John JB Allen

Interests

Teaching

I teach a wide variety of courses ranging from large undergraduate lecture courses to small graduate courses. Video podcasts and slides from many of these courses are available online: http://jallen.faculty.arizona.edu/courses_i_teach

Research

I am interested broadly in the etiology and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders. Listed below are four themes addressed in my current research:1) Identifying risk factors for depression using electroencephalographic and autonomic psychophysiological measures, especially EEG asymmetry, resting state fMRI connectivity, and cardiac vagal control.2) Identifying causes of and developing novel treatments for mood and anxiety disorders, including Transcranial Ultrasound, EEG biofeedback, and Transcranial Direct Current and Transcranial Alternating Current.3) Understanding how emotion influences how individuals make decisions and monitor their actions, including error monitoring, reward learning, and cognitive control.4) The assessment of memory and amnesia using event-related potentials; Assessing deception and malingering; Assessment of memory and amnesia in dissociative disorders.

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

• Allen, J. J., & Moreno, F. (2022).

  Psilocybin for the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

  . In Current Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience(pp 247-259). New York City: Springer Publishing. doi:10.1007/7854_2021_279
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  Book chapter contribution to a collection of psychedelic treatment reviews for the series disruptive psychopharmacologyLead author Katja Allen Ehrmann is not listed as University of Arizona faculty

Journals/Publications

• McNamara, M. E., Shumake, J., Stewart, R. A., Labrada, J., Alario, A., Allen, J. J., Palmer, R., Schnyer, D. M., McGeary, J. E., & Beevers, C. G. (2021). Multifactorial prediction of depression diagnosis and symptom dimensions. Psychiatry research, 298, 113805.
• Persich, M., Smith, R., Cloonan, S., Woods-Lubbert, R., Skalamera, J., Berryhill, S., Weihs, K., Lane, R., Allen, J. J., Dailey, N., & others, . (2021). Development and Validation of an Online Emotional Intelligence Training Program.
• Rodrigues, J., Allen, J. J., M"uller, M., & Hewig, J. (2021). Methods matter: An examination of factors that moderate predictions of the capability model concerning the relationship of frontal asymmetry to trait measures. Biological Psychology, 158, 107993.
• Smith, R., Steklis, H. D., Steklis, N., Weihs, K. L., Allen, J. J., & Lane, R. D. (2021). Lower emotional awareness is associated with greater early adversity and faster life history strategy.
• Czamanski-Cohen, J., Galili, G., & Allen, J. J. (2020). Examining Changes in HRV and Emotion Following Artmaking with Three Different Art Materials. JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments), e60376.
• Goldstein, M. R., Lewin, R. K., & Allen, J. J. (2020). Improvements in well-being and cardiac metrics of stress following a yogic breathing workshop: Randomized controlled trial with active comparison. Journal of American College Health, 1--11.
• Helm, P. J., Medrano, M. R., Allen, J. J., & Greenberg, J. (2020). Existential isolation, loneliness, depression, and suicide ideation in young adults. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 39(8), 641--674.
• Reznik, S. J., Sanguinetti, J. L., Tyler, W. J., Daft, C., & Allen, J. J. (2020). A double-blind pilot study of transcranial ultrasound (TUS) as a five-day intervention: TUS mitigates worry among depressed participants. Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research, 37, 60--66.
• Rodrigues, J., Weiss, M., Allen, J. J., & Hewig, J. (2020). EPOS: EEG Processing Open-source Standardization.
• Sanguinetti, J. L., Hameroff, S., Smith, E. E., Sato, T., Daft, C. M., Tyler, W. J., & Allen, J. J. (2020). Transcranial focused ultrasound to the right prefrontal cortex improves mood and alters functional connectivity in humans. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 14, 52.
• Smith, E. E., Sch"uller, T., Huys, D., Baldermann, J. C., Andrade, P., Allen, J. J., Visser-Vandewalle, V., Ullsperger, M., Gruendler, T. O., & Kuhn, J. (2020). A brief demonstration of frontostriatal connectivity in OCD patients with intracranial electrodes. NeuroImage, 220, 117138.
• Smith, E. E., Sch"uller, T., Huys, D., Baldermann, J. C., Ullsperger, M., Allen, J. J., Visser-Vandewalle, V., Kuhn, J., & Gruendler, T. O. (2020). Prefrontal delta oscillations during deep brain stimulation predict treatment success in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Brain Stimulation: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation, 13(1), 259--261.
• Beevers, C. G., Mullarkey, M. C., Dainer-Best, J., Stewart, R. A., Labrada, J., Allen, J. J., McGeary, J. E., & Shumake, J. (2019). Association between negative cognitive bias and depression: A symptom-level approach.. Journal of abnormal psychology, 128(3), 212.
• Do, C. N., & Allen, J. J. (2019). Neural correlates of cue predictiveness during intentional and incidental associative learning: A time-frequency study. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 143, 80--87.
• Herring, D. R., Allen, J. J., G"uereca, Y. M., & Crites Jr, ,. S. (2019). An intra-individual approach for detecting evaluation with event-related potentials. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 141, 65--75.
• Vanuk, J. R., Alkozei, A., Raikes, A. C., Allen, J. J., & Killgore, W. D. (2019). Ability-based emotional intelligence is associated with greater cardiac vagal control and reactivity. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 13, 181.
• Zambrano-Vazquez, L., Szabo, Y. Z., Santerre, C. L., & Allen, J. J. (2019). SUPPRESS OR ACCEPT? A PILOT STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF COPING STRATEGIES ON ERN AMPLITUDE AMONG INDIVIDUALS WITH OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE TRAITS.. Acta Neuropsychologica, 17(3).
• Allen, J. J., Keune, P. M., Sch"onenberg, M., & Nusslock, R. (2018). Frontal EEG alpha asymmetry and emotion: From neural underpinnings and methodological considerations to psychopathology and social cognition.
• Allen, J. J., Keune, P. M., Sch\"onenberg, M., & Nusslock, R. (2018). Frontal EEG alpha asymmetry and emotion: From neural underpinnings and methodological considerations to psychopathology and social cognition. Psychophysiology, 55(1).
• Do, C., & Allen, J. J. (2018). Guidance of spatial attention during associative learning: Contributions of predictability and intention to learn. Psychophysiology, 55(8), e13077.
• Kromenacker, B. W., Sanova, A. A., Marcus, F. I., Allen, J. J., & Lane, R. D. (2018). Vagal mediation of low-frequency heart rate variability during slow yogic breathing. Psychosomatic medicine, 80(6), 581--587.
• Reznik, S. J., & Allen, J. J. (2018). Frontal asymmetry as a mediator and moderator of emotion: An updated review. Psychophysiology, 55(1), e12965.
• Reznik, S. J., & Allen, J. J. (2018). Frontal asymmetry as a mediator and moderator of emotion: An updated review. Psychophysiology, 55(1).
• Smith, E. E., Cavanagh, J. F., & Allen, J. J. (2018). Intracranial source activity (eLORETA) related to scalp-level asymmetry scores and depression status. Psychophysiology, 55(1), e13019.
• Smith, E. E., Cavanagh, J. F., & Allen, J. J. (2018). Intracranial source activity (eLORETA) related to scalp-level asymmetry scores and depression status. Psychophysiology, 55(1).
• Stewart, J. L., & Allen, J. J. (2018). Resting frontal brain asymmetry is linked to future depressive symptoms in women. Biological psychology, 136, 161--167.
• Bourassa, K. J., Allen, J. J., Mehl, M. R., & Sbarra, D. A. (2017). Impact of Narrative Expressive Writing on Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, and Blood Pressure After Marital Separation. Psychosomatic medicine, 79(6), 697--705.
• Sanguinetti, J., & Allen, J. J. (2017). Transcranial ultrasound improves mood and affects resting state functional connectivity in healthy volunteers. Brain Stimulation: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation, 10(2), 426.
• Smith, E. E., Reznik, S. J., Stewart, J. L., & Allen, J. J. (2017). Assessing and conceptualizing frontal EEG asymmetry: An updated primer on recording, processing, analyzing, and interpreting frontal alpha asymmetry. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 111, 98--114.
• Janssen, C. W., Lowry, C. A., Mehl, M. R., Allen, J. J., Kelly, K. L., Gartner, D. E., Medrano, A., Begay, T. K., Rentscher, K., & White, J. J. (2016). Whole-body hyperthermia for the treatment of major depressive disorder: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA psychiatry, 73(8), 789-795.
• May, L. E., Allen, J. J., & Gustafson, K. M. (2016). Fetal and maternal cardiac responses to physical activity and exercise during pregnancy. Early Human Development.
• May, L. E., Allen, J. J., & Gustafson, K. M. (2016). Fetal and maternal cardiac responses to physical activity and exercise during pregnancy. Early human development, 94, 49-52.
• Mussel, P., Ulrich, N., Allen, J. J., Osinsky, R., & Hewig, J. (2016). Patterns of theta oscillation reflect the neural basis of individual differences in epistemic motivation. Scientific reports, 6.
• Sanguinetti, J. L., Trujillo, L. T., Schnyer, D. M., Allen, J. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2016). Increased alpha band activity indexes inhibitory competition across a border during figure assignment. Vision research, 126, 120-130.
• Smith, E. E., Zambrano-Vazquez, L., & Allen, J. J. (2016). Patterns of alpha asymmetry in those with elevated worry, trait anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: A test of the worry and avoidance models of alpha asymmetry. Neuropsychologia, 85, 118-126.
• Smith, E. E., Zambrano-Vazquez, L., & Allen, J. J. (2016). Patterns of alpha asymmetry in those with elevated worry, trait anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: A test of the worry and avoidance models of alpha asymmetry. Neuropsychologia.
• Smith, R., Allen, J. J., Thayer, J. F., & Lane, R. D. (2016). Regional Frontal Lobe Response Magnitudes During Affective Shifting Covary With Resting Heart Rate Variability in Healthy Volunteers. Journal of Psychophysiology.
• Alkozei, A., Creswell, C., Cooper, P. J., & Allen, J. J. (2015). Autonomic arousal in childhood anxiety disorders: associations with state anxiety and social anxiety disorder. Journal of affective disorders, 175, 25--33.
• Allen, J. J., & Reznik, S. J. (2015). Frontal EEG asymmetry as a promising marker of depression vulnerability: summary and methodological considerations. Current opinion in psychology, 4, 93--97.
• Bohbot, V. D., Allen, J. J., Dagher, A., Dumoulin, S. O., Evans, A. C., Petrides, M., Kalina, M., Stepankova, K., & Nadel, L. (2015). Role of the parahippocampal cortex in memory for the configuration but not the identity of objects: converging evidence from patients with selective thermal lesions and fMRI. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 9.
• Breitborde, N., Dawley, D., Bell, E. K., Vanuk, J. R., Allen, J., & Lane, R. D. (2015). A personalized paced-breathing intervention to increase heart rate variability among individuals with first-episode psychosis following stress exposure.. Schizophrenia research, 169, 496.
• Cavanagh, J. F., Sanguinetti, J. L., Allen, J. J., Sherman, S. J., & Frank, M. J. (2014). The subthalamic nucleus contributes to post error slowing. Jounral of Cognitive Neuroscience.
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  (in press) doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00659
• Forbes, C. E., Leitner, J. B., Duran-Jordan, K., Magerman, A. B., Schmader, T., & Allen, J. J. (2015). Spontaneous default mode network phase-locking moderates performance perceptions under stereotype threat. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 10, 994--1002.
• Sanguinetti, J. L., Smith, E., Allen, J. J., & Hameroff, S. (2014). Human brain stimulation with transcranial ultrasound (TUS); Potential applications for mental health. Bioelectromagnetic Medicine.
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  New York, NY: Taylor & Francis. In press.
• Sanguinetti, J. L., Trujillo, L. T., Schnyer, D. M., Allen, J. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2015). Increased alpha band activity indexes inhibitory competition across a border during figure assignment. Vision research.
• Schafer, S. M., Wager, T. D., Mercado Jr, R. A., Thayer, J. F., Allen, J. J., & Lane, R. D. (2015). Partial Amelioration of Medial Visceromotor Network Dysfunction in Major Depression by Sertraline. Psychosomatic medicine, 77, 752--761.
• Smith, R., Allen, J. J., Thayer, J. F., & Lane, R. D. (2015). Altered functional connectivity between medial prefrontal cortex and the inferior brainstem in major depression during appraisal of subjective emotional responses: A preliminary study. Biological psychology, 108, 13--24.
• Smith, R., Allen, J. J., Thayer, J. F., Fort, C., & Lane, R. D. (2014). Increased association over time between regional frontal lobe BOLD change magnitude and cardiac vagal control with sertraline treatment for major depression. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.
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  (in press)
• Stanton, A. L., Wiley, J. F., Krull, J. L., Crespi, C. M., Hammen, C., Allen, J. J., Barr{\'o}n, M. L., Jorge, A., & Weihs, K. L. (2015). Depressive episodes, symptoms, and trajectories in women recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer research and treatment, 154, 105--115.
• Zambrano-Vazquez, L., & Allen, J. J. (2014). Response monitoring in Obsessive-compulsive, worrying, and anxious individuals. Neuropsychologia.
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  (in press)
• Cavanagh, J. F., Sanguinetti, J. L., Allen, J. J., Sherman, S. J., & Frank, M. J. (2014). The subthalamic nucleus contributes to post-error slowing. Journal of cognitive neuroscience.
• Mussel, P., Hewig, J., Allen, J. J., Coles, M. G., & Miltner, W. (2014). Smiling faces, sometimes they don't tell the truth: Facial expression in the ultimatum game impacts decision making and event-related potentials. Psychophysiology, 51, 358--363.
• Sanguinetti, J. L., Allen, J. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2014). The ground side of an object: Perceived as shapeless yet processed for semantics. Psychological Science, 25, 256-264.
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  doi: 10.1177/0956797613502814
• Sanguinetti, J., Allen, J. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2014). A repetition paradigm with figure-ground stimuli reveals that both semantic and shape representations can be accessed outside of awareness. Psychological Science, 25, 256--264.
• Smith, R., Allen, J. J., Thayer, J. F., Fort, C., & Lane, R. D. (2014). Increased association over time between regional frontal lobe BOLD change magnitude and cardiac vagal control with sertraline treatment for major depression. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 224, 225--233.
• Stewart, J. L., Coan, J. A., Towers, D. N., & Allen, J. J. (2014). Resting and Task-Elicited Prefrontal Brain Asymmetry in Depression: Support for the Capability Model. Psychophysiology.
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  (in press)
• Stewart, J. L., Coan, J. A., Towers, D. N., & Allen, J. J. (2014). Resting and task-elicited prefrontal EEG alpha asymmetry in depression: support for the capability model. Psychophysiology, 51, 446--455.
• Stewart, J. L., Coan, J. A., Towers, D. N., & J., J. (2014). Resting and task-elicited prefrontal EEG alpha asymmetry in depression: Support for the capability model. Psychophysiology.
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  Abstract: The capability model of frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry suggests that brain activity during emotional challenge will be a more powerful indicator of predispositions toward psychopathology than activity observed at rest. EEG data were assessed during a resting baseline and a facial emotion task, wherein individuals with (n=143) and without (n=163) lifetime major depressive disorder (MDD) made approach (angry and happy) and withdrawal (afraid and sad) facial expressions. EEG asymmetry during emotional challenge was a more powerful indicator of MDD status than resting asymmetry for average, Cz, and linked mastoid references, results in support of the capability model. However, current-source-density (CSD) transformed asymmetry was indicative of lifetime MDD status under resting and task-elicited conditions. Findings suggest that CSD-transformed data may be more robust indicators of trait frontal EEG asymmetry. © 2014 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
• Zambrano-Vazquez, L., & Allen, J. J. (2014). Differential contributions of worry, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive symptoms to ERN amplitudes in response monitoring and reinforcement learning tasks. Neuropsychologia, 61, 197--209.
• Accortt, E. E., Kogan, A. V., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Personal history of major depression may put women at risk for premenstrual dysphoric symptomatology. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150(3), 1234-1237.
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  Abstract: Background: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a chronic condition that significantly affects a woman's well-being on a monthly basis. Although co-occurrence of PMDD and major depressive disorder (MDD) is common, most studies examine whether women with PMDD are at risk for depression and investigations of PMDD in depressed women are scant. Therefore, the present study examined rates of PMDD in young depressed women. Methods: PMDD was assessed using a structured clinical interview (SCID-PMDD) in a sample of 164 young women with (n=85) and without (n = 79) any history of depression. Results: Rates of PMDD were elevated among women with MDD in this sample. This result held true regardless of participants' MDD status (current, lifetime or past history-only symptoms of MDD) and regardless of whether all or most DSM-IV-TR PMDD criteria were met. Limitations: Sample size in the present study was relatively small, and daily diary data were not available to confirm a PMDD diagnosis. Conclusions: The current study highlights the need for clinicians to assess for PMDD in young female patients with major depression. Depressed women experiencing the added physical and psychological burden of PMDD may have a more severe disease course, and future studies will need to identify appropriate treatments for this subset of depressed women. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• Allen, J. J. (2013). Never Trust the Polygraph. The Writ, the official publication of the Pima County Bar Association.
• Allen, J., Bismark, A. W., Hajcak, G., Whitworth, N. M., & Allen, J. J. (2013). The role of outcome expectations in the generation of the feedback-related negativity. Psychophysiology, 50(2).
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  The feedback-related negativity (FRN) is thought to index activity within the midbrain dopaminergic reward-learning system, with larger FRN magnitudes observed when outcomes are worse than expected. This view holds that the FRN is an index of neural activity coding for prediction errors, and reflects activity that can be used to adaptively alter future performance. Untested to date, however, is a key prediction of this view: the FRN should not appear in response to negative outcomes when outcome expectations are not allowed to develop. The current study tests this assumption by eliciting FRNs to win and loss feedback in conditions of participant choice, participant observation of computer choice, and, critically, simple presentation of win or loss feedback in the absence of a predictive choice cue. Whereas FRNs were observed in each of the conditions in which there was time for an expectation to develop, no FRN was observed in conditions without sufficient time for the development of an expectation. These results provide empirical support for an untested but central tenet of the reinforcement learning account of the genesis of the FRN.
• Allen, J., Lane, R. D., Weidenbacher, H., Smith, R., Fort, C., Thayer, J. F., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Subgenual anterior cingulate cortex activity covariation with cardiac vagal control is altered in depression. Journal of affective disorders, 150(2).
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  We tested the hypothesis that subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) participates in concurrently regulating shifts in both affective state and cardiac vagal control.
• Bismark, A. W., Hajcak, G., Whitworth, N. M., & J., J. (2013). The role of outcome expectations in the generation of the feedback-related negativity. Psychophysiology, 50(2), 125-133.
