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Assistant Professor,
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Developmental Brain Research:
Eating Disorders and Impulsive Aggression
Email: Guido.Frank@uchsc.edu
Office: 303-864-5994
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Research Interests
This lab investigates human behavior across various age ranges and in relation to developmental processes. Children and adolescents are a particular focus, although adults are studied as well.
We are interested in how the human brain function develops, differs or is similar in youth compared to adults. During developmentally critical periods, such as childhood and adolescence, preferences for certain eating habits and other behaviors are established that we then carry throughout our life. Such preferences are most likely influenced by the environment that we grow up in and form in interaction with our genetic predisposition. The resulting behavior may then be very functional and thus for the organism desirable. Alternatively, those acquired behavioral patterns may be not functional and may lead eventually to behaviors that would be considered a psychological or psychiatric disorder, or contribute to medical problems. The study of such developmental processes could help identify targets for early intervention.
The primary areas of interest studied in this lab include normal and disordered eating patterns, such as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Obesity. Other areas of interest are reactive aggressive behaviors and aspects of cognition and memory.
We recruit study participants from the community as well through medical and psychotherapy clinics. Every study participant commonly undergoes a screening and assessment process and may perform tasks that try to capture specific aspects of the disorder studied. We then use functional Magnet Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to assess brain activity and relate the measured brain activation with previously or during the brain scan gathered behavioral patterns.
Developmental Brain Research: Eating Disorders and Impulsive Aggression web page
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