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Lisa Shin

Contact Info Department of Psychology Tufts University Psychology Building Room 212 Medford, MA 02155 Lab Website Tel: 617-627-2251 Email Professor

Professor of Psychology
Ph.D., Harvard University, 1997

Dr. Shin received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at Dartmouth College and a PhD in Psychology at Harvard University. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and has been a faculty member at Tufts since 1998.

Dr. Shin's research involves examining brain function and cognitive processing in patients with anxiety disorders, especially posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Specifically, she uses positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study brain function while patients perform attention and memory tasks in the scanner. The goal of this research is to determine whether brain structures such as the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus function normally in patients with PTSD. Evidence thus far suggests that in PTSD, the amygdala is hyperresponsive and medial prefrontal cortex is hyporesponsive to threat-related stimuli. Dr. Shin and her colleagues are currently conducting studies to determine whether their functional neuroimaging measures can help predict response to treatment. Her research interests also include studying the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of emotional information (e.g., facial expressions, emotional words and pictures) in healthy individuals.

Undergraduate or graduate students who are interested in working in this lab should send an email message to Dr. Shin.

Representative Publications

• Shin, L.M., Bush, G., Milad, M.R., Lasko, N.B., Handwerger Brohawn, K., Hughes, K.C., Macklin, M.L., Gold, A.L., Karpf, R.D., Orr, S.P., Rauch, S.L. & Pitman, R.K. (2011). Exaggerated activation of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during cognitive interference: A monozygotic twin study of posttraumatic stress disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 979-985.
• Handwerger Brohawn, K., Offringa, R., Pfaff, D.L., Hughes, K.C., Shin, L.M. (2010). The neural correlates of emotional memory in posttraumatic stress disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 68, 1023-1030.
• Shin, L.M., Lasko, N.B., Macklin, M.L., Karpf, R.D., Milad, M.R., Orr, S.P., Goetz, J.M., Fischman, A.J., Rauch, S.L. & Pitman, R.K. (2009). Resting metabolic activity in the cingulate cortex and vulnerability to posttraumatic stress disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66, 1099-1107.
• Shin, L.M., Whalen, P.J., Pitman, R.K., Rauch, S.L.  (2009). The role of the anterior cingulate in posttraumatic stress disorder and panic disorder.  In B.A. Vogt (Ed), Cingulate Neurobiology and Disease.  Volume 1: Infrastructure, Diagnosis, and Treatment.  Oxford University Press.
• Shin, L.M. (2009).  The Amygdala in PTSD.  In P. Shiromani, T. Keane, & J. LeDoux (Eds). Neurobiology of PTSD.  Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.
• Shin, L.M., Bush, G., Whalen, P.J., Handwerger, K., Cannistraro, P., Wright, C.I., Martis, B., Macklin, M.L., Lasko, N.B., Orr, S.P., Pitman, R.K., Rauch, S.L. (2007). Dorsal anterior cingulate function in posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20, 701-712.
• Shin, LM, Rauch, S.L., & Pitman, RK. (2006). Amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and hippocampal function in PTSD. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,1071, 67-79.
• Shin, L.M., Wright, C.I., Cannistraro, P., Wedig, M., McMullin, K., Martis, B., Macklin, M.L., Lasko, N.B., Cavanagh, S., Krangel, T.S., Orr, S.P., Pitman, R.K., Whalen, P.J., & Rauch, S.L. (2005). A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex responses to overtly presented fearful faces in posttraumatic stress disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 273-281.
• Shin, L.M., Orr, S.P., Carson, M.A., Rauch, S.L., Macklin, M.L., Lasko, N.B., Marzol Peters, P., Metzger, L.J., Dougherty, D.D., Cannistraro, P.A., Alpert, N.M., Fischman, A.J., & Pitman, R.K. (2004). Regional cerebral blood flow in amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex during traumatic imagery in male and female Vietnam veterans with PTSD. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61, 168-176.
• Shin, L.M., Shin, P.S., Heckers, S., Krangel, T.S., Macklin, M.L., Orr, S.P., Lasko, N.B., Segal, E., Makris, N., Richert, K., Levering, J., Schacter, D.L., Alpert, N.M., Fischman, A.J., Pitman, R.K. & Rauch, S.L. (2004). Hippocampal function in posttraumatic stress disorder. Hippocampus, 14, 292-300.
• Shin, L.M., Whalen, P.J., Pitman, R.K., Bush, G., Macklin, M.L., Lasko, N.B., Orr, S.P., McInerney, S.C., & Rauch, S.L. (2001). An fMRI study of anterior cingulate function in posttraumatic stress disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 50, 932-942.
• Shin, L.M., Rauch, S.L., & Pitman, R.K. (2001). Symptom provocation studies: The example of anxiety disorders. In Dougherty, D. & Rauch, S.L. (Eds). Psychiatric neuroimaging research: contemporary strategies (pp.101-124). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Press.
• Shin, L.M., Dougherty, D., Macklin, M.L., Orr, S.P., Pitman, R.K., & Rauch, S.L. (2000). Activation of anterior paralimbic structures during guilt-related script-driven imagery. Biological Psychiatry, 48, 43-50.
• Rauch, S.L., Whalen, P.J., Shin, L.M., McInerney, S.C., Macklin, M.L., Lasko, N.B., Orr, S.P., & Pitman, R.K. (2000). Exaggerated amygdala response to masked fearful vs. happy facial stimuli in posttraumatic stress disorder: A functional MRI study. Biological Psychiatry, 47, 769-776.
• Shin, L.M., McNally, R.J., Kosslyn, S.M., Thompson, W.L., Rauch, S.L., Alpert, N.M., Metzger, L.J., Lasko, N.B., Orr, S.P., & Pitman, R.K. (1999). Regional cerebral blood flow during script-driven imagery in childhood sexual abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder: A positron emission tomographic investigation. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 575-584.
• Shin, L.M., Kosslyn, S.M., McNally, R.J., Alpert, N.M., Thompson, W.L., Rauch, S.L., Macklin, M.L., & Pitman, R.K. (1997). Visual imagery and perception in posttraumatic stress disorder: A positron emission tomographic investigation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 54, 233-241.