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  PMID: 23153354;PMCID: PMC3540152;Abstract: The feedback-related negativity (FRN) is thought to index activity within the midbrain dopaminergic reward-learning system, with larger FRN magnitudes observed when outcomes are worse than expected. This view holds that the FRN is an index of neural activity coding for prediction errors, and reflects activity that can be used to adaptively alter future performance. Untested to date, however, is a key prediction of this view: the FRN should not appear in response to negative outcomes when outcome expectations are not allowed to develop. The current study tests this assumption by eliciting FRNs to win and loss feedback in conditions of participant choice, participant observation of computer choice, and, critically, simple presentation of win or loss feedback in the absence of a predictive choice cue. Whereas FRNs were observed in each of the conditions in which there was time for an expectation to develop, no FRN was observed in conditions without sufficient time for the development of an expectation. These results provide empirical support for an untested but central tenet of the reinforcement learning account of the genesis of the FRN. © 2012 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
• Lane, R. D., Weidenbacher, H., Smith, R., Fort, C., Thayer, J. F., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Subgenual anterior cingulate cortex activity covariation with cardiac vagal control is altered in depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150(2), 565-570.
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  PMID: 23473547;Abstract: Background: We tested the hypothesis that subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) participates in concurrently regulating shifts in both affective state and cardiac vagal control. Methods: Eleven healthy adults and 8 depressed subjects performed the Emotional Counting Stroop task in alternating 15-second blocks of emotion words and neutral words while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electrocardiography (ECG). We measured the absolute value of change between adjacent 15-second blocks in both cardiac vagal control and the BOLD signal in specific regions of interest. Results: Strong positive correlations were observed in healthy control participants between changes in cardiac vagal control and changes in BOLD signal intensity in sgACC (BA25) (right: r=.67, p
• Matsuda, I., Nittono, H., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Detection of concealed information by P3 and frontal EEG asymmetry. Neuroscience Letters, 537, 55-59.
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  PMID: 23370285;Abstract: Psychophysiological detection of deception has seen increased attention in both research and applied settings. In this field, the most scientifically validated paradigm is the Concealed Information Test (CIT). The CIT does not directly deal with whether a participant is lying, but examines whether a participant recognizes a critical relevant detail, inferred by differences in physiological responses between critical and non-critical items. Although event-related potential (ERP) approaches to the CIT have shown high accuracy, a combination of measures might improve the test's performance. We thus assessed whether a new CIT index, frontal EEG asymmetry that is supposed to reflect differences in approach/withdrawal motivation, would prove useful. Nineteen participants were asked to steal one item in a mock crime, and were then administered two CITs while concealing the stolen item. One CIT included the stolen item (i.e., guilty condition), whereas the other CIT did not (i.e., innocent condition). In the guilty condition, the concealed stolen item elicited greater relative left frontal alpha activity (indicative of relative right frontal cortical activity) as compared to the other items, suggesting that the recognition of the concealed item might have induced withdrawal motivation. Although the discrimination between guilty and innocent conditions by the asymmetry score alone was not as good as that by the ERP P3 index, combining the asymmetry score and P3 improved the detection performance significantly. The results suggest that the frontal EEG asymmetry can be used as a new measure in the CIT that provides additional information beyond that captured by the traditional ERP index. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
• Mikhail, M., El-Ayat, K., Coan, J. A., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Using minimal number of electrodes for emotion detection using brain signals produced from a new elicitation technique. International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems, 6(1), 80-97.
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  Abstract: Emotion is an important aspect in the interaction between humans. There is a great interest for detecting emotions automatically. Current approaches for emotion detection using EEG are not practical for real-life situations because researchers ask participants to reduce any motion and facial muscle movement, reject noisy EEG data and rely on large number of electrodes. In this paper, we propose an approach that analyses highly contaminated brain signals. We then extract relevant features for the emotion detection task based on neuroscience findings. We reached an average accuracy of 51%, 53%, 58% and 61% for joy, anger, fear and sadness, respectively. We are also applying our approach on fewer number of electrodes that ranges from 4 to 25 electrodes and we reached an average classification accuracy of 33% for joy emotion, 38% for anger, 33% for fear and 37.5% for sadness using 4 or 6 electrodes only. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
• Mussel, P., Hewig, J., Allen, J. J., Coles, M. G., & Miltner, W. H. (2014). Smiling Faces Sometimes, they don’t tell the Truth: Facial Expression in the Ultimatum Game Impacts Decision-Making and Event-related Potentials. Psychophysiology, 51, 358-63.
• Allen, J., Velo, J. R., Stewart, J. L., Hasler, B. P., Towers, D. N., & Allen, J. J. (2012). Should it matter when we record? Time of year and time of day as factors influencing frontal EEG asymmetry. Biological psychology, 91(2).
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  Resting frontal encephalographic (EEG) asymmetry, often conceptualized as a trait marker for depression, is influenced by occasion-specific factors, including time of year and the time of day of the recording session as demonstrated recently (Peterson and Harmon-Jones, 2009). The current study examined the influence of seasonal and chronological variables on resting frontal asymmetry, and also assessed whether different reference montages or surface transformations were equally susceptible to these influences. In a direct replication attempt, contrary to previous findings, no simple time of year by time of day interaction was found. Time awake at recording, however, was an important moderating variable of the relationship between photoperiod and time of day. EEG asymmetry scores based on current-source density (CSD) transformed data, however, appeared less vulnerable to these influences, providing further evidence to suggest that the CSD transform may be advantageous for examining stable trait estimates of frontal EEG asymmetry.
• Cavanagh, J. F., Zambrano-Vazquez, L., & Allen, J. J. (2012). Theta lingua franca: A common mid-frontal substrate for action monitoring processes. Psychophysiology, 49(2), 220-238.
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  PMID: 22091878;PMCID: PMC3262926;Abstract: We present evidence that a multitude of mid-frontal event-related potential (ERP) components partially reflect a common theta band oscillatory process. Specifically, mid-frontal ERP components in the N2 time range and error-related negativity time range are parsimoniously characterized as reflections of theta band activities. Forty participants completed three different tasks with varying stimulus-response demands. Permutation tests were used to identify the dominant time-frequency responses of stimulus- and response-locked conditions as well as the enhanced responses to novelty, conflict, punishment, and error. A dominant theta band feature was found in all conditions, and both ERP component amplitudes and theta power measures were similarly modulated by novelty, conflict, punishment, and error. The findings support the hypothesis that generic and reactive medial prefrontal cortex processes are parsimoniously reflected by theta band activities. © 2011 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
• Gustafson, K. M., May, L. E., Yeh, H., Million, S. K., & Allen, J. J. (2012). Fetal cardiac autonomic control during breathing and non-breathing epochs: The effect of maternal exercise. Early Human Development, 88(7), 539-546.
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  PMID: 22264436;PMCID: PMC3753784;Abstract: We explored whether maternal exercise during pregnancy moderates the effect of fetal breathing movements on fetal cardiac autonomic control assessed by metrics of heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV). Thirty women were assigned to Exercise or Control group (n = 15/group) based on the modifiable physical activity questionnaire (MPAQ). Magnetocardiograms (MCG) were recorded using a dedicated fetal biomagnetometer. Periods of fetal breathing activity and apnea were identified using the fetal diaphragmatic magnetomyogram (dMMG) as a marker. MCG R-waves were marked. Metrics of fetal HR and HRV were compared using 1 breathing and1 apneic epoch/fetus. The main effects of group (Exercise vs. Control) and condition (Apnea vs. Breathing) and their interactions were explored. Fetal breathing resulted in significantly lower fetal HR and higher vagally-mediated HRV. Maternal exercise resulted in significantly lower fetal HR, higher total HRV and vagally-mediated HRV with no difference in frequency band ratios. Significant interactions between maternal exercise and fetal breathing were found for metrics summarizing total HRV and a parasympathetic metric. Post hoc comparison showed no group difference during fetal apnea. Fetal breathing was associated with a loss of Total HRV in the Control group and no difference in the Exercise group. Both groups show enhanced vagal function during fetal breathing; greater in the Exercise group. During in utero breathing movements, the fetus of the exercising mother has enhanced cardiac autonomic function that may give the offspring an adaptive advantage. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
• Kogan, A. V., Allen, J. J., & Weihs, K. L. (2012). Cardiac vagal control as a prospective predictor of anxiety in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Biological Psychology, 90(1), 105-111.
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  PMID: 22414745;Abstract: Low cardiac vagal control (CVC) has been associated with state and trait anxiety and anxiety spectrum disorders. Studies indicate that diagnosis and treatments for breast cancer may be associated with anxiety. The current study examined whether CVC prospectively predicted a trajectory of change in anxiety following breast cancer diagnosis. Forty-three women diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer completed the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale, and a 5-min resting electrocardiographic (ECG) segment was recorded. Self-report measures were completed approximately every 3 months for a year. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) significantly predicted the trajectory of change in anxiety over the follow-up period: participants with higher baseline RSA evidenced decreasing anxiety, whereas those with lower baseline RSA had increasing anxiety. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that CVC facilitates the modulation of anxiety in women coping with significant stressors of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
• Lingdan, W. u., Jie, P. u., J., J., & Pauli, P. (2012). Recognition of facial expressions in individuals with elevated levels of depressive symptoms: An eye-movement study. Depression Research and Treatment, 2012.
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  PMID: 22288009;PMCID: PMC3263589;Abstract: Previous studies consistently reported abnormal recognition of facial expressions in depression. However, it is still not clear whether this abnormality is due to an enhanced or impaired ability to recognize facial expressions, and what underlying cognitive systems are involved. The present study aimed to examine how individuals with elevated levels of depressive symptoms differ from controls on facial expression recognition and to assess attention and information processing using eye tracking. Forty participants (18 with elevated depressive symptoms) were instructed to label facial expressions depicting one of seven emotions. Results showed that the high-depression group, in comparison with the low-depression group, recognized facial expressions faster and with comparable accuracy. Furthermore, the high-depression group demonstrated greater leftwards attention bias which has been argued to be an indicator of hyperactivation of right hemisphere during facial expression recognition. © 2012 Lingdan Wu et al.
• Matsuda, I., Nittono, H., & Allen, J. J. (2012). The current and future status of the Concealed Information Test for field use.. Frontiers in Cognitive Science.
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  doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00532
• Matsuda, I., Nittono, H., & J., J. (2012). The current and future status of the concealed information test for field use. Frontiers in Psychology, 3(NOV).
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  PMID: 23205018;PMCID: PMC3507001;Abstract: The Concealed Information Test (CIT) is a psychophysiological technique for examining whether a person has knowledge of crime-relevant information. Many laboratory studies have shown that the CIT has good scientific validity. However, the CIT has seldom been used for actual criminal investigations. One successful exception is its use by the Japanese police. In Japan, the CIT has been widely used for criminal investigations, although its probative force in court is not strong. In this paper, we first review the current use of the field CIT in Japan. Then, we discuss two possible approaches to increase its probative force: sophisticated statistical judgment methods and combining new psychophysiological measures with classic autonomic measures. On the basis of these considerations, we propose several suggestions for future practice and research involving the field CIT. © 2012 Matsuda, Nittono and Allen.
• Velo, J. R., Stewart, J. L., Hasler, B. P., Towers, D. N., & Allen, J. J. (2012). Should it matter when we record? Time of year and time of day as factors influencing frontal EEG asymmetry. Biological Psychology, 91(2), 283-291.
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  PMID: 22867950;PMCID: PMC3530616;Abstract: Resting frontal encephalographic (EEG) asymmetry, often conceptualized as a trait marker for depression, is influenced by occasion-specific factors, including time of year and the time of day of the recording session as demonstrated recently (Peterson and Harmon-Jones, 2009). The current study examined the influence of seasonal and chronological variables on resting frontal asymmetry, and also assessed whether different reference montages or surface transformations were equally susceptible to these influences. In a direct replication attempt, contrary to previous findings, no simple time of year by time of day interaction was found. Time awake at recording, however, was an important moderating variable of the relationship between photoperiod and time of day. EEG asymmetry scores based on current-source density (CSD) transformed data, however, appeared less vulnerable to these influences, providing further evidence to suggest that the CSD transform may be advantageous for examining stable trait estimates of frontal EEG asymmetry. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
• Accortt, E. E., Bismark, A., Schneider, T. R., & J., J. (2011). Diagnosing premenstrual dysphoric disorder: The reliability of a structured clinical interview. Archives of Women's Mental Health, 14(3), 265-267.
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  PMID: 21336934;Abstract: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a diagnosis included for further study in the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association 2000), lacks a structured interview. The reliability of a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR-Defined PMDD (SCID-PMDD) was assessed with 96 participants who spanned the full range of premenstrual problems. All individual SCID-PMDD items had high inter-rater agreement, and the overall reliability of diagnosis was high (kappa=0.96). The SCID-PMDD provides a structured, sensitive, and reliable measure of the symptoms and impairment criteria for PMDD. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.
• Accortt, E. E., Stewart, J. L., Coan, J. A., Manber, R., & Allen, J. J. (2011). Prefrontal brain asymmetry and pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder symptomatology. Journal of Affective Disorders, 128(1-2), 178-183.
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  PMID: 20833433;PMCID: PMC2994967;Abstract: Background: Pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a dysphoric form of pre-menstrual syndrome, is included as a diagnosis for further study in the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000). The present study investigated whether a marker of risk for major depressive disorder (MDD), prefrontal brain asymmetry, also characterizes women with PMDD. Methods: In a sample of 25 college women with PMDD symptomatology and 25 matched controls, resting frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was assessed on four occasions within a two-week span. Results: Across several frontal sites women with PMDD had relatively less left than right prefrontal brain activity, consistent with a diathesis-stress model for menstrual-related dysphoria. Conclusions: The findings suggest an overlap in the risk profile for MDD and PMDD. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• Allen, J., Accortt, E. E., Stewart, J. L., Coan, J. A., Manber, R., & Allen, J. J. (2011). Prefrontal brain asymmetry and pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder symptomatology. Journal of affective disorders, 128(1-2).
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  Pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a dysphoric form of pre-menstrual syndrome, is included as a diagnosis for further study in the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000). The present study investigated whether a marker of risk for major depressive disorder (MDD), prefrontal brain asymmetry, also characterizes women with PMDD.
• Allen, J., Cavanagh, J. F., Frank, M. J., & Allen, J. J. (2011). Social stress reactivity alters reward and punishment learning. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 6(3).
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  To examine how stress affects cognitive functioning, individual differences in trait vulnerability (punishment sensitivity) and state reactivity (negative affect) to social evaluative threat were examined during concurrent reinforcement learning. Lower trait-level punishment sensitivity predicted better reward learning and poorer punishment learning; the opposite pattern was found in more punishment sensitive individuals. Increasing state-level negative affect was directly related to punishment learning accuracy in highly punishment sensitive individuals, but these measures were inversely related in less sensitive individuals. Combined electrophysiological measurement, performance accuracy and computational estimations of learning parameters suggest that trait and state vulnerability to stress alter cortico-striatal functioning during reinforcement learning, possibly mediated via medio-frontal cortical systems.
• Allen, J., Stewart, J. L., Coan, J. A., Towers, D. N., & Allen, J. J. (2011). Frontal EEG asymmetry during emotional challenge differentiates individuals with and without lifetime major depressive disorder. Journal of affective disorders, 129(1-3).
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  Although it has been argued that frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry at rest may be a risk marker for major depressive disorder (MDD), it is unclear whether a pattern of relatively less left than right activity characterizes depressed individuals during emotional challenges. Examination of frontal asymmetry during emotion task manipulations could provide an assessment of the function of systems relevant for MDD, and test the limits of frontal EEG asymmetry as a marker of risk for depression.
• Allen, J., Stewart, J. L., Towers, D. N., Coan, J. A., & Allen, J. J. (2011). The oft-neglected role of parietal EEG asymmetry and risk for major depressive disorder. Psychophysiology, 48(1).
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  Relatively less right parietal activity may reflect reduced arousal and signify risk for major depressive disorder (MDD). Inconsistent findings with parietal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry, however, suggest issues such as anxiety comorbidity and sex differences have yet to be resolved. Resting parietal EEG asymmetry was assessed in 306 individuals (31% male) with (n=143) and without (n=163) a DSM-IV diagnosis of lifetime MDD and no comorbid anxiety disorders. Past MDD+ women displayed relatively less right parietal activity than current MDD+ and MDD- women, replicating prior work. Recent caffeine intake, an index of arousal, moderated the relationship between depression and EEG asymmetry for women and men. Findings suggest that sex differences and arousal should be examined in studies of depression and regional brain activity.
• Cavanagh, J. F., Bismark, A. J., Frank, M. J., & J, J. (2011). Larger error signals in major depression are associated with better avoidance learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 2(NOV).
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  PMID: 22084638;PMCID: PMC3210982;Abstract: The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is particularly reactive to signals of error, punishment, and conflict in the service of behavioral adaptation and it is consistently implicated in the etiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). This association makes conceptual sense, given that MDD has been associated with hyper-reactivity in neural systems associated with punishment processing. Yet in practice, depression-related variance in measures of mPFC functioning often fails to relate to performance. For example, neuroelectric reflections of mediofrontal error signals are often found to be larger in MDD, but a deficit in post-error performance suggests that these error signals are not being used to rapidly adapt behavior. Thus, it remains unknown if depression-related variance in error signals reflects a meaningful alteration in the use of error or punishment information. However, larger mediofrontal error signals have also been related to another behavioral tendency: increased accuracy in avoidance learning. The integrity of this error-avoidance system remains untested in MDD. In this study, EEG was recorded as 21 symptomatic, drug-free participants with current or past MDD and 24 control participants performed a probabilistic reinforcement learning task. Depressed participants had larger mid-frontal EEG responses to error feedback than controls. The direct relationship between error signal amplitudes and avoidance learning accuracy was replicated. Crucially, this relationship was stronger in depressed participants for high conflict "lose-lose" situations, demonstrating a selective alteration of avoidance learning. This investigation provided evidence that larger error signal amplitudes in depression are associated with increased avoidance learning, identifying a candidate mechanistic model for hypersensitivity to negative outcomes in depression. © 2011 Cavanagh, Bismark, Frank and Allen.
• Cavanagh, J. F., Frank, M. J., & Allen, J. J. (2011). Social stress reactivity alters reward and punishment learning. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 6(3), 311-320.
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  PMID: 20453038;PMCID: PMC3110431;Abstract: To examine how stress affects cognitive functioning, individual differences in trait vulnerability (punishment sensitivity) and state reactivity (negative affect) to social evaluative threat were examined during concurrent reinforcement learning. Lower trait-level punishment sensitivity predicted better reward learning and poorer punishment learning; the opposite pattern was found in more punishment sensitive individuals. Increasing state-level negative affect was directly related to punishment learning accuracy in highly punishment sensitive individuals, but these measures were inversely related in less sensitive individuals. Combined electrophysiological measurement, performance accuracy and computational estimations of learning parameters suggest that trait and state vulnerability to stress alter cortico-striatal functioning during reinforcement learning, possibly mediated via medio-frontal cortical systems. © The Author (2010). Published by Oxford University Press.
