Research Interests

Dr. Barch's current research is focused on understanding the interplay among cognition, emotion, and brain function to better understand the deficits in behavior and cognition found in illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression.  In particular, Dr. Barch is interested in determining the cognitive, emotional and neural bases of risk for the development of schizophrenia and depression, potentially as a means of developing better preventative approaches. She uses functional MRI, structural MRI, and cognitive neuroscience methods to examine neural basis of disturbances in cognitive control and emotional processing in individuals with schizophrenia and those at risk for the development of schizophrenia, as well as in individuals with mood disorders.

Selected Publications

• Barch, D. M. (2009). Neuropsychological abnormalities in schizophrenia and major mood disorders: Similarities and differences. Current Directions in Psychiatry, 11, 313-319.
• Fales, C. L., Barch, D. M., Rundle, M., M., Mintun, M., A., Snyder, A. Z., Cohen, J. D., Mathews, J., & Sheline, Y. I. (2009). Antidepressant treatment reverses abnormalities in emotional interference processing in major depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 112, 206-211.
• Anticevic, A., Repovs, G., & Barch, D. M. (in press). Resisting emotional interference: Brain regions facilitating working memory performance during emotional distraction. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience.
• Dowd, E. C. & Barch, D. M. (in press). Subjective emotional experience in schizophrenia:  Neural and behavioral markers.Biological Psychiatry.
• Edwards, B. G., Barch, D. M. & Braver, T. S. (in press).  Improving prefrontal cortex function in schizophrenia through focused training of cognitive control. Frontiers in Neuroscience.

Courses

• Abnormal Psychology 
• Functional Neuroimaging
• Biological Bases of Behavior
• Psychological Assessment
• Project Building Cognitive, Computational and Systems Neuroscience