Posts by Eve Valera, PhD
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Q&A: Dr. Eve Valera on Intimate Partner Violence and Brain Injury
Eve Valera, PhD, an affiliated faculty member in the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, uses MRI to study the neural, neuropsychological, and psychological consequences of traumatic brain injuries resulting from intimate partner violence.
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Traumatic Brain Injuries Caused by Intimate Partner Violence
In this video, Eve Valera, PhD, discusses her work to better understand the prevalence of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in women who have experienced intimate partner violence and how TBIs impact victims' everyday cognitive and physiological functioning.
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Translation, Discovery and Collaboration in Psychiatry
Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital discuss their collaborative work in clinical and translational research.
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Imaging Shows Effects of TBI Related to Intimate Partner Violence on Women’s Cognitive Function
Many women who experience intimate-partner violence sustain at least one traumatic brain injury, which can lead to problems with memory, learning and cognitive flexibility. Mass General researchers searched for neural mechanistic evidence of an association between these TBIs and cognitive dysfunction.
Biography
Eve Valera, PhD, is a researcher with the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. Her lab uses a range of neuroimaging and neuropsychological methodologies to investigate two understudied areas of interest: the role of the cerebellum in psychiatric illness and the sequelae of traumatic brain injuries in women experiencing intimate-partner violence. She currently is using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and other advanced imaging scans to test for the presence of abuse-related brain injuries in women who have been in a physically abusive relationship. Using a brief neuropsychological battery and diagnostic assessment, she is also examining the relationships between brain injuries and cognitive and psychological functioning in these women. This research could have serious implications for legal, social and educational interventions available to women in such physically abusive situations.
Dr. Valera is also examining the functional and structural integrity of corticocerebellar circuits in adult ADHD in order to elucidate their role in deficits, such as motor coordination, temporal processing and working memory. She is using structural and functional MRI, DTI and varied connectivity analyses in conjunction with behavioral motor assessments to examine corticocerebellar network abnormalities in ADHD. As there is a growing literature supporting the involvement of the cerebellum in psychiatric disorders in addition to ADHD, Dr. Valera hopes to eventually investigate the role of the cerebellum in other disorders as well.