• Gustafson, K. M., Allen, J. J., Yeh, H., & May, L. E. (2011). Characterization of the fetal diaphragmatic magnetomyogram and the effect of breathing movements on cardiac metrics of rate and variability. Early Human Development, 87(7), 467-475.
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  PMID: 21497027;PMCID: PMC3114157;Abstract: Breathing movements are one of the earliest fetal motor behaviors to emerge and are a hallmark of fetal well-being. Fetal respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) has been documented but efforts to quantify the influence of breathing on heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) are difficult due to the episodic nature of fetal breathing activity. We used a dedicated fetal biomagnetometer to acquire the magnetocardiogram (MCG) between 36 and 38. weeks gestational age (GA). We identified and characterized a waveform observed in the raw data and independent component decomposition that we attribute to fetal diaphragmatic movements during breathing episodes. RSA and increased high frequency power in a time-frequency analysis of the IBI time-series was observed during fetal breathing periods. Using the diaphragmatic magnetomyogram (dMMG) as a marker, we compared time and frequency domain metrics of heart rate and heart rate variability between breathing and non-breathing epochs. Fetal breathing activity resulted in significantly lower HR, increased high frequency power, greater sympathovagal balance, increased short-term HRV and greater parasympathetic input relative to non-breathing episodes confirming the specificity of fetal breathing movements on parasympathetic cardiac influence. No significant differences between breathing and non-breathing epochs were found in two metrics reflecting total HRV or very low, low and intermediate frequency bands. Using the fetal dMMG as a marker, biomagnetometry can help to elucidate the electrophysiologic mechanisms associated with diaphragmatic motor function and may be used to study the longitudinal development of human fetal cardiac autonomic control and breathing activity. © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
• Stewart, J. L., Coan, J. A., Towers, D. N., & Allen, J. J. (2011). Frontal EEG asymmetry during emotional challenge differentiates individuals with and without lifetime major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 129(1-3), 167-174.
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  PMID: 20870293;PMCID: PMC3021630;Abstract: Background: Although it has been argued that frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry at rest may be a risk marker for major depressive disorder (MDD), it is unclear whether a pattern of relatively less left than right activity characterizes depressed individuals during emotional challenges. Examination of frontal asymmetry during emotion task manipulations could provide an assessment of the function of systems relevant for MDD, and test the limits of frontal EEG asymmetry as a marker of risk for depression. Methods: EEG data were assessed during a facial emotion task, wherein 306 individuals age 18-34 (31% male) with (n = 143) and without (n = 163) DSM-IV defined lifetime MDD made directed facial actions of approach (angry and happy) and withdrawal (afraid and sad) expressions. Results: Lifetime depressed individuals displayed less relative left frontal activity than never-depressed individuals during all facial expressions across four EEG reference montages, findings that were not due to emotional experience, facial expression quality, electromyographic (EMG) activity, or current depression status. Limitations: Although this was a sizable sample, only one emotion task was utilized. Conclusions: Results provide further support for frontal EEG asymmetry as a risk marker for MDD. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• Stewart, J. L., Towers, D. N., Coan, J. A., & Allen, J. J. (2011). The oft-neglected role of parietal EEG asymmetry and risk for major depressive disorder. Psychophysiology, 48(1), 82-95.
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  PMID: 20525011;PMCID: PMC3000438;Abstract: Relatively less right parietal activity may reflect reduced arousal and signify risk for major depressive disorder (MDD). Inconsistent findings with parietal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry, however, suggest issues such as anxiety comorbidity and sex differences have yet to be resolved. Resting parietal EEG asymmetry was assessed in 306 individuals (31% male) with (n=143) and without (n=163) a DSM-IV diagnosis of lifetime MDD and no comorbid anxiety disorders. Past MDD+ women displayed relatively less right parietal activity than current MDD+ and MDD- women, replicating prior work. Recent caffeine intake, an index of arousal, moderated the relationship between depression and EEG asymmetry for women and men. Findings suggest that sex differences and arousal should be examined in studies of depression and regional brain activity. © 2010 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
• Allen, J., Bismark, A. W., Moreno, F. A., Stewart, J. L., Towers, D. N., Coan, J. A., Oas, J., Erickson, R. P., & Allen, J. J. (2010). Polymorphisms of the HTR1a allele are linked to frontal brain electrical asymmetry. Biological psychology, 83(2).
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  Polymorphic variations in genes related to serotonin synthesis, transport, recognition, or degradation may convey subtle changes in serotonin system architecture that may place an individual at risk for psychopathology when faced with life stressors. The relationship between three key serotonin alleles and frontal brain electrical asymmetry, a putative endophenotype of depression, was examined. Risk alleles were hypothesized to predict relatively greater right frontal brain activity regardless of current clinical state. A sample of 313 college-age individuals, spanning a range of depressive severity from no symptomotology to clinically meaningful levels, participated. Resting encephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded from 64 scalp sites on four occasions separated by at least 24h (two 8-min recording sessions occurring at each occasion). Alpha power asymmetry scores between homologous sites were calculated for each session and then averaged to form a trait metric of asymmetry for each pair. PCR based genotyping was conducted for the HTR1a, HTR2a, and HTTLPR genes. Variations in the HTR1a gene were related to trait EEG asymmetry, regardless of any history of depression. Compared to subjects with at least one non-risk allele, subjects with homozygous HTR1A risk alleles had significantly greater relative right frontal activity at sites F7/F8, F5/F6, and F1/F2. In conclusion, variation in HTR1a can influence trait level brain activity, which may ultimately be indicative of risk for psychopathology.
• Allen, J., Cavanagh, J. F., Frank, M. J., Klein, T. J., & Allen, J. J. (2010). Frontal theta links prediction errors to behavioral adaptation in reinforcement learning. NeuroImage, 49(4).
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  Investigations into action monitoring have consistently detailed a frontocentral voltage deflection in the event-related potential (ERP) following the presentation of negatively valenced feedback, sometimes termed the feedback-related negativity (FRN). The FRN has been proposed to reflect a neural response to prediction errors during reinforcement learning, yet the single-trial relationship between neural activity and the quanta of expectation violation remains untested. Although ERP methods are not well suited to single-trial analyses, the FRN has been associated with theta band oscillatory perturbations in the medial prefrontal cortex. Mediofrontal theta oscillations have been previously associated with expectation violation and behavioral adaptation and are well suited to single-trial analysis. Here, we recorded EEG activity during a probabilistic reinforcement learning task and fit the performance data to an abstract computational model (Q-learning) for calculation of single-trial reward prediction errors. Single-trial theta oscillatory activities following feedback were investigated within the context of expectation (prediction error) and adaptation (subsequent reaction time change). Results indicate that interactive medial and lateral frontal theta activities reflect the degree of negative and positive reward prediction error in the service of behavioral adaptation. These different brain areas use prediction error calculations for different behavioral adaptations, with medial frontal theta reflecting the utilization of prediction errors for reaction time slowing (specifically following errors), but lateral frontal theta reflecting prediction errors leading to working memory-related reaction time speeding for the correct choice.
• Allen, J., Cavanagh, J. F., Gründler, T. O., Frank, M. J., & Allen, J. J. (2010). Altered cingulate sub-region activation accounts for task-related dissociation in ERN amplitude as a function of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Neuropsychologia, 48(7).
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  Larger error-related negativities (ERNs) have been consistently found in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, and are thought to reflect the activities of a hyperactive cortico-striatal circuit during action monitoring. We previously observed that obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptomatic students (non-patients) have larger ERNs during errors in a response competition task, yet smaller ERNs in a reinforcement learning task. The finding of a task-specific dissociation suggests that distinct yet partially overlapping medio-frontal systems underlie the ERN in different tasks, and that OC symptoms are associated with functional differences in these systems. Here, we used EEG source localization to identify why OC symptoms are associated with hyperactive ERNs to errors yet hypoactive ERNs when selecting maladaptive actions. At rest, OC symptomatology predicted greater activity in rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and lower activity in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). When compared to a group with low OC symptom scores, the high OC group had greater rACC reactivity during errors in the response competition task and less deactivation of dACC activity during errors in the reinforcement learning task. The degree of activation in these areas correlated with ERN amplitudes during both tasks in the high OC group, but not in the low group. Interactive anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) systems associated avoidance of maladaptive actions were intact in the high OC group, but were related to poorer performance on a third task: probabilistic reversal learning. These novel findings link both tonic and phasic activities in the ACC to action monitoring alterations, including dissociation in performance deficits, in OC symptomatic participants.
• Bismark, A. W., Moreno, F. A., Stewart, J. L., Towers, D. N., Coan, J. A., Oas, J., Erickson, R. P., & Allen, J. J. (2010). Polymorphisms of the HTR1a allele are linked to frontal brain electrical asymmetry. Biological Psychology, 83(2), 153-158.
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  PMID: 20025927;PMCID: PMC2845287;Abstract: Polymorphic variations in genes related to serotonin synthesis, transport, recognition, or degradation may convey subtle changes in serotonin system architecture that may place an individual at risk for psychopathology when faced with life stressors. The relationship between three key serotonin alleles and frontal brain electrical asymmetry, a putative endophenotype of depression, was examined. Risk alleles were hypothesized to predict relatively greater right frontal brain activity regardless of current clinical state. A sample of 313 college-age individuals, spanning a range of depressive severity from no symptomotology to clinically meaningful levels, participated. Resting encephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded from 64 scalp sites on four occasions separated by at least 24. h (two 8-min recording sessions occurring at each occasion). Alpha power asymmetry scores between homologous sites were calculated for each session and then averaged to form a trait metric of asymmetry for each pair. PCR based genotyping was conducted for the HTR1a, HTR2a, and HTTLPR genes. Variations in the HTR1a gene were related to trait EEG asymmetry, regardless of any history of depression. Compared to subjects with at least one non-risk allele, subjects with homozygous HTR1A risk alleles had significantly greater relative right frontal activity at sites F7/F8, F5/F6, and F1/F2. In conclusion, variation in HTR1a can influence trait level brain activity, which may ultimately be indicative of risk for psychopathology. © 2009 Elsevier B.V.
• Cavanagh, J. F., Frank, M. J., Klein, T. J., & Allen, J. J. (2010). Frontal theta links prediction errors to behavioral adaptation in reinforcement learning. NeuroImage, 49(4), 3198-3209.
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  PMID: 19969093;PMCID: PMC2818688;Abstract: Investigations into action monitoring have consistently detailed a frontocentral voltage deflection in the event-related potential (ERP) following the presentation of negatively valenced feedback, sometimes termed the feedback-related negativity (FRN). The FRN has been proposed to reflect a neural response to prediction errors during reinforcement learning, yet the single-trial relationship between neural activity and the quanta of expectation violation remains untested. Although ERP methods are not well suited to single-trial analyses, the FRN has been associated with theta band oscillatory perturbations in the medial prefrontal cortex. Mediofrontal theta oscillations have been previously associated with expectation violation and behavioral adaptation and are well suited to single-trial analysis. Here, we recorded EEG activity during a probabilistic reinforcement learning task and fit the performance data to an abstract computational model (Q-learning) for calculation of single-trial reward prediction errors. Single-trial theta oscillatory activities following feedback were investigated within the context of expectation (prediction error) and adaptation (subsequent reaction time change). Results indicate that interactive medial and lateral frontal theta activities reflect the degree of negative and positive reward prediction error in the service of behavioral adaptation. These different brain areas use prediction error calculations for different behavioral adaptations, with medial frontal theta reflecting the utilization of prediction errors for reaction time slowing (specifically following errors), but lateral frontal theta reflecting prediction errors leading to working memory-related reaction time speeding for the correct choice. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
• Cavanagh, J. F., Gründler, T. O., Frank, M. J., & Allen, J. J. (2010). Altered cingulate sub-region activation accounts for task-related dissociation in ERN amplitude as a function of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Neuropsychologia, 48(7), 2098-2109.
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  PMID: 20381506;PMCID: PMC2876228;Abstract: Larger error-related negativities (ERNs) have been consistently found in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, and are thought to reflect the activities of a hyperactive cortico-striatal circuit during action monitoring. We previously observed that obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptomatic students (non-patients) have larger ERNs during errors in a response competition task, yet smaller ERNs in a reinforcement learning task. The finding of a task-specific dissociation suggests that distinct yet partially overlapping medio-frontal systems underlie the ERN in different tasks, and that OC symptoms are associated with functional differences in these systems. Here, we used EEG source localization to identify why OC symptoms are associated with hyperactive ERNs to errors yet hypoactive ERNs when selecting maladaptive actions. At rest, OC symptomatology predicted greater activity in rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and lower activity in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). When compared to a group with low OC symptom scores, the high OC group had greater rACC reactivity during errors in the response competition task and less deactivation of dACC activity during errors in the reinforcement learning task. The degree of activation in these areas correlated with ERN amplitudes during both tasks in the high OC group, but not in the low group. Interactive anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) systems associated avoidance of maladaptive actions were intact in the high OC group, but were related to poorer performance on a third task: probabilistic reversal learning. These novel findings link both tonic and phasic activities in the ACC to action monitoring alterations, including dissociation in performance deficits, in OC symptomatic participants. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
• Harlé, K. M., Allen, J. J., & Sanfey, A. G. (2010). The impact of depression on social economic decision making. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119(2), 440-446.
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  PMID: 20455617;PMCID: PMC2869467;Abstract: Although the role of emotion in social economic decision making has been increasingly recognized, the impact of mood disorders, such as depression, on such decisions has been surprisingly neglected. To address this gap, 15 depressed and 23 nondepressed individuals completed a well-known economic task, in which they had to accept or reject monetary offers from other players. Although depressed individuals reported a more negative emotional reaction to unfair offers, they accepted significantly more of these offers than did controls. A positive relationship was observed in the depressed group, but not in controls, between acceptance rates of unfair offers and resting cardiac vagal control, a physiological index of emotion regulation capacity. The discrepancy between depressed individuals' increased emotional reactions to unfair offers and their decisions to accept more of these offers contrasts with recent findings that negative mood in nondepressed individuals can lead to lower acceptance rates. This suggests distinct biasing processes in depression, which may be related to higher reliance on regulating negative emotion. © 2010 American Psychological Association.
• J., J., & Cohen, M. X. (2010). Deconstructing the "resting" state: Exploring the temporal dynamics of frontal alpha asymmetry as an endophenotype for depression. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 4.
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  PMID: 21228910;PMCID: PMC3017362;Abstract: Asymmetry in frontal electrocortical alpha-band (8-13 Hz) activity recorded during resting situations (i.e., in absence of a specific task) has been investigated in relation to emotion and depression for over 30 years. This asymmetry reflects an aspect of endogenous cortical dynamics that is stable over repeated measurements and that may serve as an endophenotype for mood or other psychiatric disorders. In nearly all of this research, EEG activity is averaged across several minutes, obscuring transient dynamics that unfold on the scale of milliseconds to seconds. Such dynamic states may ultimately have greater value in linking brain activity to surface EEG asymmetry, thus improving its status as an endophenotype for depression. Here we introduce novel metrics for characterizing frontal alpha asymmetry that provide a more in-depth neurodynamical understanding of recurrent endogenous cortical processes during the resting-state. The metrics are based on transient ''bursts'' of asymmetry that occur frequently during the resting-state. In a sample of 306 young adults, 143 with a lifetime diagnosis of major depressive disorder (62 currently symptomatic), three questions were addressed: (1) How do novel peri-burst metrics of dynamic asymmetry compare to conventional fast-Fourier transform-based metrics? (2) Do peri-burst metrics adequately differentiate depressed from non-depressed participants? and, (3) what EEG dynamics surround the asymmetry bursts? Peri-burst metrics correlated with traditional measures of asymmetry, and were sensitive to both current and past episodes of major depression. Moreover, asymmetry bursts were characterized by a transient lateralized alpha suppression that is highly consistent in phase across bursts, and a concurrent contralateral transient alpha enhancement that is less tightly phase-locked across bursts. This approach opens new possibilities for investigating rapid cortical dynamics during resting-state EEG. © 2010 Allen and Cohen.
• Manber, R., Schnyer, R. N., Lyell, D., Chambers, A. S., Caughey, A. B., Druzin, M., Carlyle, E., Celio, C., Gress, J. L., Huang, M. I., Kalista, T., Martin-Okada, R., & J., J. (2010). Acupuncture for depression during pregnancy: A randomized controlled trial. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 115(3), 511-520.
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  PMID: 20177281;Abstract: Objective: To estimate the efficacy of acupuncture for depression during pregnancy in a randomized controlled trial. Methods: A total of 150 pregnant women who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) criteria for major depressive disorder were randomized to receive either acupuncture specific for depression or one of two active controls: control acupuncture or massage. Treatments lasted 8 weeks (12 sessions). Junior acupuncturists, who were not told about treatment assignment, needled participants at points prescribed by senior acupuncturists. All treatments were standardized. The primary outcome was the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, administered by masked raters at baseline and after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment. Continuous data were analyzed using mixed effects models and by intent to treat. Results: Fifty-two women were randomized to acupuncture specific for depression, 49 to control acupuncture, and 49 to massage. Women who received acupuncture specific for depression experienced a greater rate of decrease in symptom severity (P
• Mikhail, M., El-Ayat, K., Kaliouby, R. E., Coan, J., & J., J. (2010). Emotion detection using noisy EEG data. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series.
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  Abstract: Emotion is an important aspect in the interaction between humans. It is fundamental to human experience and rational decision-making. There is a great interest for detecting emotions automatically. A number of techniques have been employed for this purpose using channels such as voice and facial expressions. However, these channels are not very accurate because they can be affected by users' intentions. Other techniques use physiological signals along with electroencephalography (EEG) for emotion detection. However, these approaches are not very practical for real time applications because they either ask the participants to reduce any motion and facial muscle movement or reject EEG data contaminated with artifacts. In this paper, we propose an approach that analyzes highly contaminated EEG data produced from a new emotion elicitation technique. We also use a feature selection mechanism to extract features that are relevant to the emotion detection task based on neuroscience findings. We reached an average accuracy of 51% for joy emotion, 53% for anger, 58% for fear and 61% for sadness. © 2010 ACM.
• Stewart, J. L., Bismark, A. W., Towers, D. N., Coan, J. A., & Allen, J. J. (2010). Resting frontal EEG asymmetry as an endophenotype for depression risk: Sex-specific patterns of frontal brain asymmetry. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119(3), 502-512.
