Matthew W. Jerram, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Psychology
B.A., Johns Hopkins University (Psychology); M.L.A., Johns Hopkins University (History of Ideas); M.A., Ph.D., Suffolk University (Clinical Psychology)
Internship: Brockton/West Roxbury VAMC - Harvard Medical School
Postdoctoral Fellowship: Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts Mental Health Center Clinical Research Fellowship; Two Brattle Center

Specialty Areas

Neuroimaging, affective neuroscience, cognitive behavioral therapy/dialectical behavior therapy, neuropsychological assessment, statistics and research design.

Primarily, I am interested in exploring the brain systems responsible for the interaction of cognitive and affective processes.  In particular, I am focusing on a specific set of brain regions that includes the anterior cingulate gyrus and the orbitofrontal cortex and seems to be the center of the integration of affect and cognition in the brain.  My methods include the use of functional MRI, structural MRI, psychophysiology (including electrodermal response) and cognitive and affective assessment.  Secondarily, I am interested in the mechanisms of change in psychotherapy, particularly CBT-based treatments.  In particular, I hope to transfer knowledge gained in this branch of my research to the neuroimaging area to better understand how psychotherapy affects the brain.  These two branches come together in my overall goal to better understand what neuroimaging can tell us about how psychopathology develops and is remediated.

Please click here to view the Brain Image Analysis Laboratory Web Page

Selected Publications

Barta, P., Petty, R., McGilchrest, I., Lewis, R., Jerram, M., Casanova, M., Powers, R., Brill, L., Pearlson, G., “Asymmetry of the Planum Temporale: Methodologic Considerations and Clinical Associations,” Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 1995, Vol. 61, pp. 137-150.

Aylward, E., Li, Q., Honeycutt, N., Warren, A., Pulsifer, M., Barta, P., Chan, M., Smith, P., Jerram, M., Pearlson, G., “MRI Volumes of Hippocampus and Amygdala in Down Syndrome Adults With and Without Dementia,” Archives of General Psychiatry, 1999, Vol. 156, 564-568.

Goldstein, J., Jerram, M., Poldrack, R., Anagnoson, R., Breiter, H., Makris, N., Goodman, J., Tsuang, M., Seidman, L. “Significant Sex Differences in Prefrontal Cortical Brain Activity During Auditory Verbal Working Memory,” Neuropsychology, 2005, Vol. 19, 509-519.

Goldstein, J., Jerram, M., Poldrack, R., Ahern, T., Kennedy, D., Seidman, L., Makris, N. “Hormonal Cycle Modulates Arousal Circuitry in Women using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.” Journal of Neuroscience, 2005, Vol. 25, 9309-9316.

Gansler, D., McLaughlin, N., Iguchi, L., Jerram, M., Moore, D., Bhadelia, R., Fulwiler, C. “A Multivariate Approach to Agression and the Orbital Frontal Cortex in Psychiatric Patients.” Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, accepted for publication.