ZVR Lab
Welcome to the ZVR Lab
Our lab uses virtual reality (VR), multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and machine learning to try to elucidate the psychological and neural signatures of PTSD and anxiety disorders. Particularly, to delineate the contextual aspect of threat and reward learning, discrimination, and monitoring.
Specifically, we are interested in cases where an area within a larger environment becomes associated with threat, such as the area of a neighborhood where an assault or assaults took place, or the location on a battlefield where explosions occurred.
Patients with PTSD and anxiety disorders often show an overgeneralization or an exaggerated response to threat in larger contexts, even in environments predicting safety. With this research, we expect to identify new brain measures to develop sensitive, personalized, and precise diagnostic and treatment tools for psychopathology.
Lab MembersBenjamin Suarez-Jimenez, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Publications
View All PublicationsAffiliations
- Using Virtual Reality to Study Spatial Mapping and Threat Learning.; Research square. 2024 Apr 03.
- Smaller total and subregional cerebellar volumes in posttraumatic stress disorder: a mega-analysis by the ENIGMA-PGC PTSD workgroup.; Molecular psychiatry. 2024 Jan 10.
- Intrusive Traumatic Re-Experiencing Domain: Functional Connectivity Feature Classification by the ENIGMA PTSD Consortium.; Biological psychiatry global open science; Vol 4(1), pp. 299-307. 2023 Jun 08.
- Eye-tracking indices of attention allocation and attention bias variability are differently related to trauma exposure and PTSD.; Journal of anxiety disorders; Vol 96, pp. 102715. 2023 Apr 25.
Contact Us
ZVR Lab
Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, Ph.D.
601 Elmwood Ave, Box 603
Medical Center Annex
Offices: 2B-210, 2B-202
Rochester, NY 14642
Office: 2B210 - (585) 275-6866
Office: 2B202 - (585) 275-7103