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  PMID: 20677839;PMCID: PMC2916182;Abstract: Resting frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry has been hypothesized as a marker of risk for major depressive disorder (MDD), but the extant literature is based predominately on female samples. Resting frontal asymmetry was assessed on 4 occasions within a 2-week period in 306 individuals aged 18-34 (31% male) with (n = 143) and without (n = 163) lifetime MDD as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Lifetime MDD was linked to relatively less left frontal activity for both sexes using a current source density (CSD) reference, findings that were not accounted for solely by current MDD status or current depression severity, suggesting that CSD-referenced EEG asymmetry is a possible endophenotype for depression. In contrast, results for average and linked mastoid references were less consistent but demonstrated a link between less left frontal activity and current depression severity in women. © 2010 American Psychological Association.
• Trujillo, L. T., Schyner, D., Allen, J. J., & Peterson, M. A. (2010). Neurophysiological Evidence for the Influence of Past Experience on Figure-Ground Perception.. Journal of Vision, 10(2), 1-21.
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  This paper reports 2 experiments, one of which was part of Logan Trujillo's dissertation, conducted when he was a graduate student jointly working in my lab and John Allen's lab. ;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Full Citation: Trujillo, L. T., Allen, J. J. B., & Peterson, M. A. (under revision). Neurophysiological evidence for differential processing of high- and low- competition figure-ground stimuli. ;Status: Under Revision (Revise and Resubmit);
• Allen, J. J., McKnight, K. M., Moreno, F. A., Demaree, H. A., & Delgado, P. L. (2009). Alteration of frontal EEG asymmetry during tryptophan depletion predicts future depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 115(1-2), 189-195.
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  PMID: 18801582;PMCID: PMC2688527;Abstract: Background: Tryptophan depletion (TD) reduces brain serotonin and may induce acute depressive symptomatology, especially among those with a history of Major Depression. Depressive response to TD among euthymic patients with a history of depression also predicts future depression. Better prediction might result by assessing a putative endophenotype for depressive risk, frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry, in the context of TD. Method: Nine euthymic history-positive participants and nine controls were administered TD. Symptomatic and EEG frontal asymmetry data were collected for 6 h following TD, and clinical status was followed for the next 12 months. Results: The magnitude of TD-induced change in frontal EEG asymmetry significantly predicted the development of depression during the ensuing six to twelve months, and with greater sensitivity than symptomatic response. Limitations: The results are tempered by the small sample size. Conclusions: Despite the limited sample size, these preliminary results suggest that TD-induced changes in frontal EEG asymmetry may provide a more sensitive indicator of risk for imminent depression than symptomatic response to TD. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• Allen, J., & Mertens, R. (2009). Limitations to the detection of deception: True and false recollections are poorly distinguished using an event-related potential procedure. Social Neuroscience, 4(6), 473-490.
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  PMID: 18633842;Abstract: The utility of using indices of neural function to identify deception relies on finding highly reliable and valid approaches that adequately identify the guilty and exonerate the innocent. A class of approaches, based on the guilty knowledge technique (GKT), assume that guilty individuals will recognize specific crime-relevant details, whereas innocent individuals will not. Memory distortions, however, may limit the accuracy of such procedures. To investigate these limits, two studies were conducted to examine whether brain electrical activity could differentiate true from false recollections elicited by the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. The design of each study maximized the opportunity of finding electrocortical differences between true and false recognition. Each study found very high rates of false recognition, with little evidence that brain electrical activity could differentiate true from false memories. Results suggested that under certain conditions both true and false recollections can produce a pattern of brain activity indicative of recognition.
• Allen, J., Cavanagh, J. F., Cohen, M. X., & Allen, J. J. (2009). Prelude to and resolution of an error: EEG phase synchrony reveals cognitive control dynamics during action monitoring. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 29(1).
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  Error-related activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is thought to work in conjunction with lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) as a part of an action-monitoring network, where errors signal the need for increased cognitive control. The neural mechanism by which this mPFC-lPFC interaction occurs remains unknown. We hypothesized that transient synchronous oscillations in the theta range reflect a mechanism by which these structures interact. To test this hypothesis, we extracted oscillatory phase and power from current-source-density-transformed electroencephalographic data recorded during a Flanker task. Theta power in the mPFC was diminished on the trial preceding an error and increased immediately after an error, consistent with predictions of an action-monitoring system. These power dynamics appeared to take place over a response-related background of oscillatory theta phase coherence. Theta phase synchronization between FCz (mPFC) and F5/6 (lPFC) sites was robustly increased during error trials. The degree of mPFC-lPFC oscillatory synchronization predicted the degree of mPFC power on error trials, and both of these dynamics predicted the degree of posterror reaction time slowing. Oscillatory dynamics in the theta band may in part underlie a mechanism of communication between networks involved in action monitoring and cognitive control.
• Allen, J., Sbarra, D. A., & Allen, J. J. (2009). Decomposing depression: on the prospective and reciprocal dynamics of mood and sleep disturbances. Journal of abnormal psychology, 118(1).
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  Sleep disturbances are among the most common and debilitating aspects of major depressive disorder. In a sample of unmedicated adults experiencing a current depressive episode (N participants = 99, N data points = 428), the authors examined the longitudinal dynamics of sleep disturbances and mood symptoms across a 17-week acupuncture treatment study using latent difference score structural equation modeling. Results indicated that changes in sleep and mood disturbances could be characterized as a single bivariate system where low levels of mood symptoms lead to increases in sleep disturbances, whereas high levels of sleep disturbance exert a dampening effect on mood symptoms. Movement of the bivariate system toward or away from better outcomes depended on the precise combination of sleep-mood symptoms; without knowing the state and trajectory of both variables, predicting change in either sleep or mood symptoms was limited. The results have implications for better understanding the complexity and reciprocity of sleep-mood associations, as well as the dynamic, time-based predictors of depressive treatment response.
• Allen, J., Towers, D. N., & Allen, J. J. (2009). A better estimate of the internal consistency reliability of frontal EEG asymmetry scores. Psychophysiology, 46(1).
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  Frontal alpha asymmetry is typically computed using alpha power averaged across many overlapping epochs. Previous reports have estimated the internal consistency reliability of asymmetry by dividing resting EEG sessions into segments of equal duration (e.g., 1 min) and treating asymmetry scores for each segment as "items" to estimate internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha. Cronbach's alpha partly depends on the number of items, such that this approach may underestimate reliability by using less than the number of distinct items available. Reliability estimates for resting EEG data in the present study (204 subjects, 8 sessions) were obtained using mean split-half correlations with epoch alpha power as treated as separate items. Estimates at all scalp sites and reference schemes approached .90 with as few as 100 epochs, suggesting the internal consistency of frontal asymmetry is greater than that previously reported.
• Cavanagh, J. F., Cohen, M. X., & J., J. (2009). Prelude to and resolution of an error: EEG phase synchrony reveals cognitive control dynamics during action monitoring. Journal of Neuroscience, 29(1), 98-105.
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  PMID: 19129388;PMCID: PMC2742325;Abstract: Error-related activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is thought to work in conjunction with lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) as a part of an action-monitoring network, where errors signal the need for increased cognitive control. The neural mechanism by which this mPFC-lPFC interaction occurs remains unknown. We hypothesized that transient synchronous oscillations in the theta range reflect a mechanism by which these structures interact. To test this hypothesis, we extracted oscillatory phase and power from current-source- density-transformed electroencephalographic data recorded during a Flanker task. Theta power in the mPFC was diminished on the trial preceding an error and increased immediately after an error, consistent with predictions of an action-monitoring system. These power dynamics appeared to take place over a response-related background of oscillatory theta phase coherence. Theta phase synchronization between FCz (mPFC) and F5/6 (lPFC) sites was robustly increased during error trials. The degree of mPFC-lPFC oscillatory synchronization predicted the degree of mPFC power on error trials, and both of these dynamics predicted the degree of posterror reaction time slowing. Oscillatory dynamics in the theta band may in part underlie a mechanism of communication between networks involved in action monitoring and cognitive control. Copyright © 2009 Society for Neuroscience.
• Gründler, T. O., Cavanagh, J. F., Figueroa, C. M., Frank, M. J., & Allen, J. J. (2009). Task-related dissociation in ERN amplitude as a function of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Neuropsychologia, 47(8-9), 1978-1987.
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  PMID: 19428431;PMCID: PMC2680784;Abstract: Hyperactive cortico-striatal circuits including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) have been implicated to underlie obtrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Larger error-related negativities (ERNs) in OCD patients during simple flanker tasks have been proposed to reflect an amplified error signal in these hyperactive circuits. Such amplified error signals typically are associated with an adaptive change in response, yet in OCD these same repetitive responses persist to the point of distress and impairment. In contrast to this repetitive character of OC behavior, larger ERN amplitudes have been linked to better avoidance learning in reinforcement learning tasks. Study I thus investigated if OC symptomatology in non-patients predicted an enhanced ERN after suboptimal choices in a probabilistic learning task. Absent any behavioral differences, higher OC symptoms predicted smaller ERNs. Study II replicated this effect in an independent sample while also replicating findings of a larger ERN in a flanker task. There were no relevant behavioral differences in reinforcement learning or error monitoring as a function of symptom score. These findings implicate different, yet overlapping neural mechanisms underlying the negative deflection in the ERP following the execution of an erroneous motor response and the one following a suboptimal choice in a reinforcement learning paradigm. OC symptomatology may be dissociated in these neural systems, with hypoactivity in a system that enables learning to avoid maladaptive choices, and hyperactivity in another system that enables the same behavior to be repeated when it was assessed as not quite good enough the first time. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Allen, J. J. (2009). Decomposing Depression: On the Prospective and Reciprocal Dynamics of Mood and Sleep Disturbances. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118(1), 171-182.
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  PMID: 19222323;Abstract: Sleep disturbances are among the most common and debilitating aspects of major depressive disorder. In a sample of unmedicated adults experiencing a current depressive episode (N participants = 99, N data points = 428), the authors examined the longitudinal dynamics of sleep disturbances and mood symptoms across a 17-week acupuncture treatment study using latent difference score structural equation modeling. Results indicated that changes in sleep and mood disturbances could be characterized as a single bivariate system where low levels of mood symptoms lead to increases in sleep disturbances, whereas high levels of sleep disturbance exert a dampening effect on mood symptoms. Movement of the bivariate system toward or away from better outcomes depended on the precise combination of sleep-mood symptoms; without knowing the state and trajectory of both variables, predicting change in either sleep or mood symptoms was limited. The results have implications for better understanding the complexity and reciprocity of sleep-mood associations, as well as the dynamic, time-based predictors of depressive treatment response. © 2009 American Psychological Association.
• Towers, D. N., & Allen, J. J. (2009). A better estimate of the internal consistency reliability of frontal EEG asymmetry scores. Psychophysiology, 46(1), 132-142.
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  PMID: 19055503;PMCID: PMC2743447;Abstract: Frontal alpha asymmetry is typically computed using alpha power averaged across many overlapping epochs. Previous reports have estimated the internal consistency reliability of asymmetry by dividing resting EEG sessions into segments of equal duration (e.g., 1 min) and treating asymmetry scores for each segment as "items" to estimate internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha. Cronbach's alpha partly depends on the number of items, such that this approach may underestimate reliability by using less than the number of distinct items available. Reliability estimates for resting EEG data in the present study (204 subjects, 8 sessions) were obtained using mean split-half correlations with epoch alpha power as treated as separate items. Estimates at all scalp sites and reference schemes approached.90 with as few as 100 epochs, suggesting the internal consistency of frontal asymmetry is greater than that previously reported. Copyright © 2008 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
• Accortt, E. E., Freeman, M. P., & Allen, J. J. (2008). Women and major depressive disorder: Clinical perspectives on causal pathways. Journal of Women's Health, 17(10), 1583-1590.
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  PMID: 19049352;Abstract: Background and aims: Epidemiological data on the prevalence of mood disorders demonstrate that major depressive disorder (MDD) is approximately twice as common in women as in men and that its first onset peaks during the reproductive years. We aimed to review key social, psychological, and biological factors that seem strongly implicated in the etiology of major depression and to focus on sex-specific aspects of depression, such as the role of a woman's reproductive life cycle in depressive symptomatology. Methods: A review of the literature, from 1965 to present, was conducted. Results: An integrated etiological model best explains gender and sex differences in depression. Social, psychological, and biological variables must be simultaneously taken into account. These vulnerabilities include (but are not limited to) gender-specific roles in society, life stress such as trauma, a tendency toward ruminative coping strategies, and the effects of sex hormones and genetic factors. Conclusions: To effectively treat MDD in women and to prevent the recurrence of illness in vulnerable women, clinicians must understand the sex-specific aspects of mood disorders over the longitudinal course of women's reproductive lives. A biopsychosocial approach should, therefore, be the main focus of future research and practice, to eventually result in an integrated etiological model of depression in women. Based on the prevalence of MDD in women, timely screening, diagnosis, and intervention should be public health priorities. © 2008 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
• Allen, J., & Allen, J. J. (2008). Not devoid of forensic potential, but... The American journal of bioethics : AJOB, 8(1).
• Allen, J., Accortt, E. E., Freeman, M. P., & Allen, J. J. (2008). Women and major depressive disorder: clinical perspectives on causal pathways. Journal of women's health (2002), 17(10).
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  Epidemiological data on the prevalence of mood disorders demonstrate that major depressive disorder (MDD) is approximately twice as common in women as in men and that its first onset peaks during the reproductive years. We aimed to review key social, psychological, and biological factors that seem strongly implicated in the etiology of major depression and to focus on sex-specific aspects of depression, such as the role of a woman's reproductive life cycle in depressive symptomatology.
• Allen, J., Cavanagh, J. F., & Allen, J. J. (2008). Multiple aspects of the stress response under social evaluative threat: an electrophysiological investigation. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33(1).
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  Affective traits and states may be important moderators of stress reactivity, providing insight into stress-related consequences on cognitive functioning. This study assessed cognitive control processes using response-related brain electrical activities-the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe)-that are sensitive to trait and state affect. To assess the role of cognitive control in affective and cortisol reactivity to social evaluative threat, 55 undergraduates first completed a standard task designed to elicit the ERN in order to index 'baseline' error monitoring. Participants then performed a difficult mathematical task designed to elicit the ERN under conditions of exposed failure and social evaluation. Baseline ERN amplitude predicted future cortisol reactivity to social evaluative threat in highly punishment-sensitive individuals (high self-reported Behavioral Inhibition System: Carver and White [1994. Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: the BIS/BAS scales. J. Pers. Soc. Psych. 67, 319-333], although the presence of outliers suggest the need for replication. The math stress ERN amplitude was diminished in direct relationship to trait (punishment sensitivity) and state (fear and shame) negative affect. Individuals high in punishment sensitivity also showed specific deficits in task performance following error feedback under stress. High state affect related to a larger Pe amplitude. Results are interpreted as consequences of different motivational and affective reactivities under social evaluative threat.
• Allen, J., Forbes, C. E., Schmader, T., & Allen, J. J. (2008). The role of devaluing and discounting in performance monitoring: a neurophysiological study of minorities under threat. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 3(3).
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  Psychological disengagement allows stigmatized individuals to cope with negative outcomes in stereotype-relevant domains, but its role in online performance monitoring and adjustment is unknown. This study examined how two forms of disengagement (devaluing and discounting) predict performance monitoring at an early (motivational) and later (interpretational) stage of error processing. Among minority college students, event-related brain activity was measured in response to errors on tasks described neutrally or as diagnostic of intelligence. Results found dissociable effects for error-related negativity (ERN) and later positivity (Pe). When the task was linked to intelligence, valuing academics predicted larger ERNs. Unexpectedly, discounting tendencies predicted smaller Pes when the task was described neutrally, a relationship that was attenuated and somewhat reversed when explicitly linking the task to intelligence. In the diagnostic condition, valuing also predicted more efficient behavioral responses to errors, whereas discounting predicted more negative task construals. Results suggest that among stereotype threatened minority students, devaluing has implications for early stage motivational processes involved in monitoring and responding to errors, whereas discounting may have implications for later construal processes.
• Allen, J., Mertens, R., & Allen, J. J. (2008). The role of psychophysiology in forensic assessments: deception detection, ERPs, and virtual reality mock crime scenarios. Psychophysiology, 45(2).
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  Few data are available to address whether the use of ERP-based deception detection alternatives have sufficient validity for applied use. The present study was designed to replicate and extend J. P. Rosenfeld, M. Soskins, G. Bosh, and A. Ryan's (2004) study by utilizing a virtual reality crime scenario to determine whether ERP-based procedures, including brain fingerprinting, can be rendered less effective by participant manipulation by employing a virtual reality crime scenario and multiple countermeasures. Bayesian and bootstrapping analytic approaches were used to classify individuals as guilty or innocent. Guilty subjects were detected significantly less frequently compared to previous studies; countermeasures further reduced the overall hit rates. Innocent participants remained protected from being falsely accused. Reaction times did not prove suitable for accurate classification. Results suggested that guilty verdicts from ERP-based deception detection approaches are likely to be accurate, but that innocent (or indeterminate) verdicts yield no useful interpretation in an applied setting.
• Cavanagh, J. F., & Allen, J. J. (2008). Multiple aspects of the stress response under social evaluative threat: An electrophysiological investigation. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33(1), 41-53.
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  PMID: 17964737;Abstract: Affective traits and states may be important moderators of stress reactivity, providing insight into stress-related consequences on cognitive functioning. This study assessed cognitive control processes using response-related brain electrical activities-the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe)-that are sensitive to trait and state affect. To assess the role of cognitive control in affective and cortisol reactivity to social evaluative threat, 55 undergraduates first completed a standard task designed to elicit the ERN in order to index 'baseline' error monitoring. Participants then performed a difficult mathematical task designed to elicit the ERN under conditions of exposed failure and social evaluation. Baseline ERN amplitude predicted future cortisol reactivity to social evaluative threat in highly punishment-sensitive individuals (high self-reported Behavioral Inhibition System: Carver and White [1994. Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: the BIS/BAS scales. J. Pers. Soc. Psych. 67, 319-333], although the presence of outliers suggest the need for replication. The math stress ERN amplitude was diminished in direct relationship to trait (punishment sensitivity) and state (fear and shame) negative affect. Individuals high in punishment sensitivity also showed specific deficits in task performance following error feedback under stress. High state affect related to a larger Pe amplitude. Results are interpreted as consequences of different motivational and affective reactivities under social evaluative threat. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Forbes, C. E., Schmader, T., & Allen, J. J. (2008). The role of devaluing and discounting in performance monitoring: A neurophysiological study of minorities under threat. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 3(3), 253-261.
