emotion identifications on pain and disgust. Specifically, she uses a wide range of research approaches including behavioral measures, univariate and multi-voxel fMRI analysis, computational modeling, and psychopharmacological administration. She can be reached at yili.zhao@nih.gov.

Lab Alumni

Lola Akintola, Visiting Postdoc Fellow

Titilola Akintola, Ph.D., Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow

Lola Akintola was a visiting postdoctoral fellow who investigated the mechanisms of expectation effects on pain using neuroimaging and behavioral approaches. Lola received her B.Sc. in biology from Morgan State University and her Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where she studied under the mentorship of Dr. Luana Colloca. 

View Dr. Akintola's publications.

Carolyn_Amir

Carolyn Amir, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Carolyn Amir served as a postbac IRTA research fellow, studying the effects of psychological processes on pain perception in healthy adults. 

Nicole Antkiewicz

Nicole Antkiewicz, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Nicole Antkiewicz served as a postbac IRTA who investigated the effects of bias on pain perception and expression in healthy adults.

Banker_Lauren

Lauren Banker, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Lauren is now a Ph.D. student in the applied physiology and kinesiology at the University of Florida.

Sabrina Barhoum, Postbac IRTA, Atlas Lab

Sabrina Barhoum, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Sabrina Barhoum was a postbac IRTA research fellow in the Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain.

Jama Brookes, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Jama Brookes is a postbac IRTA research fellow who is currently assisting in understanding biopsychosocial processes in pain perception and expressions. She will create and analyze psychophysiological stimuli to study health disparities in pain. Jama received a B.S. in psychology with a minor in medical humanities from Appalachian State University. While completing her undergraduate degree, Jama worked under three research professors in the departments of biochemistry, psychology, and economics. She researched P450 modulation, moral aspects of blame, and the role of sleep in monetary decision making, respectively. While at NIH, she hopes to further investigate the social and cultural factors that influence the physician-patient relationship in pain treatment. Outside of lab, Jama enjoys dancing, hiking, whitewater rafting, and watercolor painting. She can be contacted at jama.brookes@nih.gov.

Molly Cosgrove, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Molly Cosgrove was a postbac IRTA fellow in the Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain. 

Dilidine_Troy

Troy Dildine, Predoctoral IRTA Fellow

Troy Dildine was a predoctoral IRTA fellow through the Graduate Partnership Program and had been pursuing  a Ph.D. in medicine between the National Institutes of Health and Karolinska Institutet.

Maya Delity, Postbac IRTA, Atlas Lab

Maya Joshi Delity, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Maya Joshi Delity was a postbac IRTA research fellow who investigated psychological processes on chronic pain, as well as mechanisms of expectation effects on pain. Maya received her B.A. in psychology from Boston University, where she studied under the mentorship of Dr. Nicholas Wagner in the Biobehavioral and Social Emotional Lab.

Elena Do, postbac IRTA research fellow, Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain

Elena Do, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Elena Do was a postbac IRTA research fellow who investigated social discrimination on pain. 

Shara Grant, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow

Lee, In Seon

Inseon Lee, Ph.D., Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow

Inseon Lee is now faculty at Kyung Hee University.
View Dr. Lee's publications

Robert Linton, SANP DIR Postbac Fellow

Robert Linton III, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Robert Linton III, was postbac IRTA.

Mishcowski_Dominik

Dominik Mischkowski, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow

Dominik Mischkowski is now an assistant professor at Ohio University.

McCandlish_Rose

Margaret Rose-McCandlish, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Margaret Rose-McCandlish was a postbac IRTA research fellow who studied the effects of psychological processes on pain perception and expression in healthy adults. 

NECKA

Elizabeth Necka, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow

Elizabeth Necka is now an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health.
View Dr. Necka's publications

olga oretsky

Olga Oretsky, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Palacios-Barros

Esther Palacios-Barrios, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Esther Palacios-Barrios is now a Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Julie Parsons, postbac irta fellow, atlas lab

Julie Parsons, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Julie Parsons was a postbac IRTA fellow.

Chrissy Sandman

Chrissy Sandman is now a Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. (no image available)

Rachel Weger, postbac IRTA

Rachel Weger, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow

Rachel Weger was a postbac IRTA research fellow. She gathered and analyzed psychophysiologial measures and participant self-report in healthy adults to study health disparities in pain.

Julio Yanes, Ph.D., Postdoc IRTA Fellow, Atlas Lab

Julio Yanes, Ph.D., Postdoctoral IRTA Fellow

Julio Yanes, Ph.D., was a postdoctoral IRTA fellow. 
View Dr. Yanes's publications

Summer Students 2015 Atlas Lab_Square

(from left): Bethany Sauls, summer student; Bethany Leidl, summer student; Caitlin Stavish, special volunteer; Lauren Banker, summer student

Publications

See the full list of publications for Lauren Y. Atlas, Ph.D. on PubMed.