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  PMID: 19015117;PMCID: PMC2566773;Abstract: Psychological disengagement allows stigmatized individuals to cope with negative outcomes in stereotype-relevant domains, but its role in online performance monitoring and adjustment is unknown. This study examined how two forms of disengagement (devaluing and discounting) predict performance monitoring at an early (motivational) and later (interpretational) stage of error processing. Among minority college students, event-related brain activity was measured in response to errors on tasks described neutrally or as diagnostic of intelligence. Results found dissociable effects for error-related negativity (ERN) and later positivity (Pe). When the task was linked to intelligence, valuing academics predicted larger ERNs. Unexpectedly, discounting tendencies predicted smaller Pes when the task was described neutrally, a relationship that was attenuated and somewhat reversed when explicitly linking the task to intelligence. In the diagnostic condition, valuing also predicted more efficient behavioral responses to errors, whereas discounting predicted more negative task construals. Results suggest that among stereotype threatened minority students, devaluing has implications for early stage motivational processes involved in monitoring and responding to errors, whereas discounting may have implications for later construal processes. © The Author (2008). Published by Oxford University Press.
• J., J. (2008). Not devoid of forensic potential, but. American Journal of Bioethics, 8(1), 27-28.
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  PMID: 18236331;
• Kong, L. L., Allen, J. J., & Glisky, E. L. (2008). Inter-identity Memory Transfer in Dissociative Identity Disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117(3), 686-692.
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  PMID: 18729620;Abstract: Controversy surrounding dissociative identity disorder (DID) has focused on conflicting findings regarding the validity and nature of interidentity amnesia, illustrating the need for objective methods of examining amnesia that can discriminate between explicit and implicit memory transfer. In the present study, the authors used a cross-modal manipulation designed to mitigate implicit memory effects. Explicit memory transfer between identities was examined in 7 DID participants and 34 matched control participants. After words were presented to one identity auditorily, the authors tested another identity for memory of those words in the visual modality using an exclusion paradigm. Despite self-reported interidentity amnesia, memory for experimental stimuli transferred between identities. DID patients showed no superior ability to compartmentalize information, as would be expected with interidentity amnesia. The cross-modal nature of the test makes it unlikely that memory transfer was implicit. These findings demonstrate that subjective reports of interidentity amnesia are not necessarily corroborated by objective tests of explicit memory transfer. © 2008 American Psychological Association.
• Manber, R., Blasey, C., & Allen, J. J. (2008). Depression symptoms during pregnancy. Archives of Women's Mental Health, 11(1), 43-48.
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  PMID: 18270654;Abstract: Pregnancy impacts common symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD), such as energy, appetite, weight change, and sleep and somatic complaints. However, it is not known whether the presentation of depression during pregnancy is different from that at other times in women's lives. This study compares the severity of symptoms of depression in 61 pregnant women with MDD (PD), 50 nonpregnant women with MDD (D), and 41 pregnant women without MDD (P). Despite equivalent overall depression severity, PD women had lower scores on suicidality, guilt, and early insomnia and higher scores on psychomotor retardation than D women. The severity of other depressive symptoms was similar in the two depressed groups. As expected on the basis of the selection criteria, overall depression severity and the severity of individual symptoms were significantly higher in the PD group than in the P group but effect sizes for somatic symptoms were smaller than for psychological symptoms. The results suggest that the profile of depression symptoms of women with MDD who are pregnant does not differ much from that of depressed nonpregnant women. Depressive symptoms, particularly psychological symptoms of depression, during pregnancy should be taken seriously and not be dismissed as a normal part of the pregnancy experience. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.
• Mertens, R., & Allen, J. J. (2008). The role of psychophysiology in forensic assessments: Deception detection, ERPs, and virtual reality mock crime scenarios. Psychophysiology, 45(2), 286-298.
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  PMID: 17995914;Abstract: Few data are available to address whether the use of ERP-based deception detection alternatives have sufficient validity for applied use. The present study was designed to replicate and extend J. P. Rosenfeld, M. Soskins, G. Bosh, and A. Ryan's (2004) study by utilizing a virtual reality crime scenario to determine whether ERP-based procedures, including brain fingerprinting, can be rendered less effective by participant manipulation by employing a virtual reality crime scenario and multiple countermeasures. Bayesian and bootstrapping analytic approaches were used to classify individuals as guilty or innocent. Guilty subjects were detected significantly less frequently compared to previous studies; countermeasures further reduced the overall hit rates. Innocent participants remained protected from being falsely accused. Reaction times did not prove suitable for accurate classification. Results suggested that guilty verdicts from ERP-based deception detection approaches are likely to be accurate, but that innocent (or indeterminate) verdicts yield no useful interpretation in an applied setting. Copyright © 2007 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
• Allen, J. J., Chambers, A. S., & Towers, D. N. (2007). The many metrics of cardiac chronotropy: A pragmatic primer and a brief comparison of metrics. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 243-262.
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  PMID: 17070982;Abstract: This paper focuses on pragmatic issues in obtaining measures of cardiac vagal control, and overviews a set of freely available software tools for obtaining several widely used metrics that putatively reflect sympathetic and/or parasympathetic contributions to cardiac chronotropy. After an overview of those metrics, and a discussion of potential confounds and extraneous influences, an empirical examination of the relationships amongst these metrics is provided. This study examined 10 metrics in 96 unselected college students under conditions of resting baseline and serial paced arithmetic. Intercorrelations between metrics were very high. Factor analyses were conducted on the metrics reflecting variability in cardiac rate, once at baseline and again during mental arithmetic. Factor structure was highly stable across tasks, and included a factor that had high loadings of all variables except Toichi's "cardiac sympathetic index" (CSI), and a second factor that was defined predominantly by the CSI. Although generally highly correlated, the various metrics responded differently under challenge. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• Allen, J., Chambers, A. S., & Allen, J. J. (2007). Sex differences in cardiac vagal control in a depressed sample: implications for differential cardiovascular mortality. Biological psychology, 75(1).
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  Previous studies suggest depression is a risk factor for all cause mortality, with depressed men at greater risk than depressed women. Diminished cardiac vagal control (CVC) in depressed patients has also been found to increase risk of cardiac mortality. Previous research found that depressed women have higher CVC than depressed men suggesting CVC might be related to the discrepancy in mortality rates between depressed men and women. This finding, however, was in the context of a study with several methodological weaknesses. The current study sought to replicate the sex difference in CVC in a sample of 137 medically healthy and clinically diagnosed depressed patients. Main effects of sex and age significantly predicted CVC such that depressed women had greater CVC and CVC decreased with age in the cross-sectional sample. The results suggest greater CVC in depressed women might confer cardioprotective functions, which may partially explain the sex difference in mortality rates in the depressed population.
• Allen, J., Trujillo, L. T., & Allen, J. J. (2007). Theta EEG dynamics of the error-related negativity. Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, 118(3).
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  The error-related negativity (ERN) is a response-locked brain potential (ERP) occurring 80-100ms following response errors. This report contrasts three views of the genesis of the ERN, testing the classic view that time-locked phasic bursts give rise to the ERN against the view that the ERN arises from a pure phase-resetting of ongoing theta (4-7Hz) EEG activity and the view that the ERN is generated - at least in part - by a phase-resetting and amplitude enhancement of ongoing theta EEG activity.
• Chambers, A. S., & Allen, J. J. (2007). Cardiac vagal control, emotion, psychopathology, and health. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 113-115.
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  PMID: 17055143;
• Chambers, A. S., & Allen, J. J. (2007). Sex differences in cardiac vagal control in a depressed sample: Implications for differential cardiovascular mortality. Biological Psychology, 75(1), 32-36.
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  PMID: 17204359;PMCID: PMC1885549;Abstract: Previous studies suggest depression is a risk factor for all cause mortality, with depressed men at greater risk than depressed women. Diminished cardiac vagal control (CVC) in depressed patients has also been found to increase risk of cardiac mortality. Previous research found that depressed women have higher CVC than depressed men suggesting CVC might be related to the discrepancy in mortality rates between depressed men and women. This finding, however, was in the context of a study with several methodological weaknesses. The current study sought to replicate the sex difference in CVC in a sample of 137 medically healthy and clinically diagnosed depressed patients. Main effects of sex and age significantly predicted CVC such that depressed women had greater CVC and CVC decreased with age in the cross-sectional sample. The results suggest greater CVC in depressed women might confer cardioprotective functions, which may partially explain the sex difference in mortality rates in the depressed population. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• Rottenberg, J., Chambers, A. S., Allen, J. J., & Manber, R. (2007). Cardiac vagal control in the severity and course of depression: The importance of symptomatic heterogeneity. Journal of Affective Disorders, 103(1-3), 173-179.
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  PMID: 17320191;PMCID: PMC2212818;Abstract: Background: Impaired cardiac vagal control (CVC), as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia, has been investigated as a risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD), but prior findings are mixed with respect to whether impaired CVC predicts greater global depression severity and/or a more severe course of disorder. One possible explanation for mixed findings is that CVC abnormalities in MDD are related more closely to specific depression symptoms than to the syndrome as a whole. Methods: Depression severity (both global and symptom-specific indices) and electrocardiogram measures of resting CVC were obtained from 151 diagnosed MDD participants at intake, before randomization to a novel treatment for depression (acupuncture), and again after 8 and 16 weeks. Results: Resting CVC did not predict global indices of depression in cross-sectional or longitudinal analyses. In symptom-specific analyses, resting CVC was positively related to sad mood and crying and inversely related to middle and late insomnia. Improvement in late insomnia was related to increases in CVC over time. Limitations: Relationships between CVC and MDD were studied only within the clinical range of severity. Symptom analyses were exploratory and hence did not correct for Type I error. Conclusions: Resting CVC did not exhibit concurrent or prospective relations with overall depression severity but a few specific symptoms did. Symptomatic heterogeneity across samples may account for mixed findings within the CVC-depression literature. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• Schnyer, R. N., Chambers, A. S., Hitt, S. K., Moreno, F. A., Manber, R., & J., J. (2007). Ms. Schnyer and colleagues reply [2]. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 68(10), 1617-1618.
• Trujillo, L. T., & Allen, J. J. (2007). Theta EEG dynamics of the error-related negativity. Clinical Neurophysiology, 118(3), 645-668.
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  PMID: 17223380;Abstract: Objective: The error-related negativity (ERN) is a response-locked brain potential (ERP) occurring 80-100 ms following response errors. This report contrasts three views of the genesis of the ERN, testing the classic view that time-locked phasic bursts give rise to the ERN against the view that the ERN arises from a pure phase-resetting of ongoing theta (4-7 Hz) EEG activity and the view that the ERN is generated - at least in part - by a phase-resetting and amplitude enhancement of ongoing theta EEG activity. Methods: Time-domain ERP analyses were augmented with time-frequency investigations of phase-locked and non-phase-locked spectral power, and inter-trial phase coherence (ITPC) computed from individual EEG trials, examining time courses and scalp topographies. Simulations based on the assumptions of the classic, pure phase-resetting, and phase-resetting plus enhancement views, using parameters from each subject's empirical data, were used to contrast the time-frequency findings that could be expected if one or more of these hypotheses adequately modeled the data. Results: Error responses produced larger amplitude activity than correct responses in time-domain ERPs immediately following responses, as expected. Time-frequency analyses revealed that significant error-related post-response increases in total spectral power (phase- and non-phase-locked), phase-locked power, and ITPC were primarily restricted to the theta range, with this effect located over midfrontocentral sites, with a temporal distribution from ≈150-200 ms prior to the button press and persisting up to 400 ms post-button press. The increase in non-phase-locked power (total power minus phase-locked power) was larger than phase-locked power, indicating that the bulk of the theta event-related dynamics were not phase-locked to response. Results of the simulations revealed a good fit for data simulated according to the phase-locking with amplitude enhancement perspective, and a poor fit for data simulated according to the classic view and the pure phase-resetting view. Conclusions: Error responses produce not only phase-locked increases in theta EEG activity, but also increases in non-phase-locked theta, both of which share a similar topography. Significance: The findings are thus consistent with the notion advanced by Luu et al. [Luu P, Tucker DM, Makeig S. Frontal midline theta and the error-related negativity; neurophysiological mechanisms of action regulation. Clin Neurophysiol 2004;115:1821-35] that the ERN emerges, at least in part, from a phase-resetting and phase-locking of ongoing theta-band activity, in the context of a general increase in theta power following errors. © 2006 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology.
• Accortt, E. E., & J., J. (2006). Frontal EEG asymmetry and premenstrual dysphoric symptomatology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115(1), 179-184.
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  PMID: 16492109;Abstract: Resting frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry has been hypothesized to tap a diathesis toward depression or other emotion-related psychopathology. Frontal EEG asymmetry was assessed in college women who reported high (n = 12) or low (n = 11) levels of premenstrual negative affect. Participants were assessed during both the follicular and the late luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. Women reporting low premenstrual dysphoric symptomatology exhibited greater relative left frontal activity at rest than did women high in premenstrual dysphoric symptomatology, an effect that was not qualified by phase of cycle. Although women with extreme levels of symptomatology were assessed, the question of whether such symptoms qualified for premenstrual dysphoric disorder criteria was not assessed. These results are consistent with a diathesis-stress model for premenstrual dysphoric symptomatology. Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association.
• Allen, J., Accortt, E. E., & Allen, J. J. (2006). Frontal EEG asymmetry and premenstrual dysphoric symptomatology. Journal of abnormal psychology, 115(1).
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  Resting frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry has been hypothesized to tap a diathesis toward depression or other emotion-related psychopathology. Frontal EEG asymmetry was assessed in college women who reported high (n = 12) or low (n = 11) levels of premenstrual negative affect. Participants were assessed during both the follicular and the late luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. Women reporting low premenstrual dysphoric symptomatology exhibited greater relative left frontal activity at rest than did women high in premenstrual dysphoric symptomatology, an effect that was not qualified by phase of cycle. Although women with extreme levels of symptomatology were assessed, the question of whether such symptoms qualified for premenstrual dysphoric disorder criteria was not assessed. These results are consistent with a diathesis-stress model for premenstrual dysphoric symptomatology.
• Coan, J. A., Allen, J. J., & McKnight, P. E. (2006). A capability model of individual differences in frontal EEG asymmetry. Biological Psychology, 72(2), 198-207.
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  PMID: 16316717;PMCID: PMC2835626;Abstract: Researchers interested in measuring individual differences in affective style via asymmetries in frontal brain activity have depended almost exclusively upon the resting state for EEG recording. This reflects an implicit conceptualization of affective style as a response predisposition that is manifest in frontal EEG asymmetry, with the goal to describe individuals in terms of their general approach or withdrawal tendencies. Alternatively, the response capability conceptualization seeks to identify individual capabilities for approach versus withdrawal responses during emotionally salient events. The capability approach confers a variety of advantages to the study of affective style and personality, and suggests new possibilities for the approach/withdrawal motivational model of frontal EEG asymmetry and emotion. Logical as well as empirical arguments supportive of this conclusion are presented. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• Demaree, H. A., Robinson, J. L., Jie, P. u., & Allen, J. J. (2006). Strategies actually employed during response-focused emotion regulation research: Affective and physiological consequences. Cognition and Emotion, 20(8), 1248-1260.
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  Abstract: Addressing internal validity concerns in emotion regulation research, the present experiment was primarily designed to determine whether research participants are compliant when asked to use a response-focused strategy during emotional film viewing or whether these individuals incorporate the use of antecedent strategies. The influence of antecedent vs. response-focused strategy use on self-reported affect, physiological, and behavioural data were additionally investigated. A total of 82 healthy undergraduate participants were asked to use one of two response-focused emotion regulation techniques - suppression or exaggeration - while watching a 2 minute positive or negative movie. Following the movie, participants self-reported their affective response to the film, described how they tried to suppress or exaggerate their reaction (i.e., strategies used to regulate their response), and estimated the percentage of time they used each strategy. Representing "antecedent" and "response-focused" techniques, the strategies reported by participants were coded as "cognitive" or "muscular" in nature. Relative to exaggerators, participants in the suppression condition were significantly more likely to self-report using an antecedent (cognitive) strategy for at least some portion of the film (65% vs. 38%). During the suppression condition, greater use of antecedent strategies did not influence sympathetic reactivity to either movie but did result in significantly less self-reported negative affect to the negative movie.
• J., J., Schnyer, R. N., Chambers, A. S., Hitt, S. K., Moreno, F. A., & Manber, R. (2006). Acupuncture for depression: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 67(11), 1665-1673.
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  PMID: 17196044;Abstract: Objective: To assess the efficacy of acupuncture as an intervention for major depressive disorder (MDD). Method: Acupuncture was examined in 151 patients with MDD (DSM-IV) who were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups in a double-blind randomized controlled trial. The specific intervention involved Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)-style acupuncture with manual stimulation for depression; the control conditions consisted of (1) a nonspecific intervention using a comparable number of legitimate acupuncture points not specifically targeted to depressive symptoms and (2) a waitlist condition, which involved waiting without intervention for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, all patients received the depression-specific acupuncture. Each 8-week intervention regimen consisted of 12 acupuncture sessions delivered in an acupuncturist's office in the community. The primary outcome measure was the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. The study was conducted from February 1998 to April 2002. Results: Twenty patients terminated treatment before the completion of the 8-week intervention (13%) but not differentially by study group. Random regression models of the intent-to-treat sample revealed that although patients receiving acupuncture improved more than those awaiting intervention, no evidence of differential efficacy of the depression-specific over nonspecific intervention was found. Response rates in acupuncture-treated patients were relatively low after 8 weeks (22% and 39% for specific and nonspecific intervention groups, respectively), with the response rate after the entire 16-week trial reaching 50%. Conclusion: Although TCM manual acupuncture is a well-tolerated intervention, results fail to support its efficacy as a monotherapy for MDD. It can't be ruled out that factors unique to the implementation of acupuncture in this research study may have limited the efficacy of interventions compared to those provided in naturalistic settings.
• Allen, J., Movius, H. L., & Allen, J. J. (2005). Cardiac Vagal Tone, defensiveness, and motivational style. Biological psychology, 68(2).
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  Cardiac Vagal Tone has been proposed as a stable biological marker for the ability to sustain attention and regulate emotion [Porges, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 59 (1994) 167-186]. Vagal tone is a physiological index of parasympathetic nervous system influence on the heart that has predicted a number of emotional behaviors and styles in infants, children, and adults. Little research, however, has sought to explore the link between vagal tone and established variables relating to personality and self-regulation. In this study, vagal tone was collected during 5-min baseline, stress, and recovery periods. Subjects (n = 98) also completed a short form of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the Behavioral Activation and Behavioral Inhibition Scales, the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, the Self-Consciousness Scale, and the Openness to Experience subscale of the Five Factor Personality Inventory. Poorer modulation for vagal tone was associated with greater social anxiety, while lower vagal tone across recording periods was associated with greater defensiveness and lower behavioral activation sensitivity.
• Allen, J., Trujillo, L. T., Peterson, M. A., Kaszniak, A. W., & Allen, J. J. (2005). EEG phase synchrony differences across visual perception conditions may depend on recording and analysis methods. Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, 116(1).
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  (1) To investigate the neural synchrony hypothesis by examining if there was more synchrony for upright than inverted Mooney faces, replicating a previous study; (2) to investigate whether inverted stimuli evoke neural synchrony by comparing them to a new scrambled control condition, less likely to produce face perception.
• Garriock, H. A., Allen, J. J., Delgado, P., Nahaz, Z., Kling, M. A., Carpenter, L., Burke, M., Burke, W., Schwartz, T., Marangell, L. B., Husain, M., Erickson, R. P., & Moreno, F. A. (2005). Lack of association of TPH2 exon XI polymorphisms with major depression and treatment resistance [3]. Molecular Psychiatry, 10(11), 976-977.
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  PMID: 16027738;
• Movius, H. L., & Allen, J. J. (2005). Cardiac Vagal Tone, defensiveness, and motivational style. Biological Psychology, 68(2), 147-162.
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  PMID: 15450694;Abstract: Cardiac Vagal Tone has been proposed as a stable biological marker for the ability to sustain attention and regulate emotion [Porges, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 59 (1994) 167-186]. Vagal tone is a physiological index of parasympathetic nervous system influence on the heart that has predicted a number of emotional behaviors and styles in infants, children, and adults. Little research, however, has sought to explore the link between vagal tone and established variables relating to personality and self-regulation. In this study, vagal tone was collected during 5-min baseline, stress, and recovery periods. Subjects (n=98) also completed a short form of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the Behavioral Activation and Behavioral Inhibition Scales, the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, the Self-Consciousness Scale, and the Openness to Experience subscale of the Five Factor Personality Inventory. Poorer modulation for vagal tone was associated with greater social anxiety, while lower vagal tone across recording periods was associated with greater defensiveness and lower behavioral activation sensitivity. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• Allen, J. J., & Kline, J. P. (2004). Frontal EEG asymmetry, emotion, and psychopathology: The first, and the next 25 years. Biological Psychology, 67(1-2), 1-5.
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  PMID: 15130523;
• Allen, J. J., Coan, J. A., & Nazarian, M. (2004). Issues and assumptions on the road from raw signals to metrics of frontal EEG asymmetry in emotion. Biological Psychology, 67(1-2), 183-218.
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  PMID: 15130531;Abstract: There exists a substantial literature examining frontal electroencephalographic asymmetries in emotion, motivation, and psychopathology. Research in this area uses a specialized set of approaches for reducing raw EEG signals to metrics that provide the basis for making inferences about the role of frontal brain activity in emotion. The present review details some of the common data processing routines used in this field of research, with a focus on statistical and methodological issues that have captured, and should capture, the attention of researchers in this field. © 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.
• Allen, J., Coan, J. A., & Allen, J. J. (2004). Frontal EEG asymmetry as a moderator and mediator of emotion. Biological psychology, 67(1-2).
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  Frontal EEG asymmetry appears to serve as (1) an individual difference variable related to emotional responding and emotional disorders, and (2) a state-dependent concomitant of emotional responding. Such findings, highlighted in this review, suggest that frontal EEG asymmetry may serve as both a moderator and a mediator of emotion- and motivation-related constructs. Unequivocal evidence supporting frontal EEG asymmetry as a moderator and/or mediator of emotion is lacking, as insufficient attention has been given to analyzing the frontal EEG asymmetries in terms of moderators and mediators. The present report reviews the frontal EEG asymmetry literature from the framework of moderators and mediators, and overviews data analytic strategies that would support claims of moderation and mediation.
• Coan, J. A., & Allen, J. J. (2004). Frontal EEG asymmetry as a moderator and mediator of emotion. Biological Psychology, 67(1-2), 7-49.
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  PMID: 15130524;Abstract: Frontal EEG asymmetry appears to serve as (1) an individual difference variable related to emotional responding and emotional disorders, and (2) a state-dependent concomitant of emotional responding. Such findings, highlighted in this review, suggest that frontal EEG asymmetry may serve as both a moderator and a mediator of emotion- and motivation-related constructs. Unequivocal evidence supporting frontal EEG asymmetry as a moderator and/or mediator of emotion is lacking, as insufficient attention has been given to analyzing the frontal EEG asymmetries in terms of moderators and mediators. The present report reviews the frontal EEG asymmetry literature from the framework of moderators and mediators, and overviews data analytic strategies that would support claims of moderation and mediation. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• J., J., Urry, H. L., Hitt, S. K., & Coan, J. A. (2004). The stability of resting frontal electroencephalographic asymmetry in depression. Psychophysiology, 41(2), 269-280.
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  PMID: 15032992;Abstract: Although resting frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha asymmetry has been shown to be a stable measure over time in nonclinical populations, its reliability and stability in clinically depressed individuals has not been fully investigated. The internal consistency and test-retest stability of resting EEG alpha (8-13 Hz) asymmetry were examined in 30 women diagnosed with major depression at 4-week intervals for 8 or 16 weeks. Asymmetry scores generally displayed good internal consistency and exhibited modest stability over the 8- and 16-week assessment intervals. Changes in asymmetry scores over this interval were not significantly related to changes in clinical state. These findings suggest that resting EEG alpha asymmetry can be reliably assessed in clinically depressed populations. Furthermore, intraclass correlation stability estimates suggest that although some traitlike aspects of alpha asymmetry exist in depressed individuals, there is also evidence of changes in asymmetry across assessment occasions that are not closely linked to changes in depressive severity.
• Manber, R., Schnyer, R. N., Allen, J. J., Rush, A. J., & Blasey, C. M. (2004). Acupuncture: A promising treatment for depression during pregnancy. Journal of Affective Disorders, 83(1), 89-95.
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  PMID: 15546651;Abstract: Few medically acceptable treatments for depression during pregnancy are available. The aim of this randomized controlled pilot study was to determine whether acupuncture holds promise as a treatment for depression during pregnancy. Sixty-one pregnant women with major depressive disorder and a 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD 17) score ≥14 were randomly assigned to one of three treatments, delivered over 8 weeks: an active acupuncture (SPEC, N=20), an active control acupuncture (NSPEC, N=21), and massage (MSSG, N=20). Acupuncture treatments were standardized, but individually tailored, and were provided in a double-blind fashion. Responders to acute phase treatment (HRSD 17 score
• Allen, J., Coan, J. A., & Allen, J. J. (2003). Frontal EEG asymmetry and the behavioral activation and inhibition systems. Psychophysiology, 40(1).
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  Two studies have examined whether there exists a relationship between resting frontal alpha asymmetry and the Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Scales (C. S. Carver & T. L. White, 1994), which are based on Gray's Behavioral Inhibition and Behavioral Activation Systems. Findings suggest that greater relative left frontal activity characterizes individuals higher in self-reported behavioral activation sensitivity (E. Harmon-Jones & J. J. B. Allen, 1997; S. K. Sutton & R. J. Davidson, 1997), and, in one instance, lower behavioral inhibition sensitivity (S. K. Sutton & R. J. Davidson, 1997). In the present study, relatively greater left frontal activity correlated positively with behavioral activation scores. No significant relationship between resting frontal alpha asymmetry and the behavioral inhibition score emerged. These data suggest that relatively greater left frontal activity is indeed an index of approach oriented, appetitive motivational tendencies, whereas the relationship between relative right frontal activity and the behavioral inhibition system is likely to be complex and not accounted for by behavioral withdrawal alone.
• Allen, J., Coan, J. A., & Allen, J. J. (2003). Varieties of emotional experience during voluntary emotional facial expressions. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1000.
• Coan, J. A., & J., J. (2003). Frontal EEG asymmetry and the behavioral activation and inhibition systems. Psychophysiology, 40(1), 106-114.
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  PMID: 12751808;Abstract: Two studies have examined whether there exists a relationship between resting frontal alpha asymmetry and the Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Scales (C. S. Carver & T. L. White, 1994), which are based on Gray's Behavioral Inhibition and Behavioral Activation Systems. Findings suggest that greater relative left frontal activity characterizes individuals higher in self-reported behavioral activation sensitivity (E. Harmon-Jones & J. J. B. Allen, 1997; S. K. Sutton & R. J. Davidson, 1997), and, in one instance, lower behavioral inhibition sensitivity (S. K. Sutton & R. J. Davidson, 1997). In the present study, relatively greater left frontal activity correlated positively with behavioral activation scores. No significant relationship between resting frontal alpha asymmetry and the behavioral inhibition score emerged. These data suggest that relatively greater left frontal activity is indeed an index of approach oriented, appetitive motivational tendencies, whereas the relationship between relative right frontal activity and the behavioral inhibition system is likely to be complex and not accounted for by behavioral withdrawal alone.
• Coan, J. A., & J., J. (2003). Varieties of Emotional Experience during Voluntary Emotional Facial Expressions. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1000, 375-379.
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  PMID: 14766650;
• J., J., & Dveirin, K. (2003). Mechanism of wart disappearance: An alternative hypothesis. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 157(5), 490-.
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  PMID: 12742891;
• Manber, R., Chambers, A. S., Hitt, S. K., McGahuey, C., Delgado, P., & Allen, J. J. (2003). Patients' perception of their depressive illness. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 37(4), 335-343.
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  PMID: 12765856;Abstract: Perception of illness has been described as an important predictor in the medical health psychology literature, but has been given little attention in the domain of mental disorders. The patient's Perception of Depression Questionnaire (PDIQ) is a newly developed measure whose factor structure and psychometric properties were evaluated on a sample of 174 outpatients meeting criteria for major depressive disorder. The clinical utility of the questionnaire was assessed on a sub-sample of 121 participants in a study of acupuncture treatment for depression. The questionnaire has four subscales, each with high internal consistency and high test-retest reliability. These four subscales are: Self-Efficacy, which reflects perceived controllability of the illness, Externalizing, which reflects attributing the illness to external causes, Hopeless/Flawed, which reflect a belief that depression is a personal trait and therefore there is little hope for cure, and Holistic, which reflects a belief in alternative therapies. Although the PDIQ did not predict outcome, its subscales were related to adherence to treatment, treatment preference, expectations, and therapeutic alliance. The subscales have adequate convergent/discriminant validity and are clinically relevant to aspects of treatment provision. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Allen, J. J. (2002). The role of psychophysiology in clinical assessment: ERPs in the evaluation of memory. Psychophysiology, 39(3), 261-280.
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  PMID: 12212646;Abstract: Psychophysiological measures hold great potential for informing clinical assessments. The challenge, before such measures can be widely used, is to develop test procedures and analysis strategies that allow for statistically reliable and valid decisions to be made for any particular examinee, despite large individual differences in psychophysiological responding. Focusing on the evaluation of memory in clinical, criminal, and experimental contexts, this paper reviews the rationale for and development of ERP-based memory assessment procedures, with a focus on methods that allow for statistically supported decisions to be made in the case of a single examinee. The application of one such procedure to the study of amnesia in Dissociative Identity Disorder is highlighted. To facilitate the development of other psychophysiological assessment tools, psychophysiological researchers are encouraged to report the sensitivity and specificity of their measures where possible.
• Allen, J., & Allen, J. J. (2002). The role of psychophysiology in clinical assessment: ERPs in the evaluation of memory. Psychophysiology, 39(3).
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  Psychophysiological measures hold great potential for informing clinical assessments. The challenge, before such measures can be widely used, is to develop test procedures and analysis strategies that allow for statistically reliable and valid decisions to be made for any particular examinee, despite large individual differences in psychophysiological responding. Focusing on the evaluation of memory in clinical, criminal, and experimental contexts, this paper reviews the rationale for and development of ERP-based memory assessment procedures, with a focus on methods that allow for statistically supported decisions to be made in the case of a single examinee. The application of one such procedure to the study of amnesia in Dissociative Identity Disorder is highlighted. To facilitate the development of other psychophysiological assessment tools, psychophysiological researchers are encouraged to report the sensitivity and specificity of their measures where possible.
• Allen, J., Schnyer, R. N., & Allen, J. J. (2002). Bridging the gap in complementary and alternative medicine research: manualization as a means of promoting standardization and flexibility of treatment in clinical trials of acupuncture. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 8(5).
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  An important methodological challenge encountered in acupuncture clinical research involves the design of treatment protocols that help ensure standardization and replicability while allowing for the necessary flexibility to tailor treatments to each individual. Manualization of protocols used in clinical trials of acupuncture and other traditionally-based complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) systems facilitates the systematic delivery of replicable and standardized, yet individually-tailored treatments.
• Chambers, A. S., & J., J. (2002). Vagal tone as an indicator of treatment response in major depression. Psychophysiology, 39(6), 861-864.
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  PMID: 12462513;Abstract: Increased vagal tone has been associated with treatment success using pharmacological agents and cognitive-behavioral treatment in major depression, but not using electroconvulsive therapy. The present study investigated whether increases in vagal tone would be associated with favorable treatment response with nonpharmacological treatment. At baseline and following treatment, 16 subjects were administered the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) followed by electrocardiographic recording. Those with little change in vagal tone from before to after treatment showed minimal reduction in HRSD score (-48); those with larger vagal tone change showed a large decrease in HRSD score (-14.8). Changes in vagal tone are thus related to favorable treatment response in depression, and do not represent anticholinergic pharmacological effects. Future work manipulating vagal tone might prove informative in teasing apart the causal role of vagal tone and depression.
• Manber, R., J., J., & Morris, M. M. (2002). Alternative treatments for depression: Empirical support and relevance to women. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 63(7), 628-640.
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  PMID: 12143922;Abstract: Background: This article is a critical review of the efficacy of selected alternative treatments for unipolar depression including exercise, stress management techniques, acupuncture, St. John's wort, bright light, and sleep deprivation. Issues related to women across the life span, including pregnancy and lactation, are highlighted. Data Sources: Evidence of efficacy is based on randomized controlled trials. A distinction is made between studies that address depressive symptoms and studies that address depressive disorders. The review emphasizes issues related to effectiveness, such as treatment availability, acceptability, safety, and cost and issues relevant to women. Data Synthesis: Exercise, stress reduction methods, bright light exposure, and sleep deprivation hold greater promise as adjuncts to conventional treatment than as monotherapies for major depression. The evidence to date is not sufficiently compelling to suggest the use of St. John's wort in favor of or as an alternative to existing U.S. Food and Drug Administration-regulated compounds. Initial evidence suggests that acupuncture might be an effective alternative monotherapy for major depression, single episode. Conclusion: This review indicates that some unconventional treatments hold promise as alternative or complementary treatments for unipolar depression in women and have the potential to contribute to its long-term management. Additional research is needed before further recommendations can be made, and there is an urgent need to carefully document and report the frequency of minor and major side effects.
• Munber, R., Allen, J. J., & Morris, M. M. (2002). Alternative treatments for depression: Empirical support and relevance to women. Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 4(3), 118-.
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  Abstract: Background: This article is a critical review of the efficacy of selected alternative treatments for unipolar depression including exercise, stress management techniques, acupuncture, St. John's wort, bright light, and sleep deprivation. Issues related to women across the life span, including pregnancy and lactation, are highlighted. Data Sources: Evidence of efficacy is based on randomized controlled trials. A distinction is made between studies that address depressive symptoms and studies that address depressive disorders. The review emphasizes issues related to effectiveness, such as treatment availability, acceptability, safety, and cost and issues relevant to women, Data Synthesis: Exercise, stress reduction methods, bright light exposure, and sleep deprivation hold greater promise as adjuncts to conventional treatment than as monotherapies for major depression. The evidence to date is not sufficiently compelling to suggest the use of St. John's wort in favor of or as an alternative to existing U.S. Food and Drug Administration-regulated compounds. Initial evidence suggests that acupuncture might be an effective alternative monotherapy for major depression, single episode. Conclusion: This review indicates that some unconventional treatments hold promise as alternative or complementary treatments for unipolar depression in women and have the potential to contribute to its long-term management. Additional research is needed before further recommendations can be made, and there is an urgent need to carefully document and report the frequency of minor and major side effects.
• Schnyer, R. N., & Allen, J. J. (2002). Bridging the gap in complementary and alternative medicine research: Manualization as a means of promoting standardization and flexibility of treatment in clinical trials of acupuncture. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 8(5), 623-634.
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  PMID: 12470444;Abstract: Introduction: An important methodological challenge encountered in acupuncture clinical research involves the design of treatment protocols that help ensure standardization and replicability while allowing for the necessary flexibility to tailor treatments to each individual. Manualization of protocols used in clinical trials of acupuncture and other traditionally-based complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) systems facilitates the systematic delivery of replicable and standardized, yet individually-tailored treatments. Objectives: To facilitate high-quality CAM acupuncture research by outlining a method for the systematic design and implementation of protocols used in CAM clinical trials based on the concept of treatment manualization. Methods: A series of treatment manuals was developed to systematically articulate the Chinese medical theoretical and clinical framework for a given Western-defined illness, to increase the quality and consistency of treatment, and to standardize the technical aspects of the protocol. In all, three manuals were developed for National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trials of acupuncture for depression, spasticity in cerebral palsy, and repetitive stress injury. In Part I, the rationale underlying these manuals and the challenges encountered in creating them are discussed, and qualitative assessments of their utility are provided. In Part II, a methodology to develop treatment manuals for use in clinical trials is detailed, and examples are given. Conclusions: A treatment manual provides a precise way to train and supervise practitioners, enable evaluation of conformity and competence, facilitate the training process, and increase the ability to identify the active therapeutic ingredients in clinical trials of acupuncture.
• Coan, J. A., J., J., & Harmon-Jones, E. (2001). Voluntary facial expression and hemispheric asymmetry over the frontal cortex. Psychophysiology, 38(6), 912-925.
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  PMID: 12240668;Abstract: Brain activity was monitored while 36 participants produced facial configurations denoting anger, disgust, fear, joy, and sadness. EEG alpha power was analyzed during each facial pose, with facial conditions grouped according to the approach/withdrawal motivational model of emotion. This model suggests that "approach" emotions are associated with relatively greater left frontal brain activity whereas "withdrawal" emotions are associated with relatively greater right frontal brain activity. In the context of a bilateral decrease in activation, facial poses of emotions in the withdrawal condition resulted in relatively less left frontal activation in the lateral-frontal, midfrontal and frontal-temporal-central region, but not in the parietal region, as predicted. Findings in the approach condition were less consistently supportive of predictions of the approach/withdrawal model. Implications for the approach/withdrawal model and for the emotion eliciting potential of voluntary facial movement are discussed.
• Gallagher, S. M., Allen, J. J., Hitt, S. K., Schnyer, R. N., & Manber, R. (2001). Six-month depression relapse rates among women treated with acupuncture. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 9(4), 216-218.
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  PMID: 12184348;Abstract: Conventional treatments for Major Depression, although reasonably effective, leave many without lasting relief. Alternative approaches would therefore be welcome for both short- and long-term treatment of depression. Thirty-eight women were randomized to one of three treatment conditions in a double-blind randomized controlled trial of acupuncture in depression. All participants eventually received eight weeks of acupuncture treatment specifically for depression. From among the 33 women who completed treatment, 26 (79%) were interviewed at six-month follow-up. Relapse rates were comparable to those of established treatments, with four of the 17 women (24%) who achieved full remission at the conclusion of treatment experiencing a relapse six months later. Compared to other empirically validated treatments, acupuncture designed specifically to treat major depression produces results that are comparable in terms of rates of response and of relapse or recurrence. These results suggest a larger trial of acupuncture in the acute- and maintenance-phase treatment of depression is warranted. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Harmon-Jones, E., & J., J. (2001). The role of affect in the mere exposure effect: Evidence from psychophysiological and individual differences approaches. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(7), 889-898.
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  Abstract: Affective models of the mere exposure effect propose that repeated exposure to a stimulus increases the positive affect or reduces the negative affect toward the stimulus, whereas recent cognitive models propose that affect is not involved in the mere exposure effect. To test these competing predictions, participants repeatedly viewed photographs of women's faces and then viewed these women again (familiar) and novel women (unfamiliar) while facial muscle region activity and brain activity were recorded. Familiar stimuli were rated as more likable and they evoked more zygomatic (cheek) muscle region activity than unfamiliar stimuli. Interactions with individual differences occurred. Persons reporting less positive affect and persons reporting more negative affect at baseline evidenced more zygomatic activity to the familiar than to the unfamiliar. Persons with relatively less left frontal cortical activation at baseline evidenced a tendency toward a greater mere exposure effect. These results suggest that repeatedly exposing persons to nonreinforced stimuli increases their positive affective reactions to those stimuli.
• J., J., & Iacono, W. G. (2001). Assessing the validity of amnesia in dissociative identity disorder: A Dilemma for the DSM and the Courts. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 7(2), 311-344.
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  Abstract: Amnesia, as a central descriptive and diagnostic feature of dissociative identity disorder (DID), has received little empirical study. The few published studies are generally consistent in finding that direct tests of memory (e.g., recall and recognition) produce reports of interidentity amnesia but less transparent indirect tests of memory tend to show evidence of memory transfer between identities. Such findings highlight the need for more objective measures of memory in DID and raise questions concerning the nature of amnesia in DID. At present, empirical research fails to unequivocally substantiate patients' claims of amnesia between identities, and reports of such amnesia should not be regarded as conclusive in legal proceedings. The authors propose that psychophysiological measures of memory may provide such an objective measure and can further illuminate the nature of the reported memory deficits in DID.
• J., J., Harmon-Jones, E., & Cavender, J. H. (2001). Manipulation of frontal EEG asymmetry through biofeedback alters self-reported emotional responses and facial EMG. Psychophysiology, 38(4), 685-693.
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  PMID: 11446582;Abstract: Individual differences in resting asymmetrical frontal brain activity have been found to predict subsequent emotional responses. The question of whether frontal brain asymmetry can cause emotional responses has yet to be addressed. Biofeedback training designed to alter the asymmetry of frontal brain activity was therefore examined. Eighteen right-handed female participants were randomly assigned to receive biofeedback training designed to increase right frontal alpha relative to left frontal alpha (n = 9) or to receive training in the opposite direction (n = 9). Five consecutive days of biofeedback training provided signals of reward or nonreward depending on whether the difference between right (F4) and left (F3) frontal alpha exceeded a criterion value in the specified direction. Systematic alterations of frontal EEG asymmetry were observed as a function of biofeedback training. Moreover, subsequent self-reported affect and facial muscle activity in response to emotionally evocative film clips were influenced by the direction of biofeedback training.
• Allen, J. J., & L, H. (2000). The objective assessment of amnesia in dissociative identity disorder using event-related potentials. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 38(1), 21-41.
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  PMID: 11027792;Abstract: Assessment of amnesia in Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) typically relies on self-report, the veracity of which cannot often be independently verified. Memory in DID was therefore assessed using an objective method that involved event-related potentials (ERPs) as well as indirect behavioral measures of memory, and that provided statistically supported assessments for each participant. Four participants who met DSM-IV criteria for DID participated in an ERP memory assessment task, in which words learned by one identity (identity A) were then presented to a second identity (identity B). All four participants - tested as identity B - produced ERP and behavioral evidence consistent with recognition of the material learned by identity A. While it would be premature to generalize all cases of DID, the results suggest that there may be reasons to question the veracity of reports by individuals who meet diagnostic criteria for DID on the basis of a structured clinical interview. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.
• Bohbot, V. D., Dumoulin, S., Petrides, M., Allen, J. J., Evans, A. C., & Dagher, A. (2000). Experience dependent modulation of medial temporal lobe fMRI activity. NeuroImage, 11(5 PART II), S367.
• Dikman, Z. V., & J., J. (2000). Error monitoring during reward and avoidance learning in high- and low- socialized individuals. Psychophysiology, 37(1), 43-54.
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  PMID: 10705766;Abstract: The error-related negativity (ERN) is a response-locked brain potential generated when individuals make mistakes during simple decision-making tasks. In the present study, we examined ERN under conditions of reward and punishment, among participants who scored extremely low or high on the socialization scale of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). Participants completed a forced-choice task, and were rewarded for correct responses in half the trials, and punished for incorrect responses in the remaining trials. A significant interaction between socialization (SO) and condition revealed that low-SO participants produced smaller ERNs during the punishment task than during the reward task, whereas high-SO participants produced similar ERNs in both conditions. Reaction time and electromyogram data essentially bolster the interpretation that the ERN effects reflect differences in error salience for high-SO and low-SO participants, and are consistent with the avoidance-learning deficits seen in psychopathy.
• Moreno, F. A., Gelenberg, A. J., Heninger, G. R., Potter, R. L., McKnight, K. M., Allen, J., Phillips, A. P., & Delgado, P. L. (1999). Tryptophan depletion and depressive vulnerability. Biological Psychiatry, 46(4), 498-505.
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  PMID: 10459399;Abstract: Background: Rapid and transient depletion of tryptophan (TRP) causes a brief depressive relapse in most patients successfully treated with and taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, but little change in drug-free, symptomatic depressed patients. This study investigates the effects of TRP depletion in drug-free subjects in clinical remission from a prior major depressive episode (MDE). Methods: Twelve subjects with a prior MDE, currently in clinical remission and drug-free for at least 3 months (patients), and 12 healthy subjects without personal or family history of Axis I disorder (controls), received TRP depletion. The study was conducted in a double-blind, controlled [full (102-g) and quarter-strength (25 g) 15-amino acid drinks], crossover fashion. Behavioral ratings and plasma TRP levels were obtained prior to, during, and after testing. Results: All subjects experienced significant depletion of plasma TRP on both test-drinks, showing a significant dose-response relation. Healthy control subjects had minimal mood changes, but patients had a depressive response of greater magnitude. Conclusions: In the context of prior TRP depletion studies with antidepressant-treated, and drug-free symptomatic depressed patients, these results suggest that depression may be caused not by an abnormality of 5-HT function, but by dysfunction of other systems or brain regions modulated by 5-HT. Copyright (C) 1999 Society of Biological Psychiatry.
• Allen, J. J., Schnyer, R. N., & Hitt, S. K. (1998). The efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of major depression in women. Psychological Science, 9(5), 397-401.
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  Abstract: The effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for major depression was examined in 38 women, randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. Specific treatment involved acupuncture treatments for symptoms of depression; nonspecific treatment involved acupuncture for symptoms that were not clearly part of depression; a wait-list condition involved waiting without treatment for 8 weeks. The nonspecific and wait-list conditions were followed by specific treatment. Five women terminated treatment prematurely, 4 prior to the completion of the first 8 weeks. Following treatments specifically designed to address depression, 64% of the women (n = 33) experienced full remission. A comparison of the acute effect of the three 8-week treatment conditions (n = 34) showed that patients receiving specific acupuncture treatments improved significantly more than those receiving the placebo-like nonspecific acupuncture treatments, and marginally more than those in the wait-list condition. Results from this small sample suggest that acupuncture can provide significant symptom relief in depression, at rates comparable to those of psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy. Acupuncture may hold sufficient promise to warrant a larger scale clinical trial.
• Harmon-Jones, E., & J., J. (1998). Anger and frontal brain activity: EEG asymmetry consistent with approach motivation despite negative affective valence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1310-1316.
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  PMID: 9599445;Abstract: The anterior regions of the left and right cerebral hemispheres have been posited to be specialized for expression and experience of approach and withdrawal processes, respectively. Much of the evidence supporting this hypothesis has been obtained by use of the anterior asymmetry in electroencephalographic alpha activity. In most of this research, however, motivational direction has been confounded with affective valence such that, for instance, approach motivation relates positively with positive affect. In the present research, we tested the hypothesis that dispositional anger, an approach-related motivational tendency with negative valence, would be associated with greater left- than right-anterior activity. Results supported the hypothesis, suggesting that the anterior asymmetry varies as a function of motivational direction rather than affective valence. Copyright 1998 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.
• Reid, S. A., Duke, L. M., & Allen, J. J. (1998). Resting frontal electroencephalographic asymmetry in depression: Inconsistencies suggest the need to identify mediating factors. Psychophysiology, 35(4), 389-404.
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  PMID: 9643053;Abstract: Two studies of the relationship between depression and resting frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) activity are reported. Although considerable research supports the theory of left and right hemispheric specialization for approach and withdrawal behaviors, only four studies involving clinically depressed individuals have been published to date. Despite methodological similarities with published research, no significant differences in frontal activation emerged between depressed and nondepressed participants with either college students having high Beck Depression Inventory scores (Study 1) or with individuals diagnosed with DSM-III-R depression (Study 2). Post hoc analyses in Study 2 revealed one effect confined to lateral frontal leads during the first 2 min of EEG data; this finding was significant in only one of three reference montages. Results are discussed in light of methodological considerations and mediating variables such as temperament and coping styles.
• Harmon-Jones, E., & J., J. (1997). Behavioral activation sensitivity and resting frontal EEG asymmetry: Covariation of putative indicators related to risk for mood disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106(1), 159-163.
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  PMID: 9103728;Abstract: Dispositional tendencies toward appetitive motivation have been hypothesized to be related to the development of psychopathology. Moreover, decreased left-frontal cortical activity has been reported in depression and has been related to low-trait positive affect and high-trait negative affect. The present study tested the hypothesis that relatively greater left- than right-frontal cortical activity would be related to heightened approach- related dispositional tendencies. Resting frontal cortical asymmetrical activity, as measured by electroencephalographic activity in the alpha band, was examined in relation to the motivational response tendencies of a behavioral activation system (BAS) and a behavioral inhibition system (BIS), as measured by C. S. Carver and T. L. White's (1994) BIS-BAS self-report questionnaire. Results supported the hypothesis.
• J., J., & Iacono, W. G. (1997). A comparison of methods for the analysis of event-related potentials in deception detection. Psychophysiology, 34(2), 234-240.
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  PMID: 9090275;Abstract: We previously reported that a Bayesian-based event-related potential memory assessment procedure (Allen, lacono, and Danielson, 1992. Psychophysiology, 29, 504-522) was highly accurate at identifying previously learned material, regardless of an individual's motivational incentive to conceal information. When a bootstrapping procedure (Farwell and Donchin, 1991. Psychophysiology, 28, 531-5475) is applied to these same data, greater motivational incentives appear to increase the accuracy of the procedure. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to examine these two procedures and a new procedure. ROC curves indicated that all three methods produce extremely high rates of classification accuracy and that the sensitivity of the bootstrapping procedure to motivational incentive is due to the particular cut points selected. One or the other method may be preferred depending upon incentive to deceive, the cost of incorrect decisions, and the availability of extra psychophysiological data.
• C., J., Brunia, C. H., & Allen, J. J. (1996). Event-related potentials as indirect measures of recognition memory. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 21(1), 15-31.
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  PMID: 8839121;Abstract: Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during an auditory word-recognition task to determine whether they can be used as indirect measures of recognition memory, defined as the ability to differentiate learned from unlearned material when no overt recognition response from the subject is required. A modified version of the two-choice reaction time task developed by Allen, Iacono and Danielson was used. In three recognition tasks, administered on two consecutive days, subjects were instructed to indicate recognition of recently learned words. These words were presented along with unlearned words and along with previously learned words which both required a non-recognition response. Recently learned target words as well as previously learned nontarget words elicited a centro-parietal positivity around 500-1000 ms post-stimulus. The size and onset of this late positivity (P300) were affected by the requirement of an overt recognition response. The results suggest that ERPs are sensitive to differences between learned and unlearned words, to some extent independently of the behavioral response. ERPs may therefore be used as indirect measures of recognition memory. In addition, because the present results held for stimuli presented in the auditory modality and because recognition indices were still observed after a one-day interval between learning and testing, this procedure might prove useful in various applications when the integrity of memory is in question.
• J., J., Law, H., & Laravuso, J. J. (1996). Items for assessing posthypnotic recognition amnesia with the HGSHS:A and the SHSS:C. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 44(1), 52-65.
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  PMID: 8582778;Abstract: A procedure for assessing posthypnotic recognition amnesia is described. A set of items for the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A and for the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C were developed and analyzed for reliability and their ability to discriminate individuals who demonstrate posthypnotic amnesia. Recognition amnesia could be assessed as reliably as recall amnesia, and posthypnotic recognition amnesia identified a select subgroup of high hypnotizable individuals who had higher scores on the screening scales. These items may prove useful for assessing posthypnotic recognition amnesia in conjunction with widely used scales of hypnotic susceptibility.
• Allen, J. J., Iacono, W. G., Laravuso, J. J., & Dunn, L. A. (1995). An Event-Related Potential Investigation of Posthypnotic Recognition Amnesia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104(3), 421-430.
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  PMID: 7673565;Abstract: Forty-two individuals selected for high hypnotizability or for low hypnotizability were taught lists of words during hypnosis and assessed for recognition following hypnosis using event-related potential (ERP) procedures, both before and after the cue to reverse amnesia. A subgroup of low-hypnotizable participants were asked to simulate hypnotic behavior. All participants had larger late positive component (LPC) amplitudes to learned than to unlearned words, regardless of whether amnesia was reported. The highly hypnotizable participants who reported recognition amnesia, however, had significant changes in attention-related (P1 and N1) and recognition-related (N400 and LPC) ERP component amplitudes as a function of whether amnesia was reported. These data suggest that posthypnotic amnesia may involve alterations in the processes of attention, selection, and accessibility. © 1995 American Psychological Association.
• Schnyer, D. M., & Allen, J. J. (1995). Attention-related electroencephalographic and event-related potential predictors of responsiveness to suggested posthypnotic amnesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 43(3), 295-315.
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  PMID: 7635581;Abstract: Higher frequency electroencephalographic (EEG) activity around 40 Hz has been shown to play a role in cognitive functions such as attention. Furthermore, event-related brain potential (ERP) components such as N1 and P1 are sensitive to selective attention. In the present study, 40-Hz EEG measures and early ERP components were employed to relate selective attention to hypnotic response. Participants were 20 low hypnotizable individuals, half assigned as simulators, and 21 high hypnotizable individuals. Each of these groups was subsequently divided into two groups based on recognition amnesia scores. The four groups differed in 40-Hz (36-44 Hz) EEG spectral amplitude recorded during preinduction resting conditions but not in EEG amplitude postinduction. The groups also differed in N1 amplitudes recorded during hypnosis. Regression analysis revealed that these effects only distinguish the high hypnotizable participants who experienced recognition amnesia from all other groups. The findings support the role of selective attention in hypnotic responsiveness, and the utility of subdividing high hypnotizable individuals is discussed.
• Allen, J. J., Iacono, W. G., Depue, R. A., & Arbisi, P. (1993). Regional electroencephalographic asymmetries in bipolar seasonal affective disorder before and after exposure to bright light. Biological Psychiatry, 33(8-9), 642-646.
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  PMID: 8329494;Abstract: Electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetries found in nonseasonal depression were examined in seasonal affective disorder before and after bright-light exposure. Subjects with seasonal depression demonstrated the expected pattern of frontal asymmetry both when depressed and following light-induced remission. Right-hemisphere EEG coherence, by contrast, served as a state-dependent indicator of seasonal depression. © 1993.
• Allen, J. J., Iacono, W. G., & Danielson, K. D. (1992). The identification of concealed memories using the event-related potential and implicit behavioral measures: A methodology for prediction in the face of individual differences. Psychophysiology, 29(5), 504-522.
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  PMID: 1410180;Abstract: The development and validation of an event-related potential (ERP) memory assessment procedure is detailed. The procedure identifies learned material with high rates of accuracy, whether or not subjects give intentional responses indicating they had previously learned it. Because the traditional analysis of variance approach fails to provide probabilistic conclusions about any given individual, Bayesian posterior probabilities were computed, indicating the probability for each and every person that material was learned. The method was developed on a sample of 20 subjects, and then cross- validated on two additional samples of 20 subjects each. Across the three samples, the method correctly defined over 94% of learned material as learned, and misclassified 4% of the unlearned material. Additionally, in a simple oddball task performed by the same subjects, the method classified rare and frequent material with perfect accuracy. Finally, combining two implicit behavioral measures-mean reaction time and the number of incorrect responses-in Bayesian fashion yielded classification accuracy that actually exceeded that of the ERP-based procedure overall, but the two methods provided identical accuracy in classifying the most critical material as recognized.
• Depue, R. A., Arbisi, P., Krauss, S., Iacono, W. G., Leon, A., Muir, R., & Allen, J. (1990). Seasonal independence of low prolactin concentration and high spontaneous eye blink rates in unipolar and bipolar II seasonal affective disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47(4), 356-364.
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  PMID: 2322086;Abstract: Twenty-four subjects with seasonal affective disorder (SAD: bipolar II, n = 14; unipolar, n = 10) and 20 normal controls were assessed for early follicular basal serum prolactin (PRL) concentration in winter and summer. Luteal basal PRL concentration was assessed in winter. The PRL values represented the mean of three values derived during a 45-minute period. A subset of 17 subjects with SAD and 11 controls were also assessed for spontaneous eye blinking via a polygraphic recording in winter and summer. In winter, compared with controls, subjects with SAD were characterized by significantly lower follicular (10.1 vs 4.5 μg/L, respectively) and luteal (14.4 vs 7.4 μg/L, respectively) PRL values and by significantly higher eye blink rates (30 vs 61 blinks per 3 minutes, respectively). In summer, controls and subjects with SAD showed similar significant differences In follicular PRL values (9.3 vs 3.9 μg/L, respectively) and eye blink rates (25 vs 67 blinks per 3 minutes, respectively). No significant differences in PRL values or eye blink rates were found between the bipolar II and unipolar forms of SAD in either season. Results were discussed in terms of dopamine functioning.
• Allen, J. J., Chapman, L. J., & Chapman, J. P. (1987). Cognitive slippage and depression in hypothetically psychosis-prone college students. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175(6), 347-353.
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  PMID: 3585311;Abstract: Subjects who scored deviantly high on the combined Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation (Per-Mag) Scale and subjects who scored low on the scale were compared on two putative measures of cognitive slippage - a continued word association task and a task of referential communication. The Per-Mag subjects performed more deviantly than did the control subjects on both tasks, but those Per-Mag subjects who also scored above the mean on the General Behavior Inventory (GBI) depression subscale were most deviant. The Per-Mag Scale and the GBI are recommended for concurrent use in mass screening to identify a group of individuals who exhibit signs of cognitive slippage and who may, therefore, be at risk for the development of severe psychopathology.
• Allen, J. J., Chapman, L. J., Chapman, J. P., Vuchetich, J. P., & Frost, L. A. (1987). Prediction of Psychoticlike Symptoms in Hypothetically Psychosis-Prone College Students. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 96(2), 83-88.
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  PMID: 3584670;Abstract: Correlates of psychotic and psychoticlike symptoms were examined in 60 college students who scored deviantly high on the Perceptual Aberration Scale. High scorers on this scale who also scored high on both the Impulsive Nonconformity Scale and the Depression subscale of the General Behavior Inventory (GBI) showed the most deviant psychotic and psychoticlike symptoms. Moreover, performance on a task of referential communication, the Password Task, was significantly related to such symptoms. The Perceptual Aberration Scale, the Impulsive Nonconformity Scale, and the GBI Depression subscale are recommended for concurrent use in mass screening to select individuals likely to exhibit psychotic or psychoticlike symptoms. © 1987 American Psychological Association, Inc.
• Chapman, J. P., Chapman, L. J., & Allen, J. J. (1987). The measurement of foot preference. Neuropsychologia, 25(3), 579-584.
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  PMID: 3683814;Abstract: Foot preference has been given only superficial attention in studies of hemispheric lateralization, although it has potential utility for predicting hemispheric dominance. This paper reports the development of a reliable (alpha = 0.89) 11-item behavioral inventory of foot preference. Since footedness and handedness are only partially related, both must be measured reliably to identify individuals who have a consistent right or left side preference. It has yet to be determined whether footedness or handedness has the stronger relationship to other aspects of cerebral lateralization and whether both measures together predict lateralization better than one of them alone. © 1987.

Proceedings Publications

• Brinkmann, K., & Allen, J. (2017). IMPAIRED PROCESSING OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS IN AFFECTIVE DISORDERS DURING ANTICIPATION AND CONSUMMATION. In PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 54.
• Cavanagh, J., & Allen, J. (2017). FROM BENCH TO BEDSIDE: ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN PSYCHIATRIC CARE. In PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 54.
• Curham, K., & Allen, J. (2017). IDENTIFYING STATE-DEPENDENT MODULATIONS IN FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY: A GROUP THEORETIC BASELINE CORRECTION. In PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 54.
• Dawson, S. C., Hafezi, A., Goldstein, M. R., Haynes, P. L., & Allen, J. J. (2017, June). Memory for nocturnal awakening: time course and autonomic arousal. In Sleep.
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  Dawson, S. C., Hafezi, A. N., Goldstein, M. R., Haynes, P. L., & Allen, J. (2017, June). Memory for Nocturnal Awakenings: Time Course and Autonomic Arousal. Sleep, 40 (Abstract Supplement), A295.
• Dieckman, L., & Allen, J. (2017). Support Vector Machine Prediction of Blended Emotional Reactions to Film: Continuous Self-Report, Face and Neck EMG. In PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 54.
• Goldstein, M., Lewin, R., Bailey, E., & Allen, J. (2017). ALTERATIONS IN STRESS PHYSIOLOGY FOLLOWING YOGIC BREATHING AND COGNITIVELY BASED PSYCHOSOCIAL WORKSHOPS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. In PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 54.
• Lane, R. D., Kromenacker, B., Sanova, A., & Allen, J. J. (2017). LOW FREQUENCY HEART RATE VARIABILITY DUE TO SLOW YOGA BREATHING IS VAGALLY MEDIATED. In PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE, 79.
• Smith, E., Cohen, M. X., & Allen, J. (2017). GUIDED SOURCE SEPARATION FOR PHASE-AMPLITUDE COUPLING USING GENERALIZED EIGENDECOMPOSITION IN A SAMPLE OF CONTACT COLLISION ATHLETES. In PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 54.
• Blanco, N., Jozefowiez, J., & Allen, J. J. (2016, 2016). Selective attentional bias to explicitly and implicitly predictable outcomes. In PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 53, S76-S76.
• Curham, K. J., & Allen, J. J. (2016, 2016). MULTIVARIATE PHASE COVARIANCE ANALYSIS: A NEW APPROACH TO REVEALING FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN EEG TIME-SERIES. In PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 53, S64-S64.
• Dawson, S., Goldstein, M. R., Hafezi, A., Haynes, P. L., & Allen, J. J. (2016, June). Memory, arousal, and perception of sleep. In Sleep, 39, A180.
• Hafezi, A., Dawson, S., Goldstein, M. R., Haynes, P. L., & Allen, J. J. (2016, June). Sleep reactivity predicts parasympathetic tone during return sleep after mid-night awakening. In Sleep, 39, A183.
• Sanguinetti, J. L., Smith, E., Goldstein, M. R., Tyler, W. J., Hameroff, S., & Allen, J. J. (2016, 2016). TRANSCRANIAL ULTRASOUND (TUS) EFFECTS ON MOOD, VIGOR, AND NON-ATTACHMENT. In PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 53, S4-S4.
• Vanuk, J. R., Allen, J. J., & Killgore, W. D. (2016, 2016). HEART RATE VARIABILITY DURING LIGHT EXPOSURE AND SUBSEQUENT NETWORK CONNECTIVITY PATTERNS. In PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 53, S53-S53.
• Wiley, J. F., Weihs, K. L., Crespi, C. M., Krull, J. L., Allen, J. J., & Stanton, A. L. (2016, 2016). INTRAINDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY IN CANCER-RELATED AVOIDANCE COPING PREDICTS DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS. In PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE, 78, A72-A73.
• Dawson, S., Dawson, S., Goldstein, M. R., Goldstein, M. R., Hafezi, A., Hafezi, A., Haynes, P. L., Haynes, P. L., Allen, J. J., & Allen, J. J. (2015, Winter). Memory, arousal, and perception of sleep. In Sleep.
• Gustavson, K., May, L., & Allen, J. J. (2014). Heart Rate Variability as a Proxy for Fetal Programming: The Effect of Maternal Exercise. European Study Group on Cardiovascular Oscillations (in press). In ESGCO 2014.
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  Published Conference Abstract
• Hafezi, A., Dawson, S., Goldstein, M. R., Haynes, P. L., & Allen, J. J. (2015, December). Sleep reactivity predicts parasympathetic tone during return sleep after mid-night awakening. In Sleep.
• Gustafson, K. M., May, L. E., & Allen, J. J. (2014). Heart rate variability as a proxy for fetal programming: The effect of maternal exercise. In Cardiovascular Oscillations (ESGCO), 2014 8th Conference of the European Study Group on.
• Alkozei, A., Creswell, C., Cooper, P. J., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Autonomic flexibility in childhood anxiety disorders. In Psychophysiology, 50, S36.
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• Allen, J. J., Hewig, J. S., Hecht, H., Miltner, W. H., & Schnyer, D. M. (2013). Linking resting state EEG asymmetry to resting state fMRI with simultaneous recordings. In Psychophysiology, 50, S35.
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• Dieckman, L. W., Medrano, M. R., Tate, J., Zambrano-Vazquez, L., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Levator is associated with motivational direction during anger and disgust inducing films. In Psychophysiology, 50, S36.
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• Goldstein, M. R., Smith, E. E., Cavanagh, J. F., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Ventral cortical sources of EEG alpha power predict mood variability. In Psychophysiology, 50, S36.
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• Herring, D. R., Terrazas, G., Jabeen, L. N., Kidder, C. K., Allen, J. J., Rosenfeld, J. P., & Crites, S. L. (2013). An intra-individual event-related potential-based concealed attitude test. In Psychophysiology, 50, S42.
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• Hewig, J. S., Allen, J. J., Richter, C., Hecht, H., & Miltner, W. H. (2013). Emotion effects on the neural basis of decision-making in the ultimatum game. In Psychophysiology, 50, S29.
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• Kogan, A. V., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Communication patterns and frontal asymmetry during discussions of disagreements in romantic partners. In Psychophysiology, 50, S36.
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• Sanguinetti, J. L., Smith, E. E., Dieckman, L., Vanuk, J., Hameroff, S., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Noninvasive transcranial ultrasound (TUS) for brain stimulation: Effects on mood in a pilot study. In Psychophysiology, 50, S36.
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• Smith, E. E., Cavanagh, J. F., & Allen, J. J. (2013). Where it’s at: Estimating sources of resting-state frontal EEG alpha asymmetry. In Psychophysiology, 50, S36.
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• Strickland, C. M., Yancey, J., Vaidyanathan, U., Arsal, G., Allen, J. J., & Patrick, C. J. (2013). Alpha power and alpha asymmetry: Relations to psychopathology. In Psychophysiology, 50, S98.
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• Zambrano-Vazquez, L., Schmidt, A., & Allen, J. J. (2013). The relationship between OCD and RSA as explained by worry. In Psychophysiology, 50, S37.
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• Bismark, A. W., Iacono, W. G., Malone, S. M., & Allen, J. J. (2012). The heritability of frontal eeg asymmetry: reference and sex differences. In Psychophysiology, 49, S73.
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• Kogan, A. V., & Allen, J. J. (2012). Cardiac vagal control and attachment in college couples: Does gender play a role?. In Psychophysiology, 49, S78.
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• Roller, B., Zambrano-Vazquez, L., & Allen, J. J. (2012). The impact of obsessions, compulsions, worry, and anxiety on the Feedback-related Negativity. obsessive-compulsive symptomatology. In Psychophysiology, 49, S79.
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• Smith, E., Zambrano-Vazquez, L., Dieckman, L., & Allen, J. J. (2012). Parietal EEG alpha symmetry and obsessive-compulsive symptomatology. In Psychophysiology, 49, S78.
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• Zambrano-Vazquez, L., & Allen, J. J. (2012). The role of obsessive-compulsive, worry, and anxiety symptoms in performance monitoring. In Psychophysiology, 49, S79.
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Presentations

• Allen, J. (2017, 2017). Transcranial Ultrasound, Mood, and Resting State Network Connectivity.. Invited Plenary Address, The Science of Consciousness 2017, San Diego, CA, June 2017..
• Allen, J., & Allen, J. (2017, 2017). Impaired Processing of Rewards and Punishments in Affective Disorders during Anticipation and Consummation.. Invited Discussant, Annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Vienna, Austria, October, 2017..
• Allen, J., & Allen, J. (2017, 2017). Neural systems underlying risk for depression: Towards a neurally-informed treatment approach.. Invited colloquium, VA Medical Center, Tucson, AZ, May, 2017..
• Allen, J., & Allen, J. (2017, 2017). Recent Developments in Frontal EEG Asymmetry Research.. Invited Discussant, Annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Vienna, Austria, October, 2017..
• Ding, Y. (2017, 2017). Exploring the Relationships between EEG Activity and RSA in Major Depressive Disorder. Presented at the 29th annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA, May, 2017..
• Sanguinetti, J. (2017, 2017). Transcranial Ultrasound Improves Mood and Affects Resting State Functional Connectivity in Healthy Volunteers. Presented at the 2nd International Brain Stimulation Conference, Barcelona, Spain, March, 2017..
• Sanguinetti, J. (2017, 2017). Transcranial ultrasound (TUS) reduces worry in a five-day double-blind pilot study.. Presented at the 2nd International Brain Stimulation Conference, Barcelona, Spain, March, 2017..
• Allen, J. (2016, 2016). Discussant for Biomarkers of Anxiety Risk from Infancy to Adulthood. Invited Discussant, Society for Psychophysiological Research, Minneapolis, MN, September, 2016..
• Allen, J. (2016, 2016). EEG asymmetry and risk for depression.. Invited guest lecture, Würzburg, Germany, 17 November, 2016..
• Allen, J. (2016, 2016). Neural systems underlying risk for depression: Towards a neurally-informed treatment approach.. Invited Colloquim, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA, February, 2016..
• Allen, J. (2016, 2016). Noninvasive Neuromodulation with Transcranial Ultrasound.. Invited colloquium, Würzburg, Germany, 16 November, 2016..
• Allen, J. (2016, 2016). Resting EEG moderates Resting State fMRI connectivity in Emotion Networks.. Invited Colloquim, DAAD International Alumni Symposium, The Role of Emotions for Health, Würzburg, Germany, 14-19 June, 2016..
• Allen, J. (2016, 2016). Resting State Brain Activity and Risk for Depression: Time, Space, and Data Processing.. Invited Keynote, ASU Brain Oscillations Conference, Tempe AZ, May, 2016..
• Allen, J. (2016, 2016). Transcranial Ultrasound and Network Connectivity.. "Special Presentation" at the ASU-UA CNS Conclave, Tempe, AZ, 10 December, 2016..
• Allen, J. (2015). ICA-based artifact removal in EEG, using ADJUST, MARA, and SASICA. Invited Workshop, Würzburg Germany, June 26, 2015..
• Allen, J. (2015). Listen! On being open to possibilities, and Ultrasound?. Invited Keynote Address, Golden Key Honor Society New Member Recognition Event, Tucson, AZ, November 9, 2015..
• Allen, J. (2015). The impact of Transcranial Ultrasound on Mood. InvitedInvited talk, Neruoscience Datablitz, Tucson, AZ, November 3, 2015..
• Allen, J. J. (2015, April). EEG Alpha Asymmetry Moderates Resting State fMRI Connectivity: A Simultaneous EEG/fMRI Study.. Invited presentation at Arizona Research Institute for Biomedical Imaging (ARIBI), University of Arizona.
• Allen, J. J., Sanguinetti, J. L., Cooley, S., & Hameroff, S. (2015, June). The promise of altering consciousness and treating brain disorders with transcranial ultrasound (TUS). Invited Keynote, Towards a Science of Consciousness 2015, Helsinki, Finland, June 2015..
• Hameroff, S., Cooley, S., Sanguinetti, J. L., & Allen, J. J. (2015, June). Tuning Your Mood with Transcranial Ultrasound.. Presented at Towards a Science of Consciousness 2015, Helsinki, Finland, June 2015..
• Hameroff, S., Cooley, S., Sanguinetti, J. L., & Allen, J. J. (2015, June). ‘Tuning the brain’ – Can transcranial ultrasound (‘TUS’) treat mental and cognitive disorders?. Invited presentation for the WAAG society ("Institute for art, science and technology), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 2015..
• Allen, J. J. (2014, April). DSM-5: Navigating the New Behemoth. Presented at the Arizona Geriatrics Society Spring Geriatric Mental Health and Aging Conference. Tucson, AZ.
• Allen, J. J. (2014, February). Key Themes in the Art of Healing. Invited talk and discussant, Humanities, Medicine, & Wellness Conference. University of Arizona.
• Allen, J. J. (2014, September). Neural systems underlying risk for depression: Towards a neurally-informed treatment approach. Invited Keynote Address, Internationals Organization of Psychophysiology Congress. Hiroshima, Japan.
• Allen, J. J. (2014, September). Neural systems underlying risk for depression: Towards a neurally-informed treatment approach. Invited colloquium, Kansei Gaikun University. Osaka, Japan.
• Allen, J. J. (2014, September). Neural systems underlying risk for depression: Towards a neurally-informed treatment approach. Invited colloquium, Najoya University. Nagoya, Japan.
• Janssen, C. H., Vanuk, J., Anton, T., Hanusch, K., Raison, C. L., & Allen, J. J. (2014, April). Effects of a Unilateral Massage on Frontal EEG Asymmetry and Negative Affect - A Pilot Study. Presented at the Wisconsin Symposium on Emotion. Madison, WI.
• Allen, J. J. (2003, November). DSM-5 Changes: Navigating the New Behemoth. Presented at the Southern Arizona Psychological Association Continuing Education event. Tucson, Arizona.
• Allen, J. J. (2013, December). EEG and ERP for those who usually study fMRI or other acronyms: The rest of the story. Invited talk, Brain Mapping Workshop (BMW). University of Arizona.
• Allen, J. J. (2013, December). Multimodal Assessment of Neural Systems for Cognitive Control of Emotions in Depression: Towards a Neurally-informed Treatment Approach. Invited talk, University of Arizona Department of Psychiatry. Tucson, Arizona.
• Allen, J. J. (2013, February). No Lie! Caveats and Cautions in the use of Polygraphy. Presented at the annual conference of the Arizona Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. Sedona, AZ.
• Allen, J. J. (2013, July). Frontal EEG Asymmetry and Major Depression: Methodology and Epistemology. Invited colloquium. Universität Trier, Germany.
• Allen, J. J. (2013, July). Identifying Neural Systems in Risk for Major Depressive Disorder: It’s not Only in Your Head. Invited colloquium. University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• Allen, J. J. (2013, June). Frontal EEG Asymmetry and Depression. Invited colloquium. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany.
• Allen, J. J. (2013, November). EEG and ERP for those who usually study fMRI or other acronyms. Invited talk, Brain Mapping Workshop (BMW). University of Arizona.
• Allen, J. J. (2013, October). Multimodal Assessment of Neural Systems for Cognitive Control of Emotions in Depression: Towards a Neurally-informed Treatment Approach. Invited address for the Karl-Bühler-Lecture. Universität Würzburg.
• Allen, J. J. (2013, October). Neural Correlates of Risk for Depression: Towards a Neurally-informed Treatment Approach. Invited address. Universität Würzburg, Germany.
• Allen, J. J. (2013, October). Neural Correlates of Risk for Depression: Towards a Neurally-informed Treatment Approach. Invited colloquium. University of Reading, UK.
• Folstein, J. R., Allen, J. J., & Scalf, P. E. (2013). Category learning off of fixation causes a selective perceptual advantage for relevant dimensions. Society for NeuroscienceSociety for Neuroscience.
• Sanguinetti, J. S., Allen, J. J., & Hameroff, S. (2013). Transcranial Ultrasound Brain Stimulation Increases Positive Affect in Healthy Participants. Presented at the 2013 Frontiers in Biomedical Ressearch Poster Forum. University of Arizona.
• Allen, J. J. (2012, March). Acupuncture and Depression. Invited address, Women’s Mental Health Symposium. Tucson, AZ.
• Allen, J. J. (2012, October). The Nature of Amnesia in Dissociative Identity Disorder. Invited colloquium, University of Wisconsin – Stout. Menomenie, WI.