Faculty

Dean Sabatinelli , Ph.D. Assistant Professor Neuroscience and Behavior Program Ph.D., University of Florida, Gainesville, 2001 Office: Room 523 Ph: (706) 542-3094 Fax: (706) 542-3275 Email: sabat AT uga DOT edu

Research Interests

I am broadly interested in the brain mechanisms that underlie emotional stimulus processing. Through the use of noninvasive techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), dense-array electroencephalography (EEG), and peripheral psychophysiological measures, I investigate the operation of cortical and subcortical networks during emotional perception and imagery. My research is generally consistent with the hypothesis that affective cues engage basic brain processes that have evolved to mediate appetitive and defensive behaviors. Tracking the action of the brain requires exquisite resolution in space and time, and though current brain imaging methods are exceptionally powerful, I am also interested in the methodological and analytical development of brain imaging data collection and analysis techniques.

Selected Publications

Sabatinelli, D., Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., Costa, V. D., & Keil, A. (in press). The timing of emotional discrimination in human amygdala and ventral visual cortex. Journal of Neuroscience.

Costa, V.D., Lang, P.J., Sabatinelli, D., Versace, F., & Bradley, M.M. (in press). Emotional imagery: assessing pleasure and arousal in the brain’s reward circuitry. Human Brain Mapping.

Keil, A., Sabatinelli, D., Ding, M., Lang, P. J., Ihssen, N., & Heim, S. (2009). Re-entrant projections modulate visual cortex during affective perception: Evidence from Granger causality analysis. Human Brain Mapping, 30, 532-540.

Keil, A., Smith, J.C., Wangelin, B.C., Sabatinelli, D., Bradley, M.M., & Lang, P.J. (2008). Electrocortical and electrodermal responses covary as a function of emotional arousal: A single-trial analysis. Psychophysiology, 45, 516-523.

Sabatinelli, D., Bradley, M. M., Lang, P. J., Costa, V. D., & Versace, F. (2007). Pleasure rather than salience activates human nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology, 98, 1374-1379.

Sabatinelli, D., Lang, P. J., Keil, A., & Bradley, M. M. (2007). Emotional perception: correlation of functional MRI and event related potentials. Cerebral Cortex, 17, 1085-1091.

Sabatinelli, D., Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M. & Flaisch, T. (2006). The neural basis of narrative imagery: emotion and action. Progress in Brain Research, 156, 93-104.

Junghöfer, M., Sabatinelli, D., Bradley, M. M., Schupp, H. T., Elbert, T. R., & Lang, P. J. (2006). Fleeting images: rapid affect discrimination in visual cortex. Neuroreport, 17, 225-229.

Sabatinelli, D., Bradley, M. M., Fitzsimmons, J., R.,& Lang, P. J. (2005). Parallel amygdala and inferotemporal activation reflect emotional intensity and fear relevance. Neuroimage, 24, 1265-1270.

Keil, A., Moratti, S., Sabatinelli, D., Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (2005). Additive effects of emotional content and spatial selective attention on electrocortical facilitation. Cerebral Cortex, 15, 1187-1197.

Sabatinelli, D., Flaisch, T., Bradley, M. M., Fitzsimmons, J. R., & Lang, P. J. (2004). Affective picture perception: Gender differences in visual cortex? Neuroreport, 15, 1109-1112.

Bradley, M. M., Sabatinelli, D., Lang, P. J., Fitzsimmons, J. R., King, W. M., & Desai, P. (2003). Activation of the visual cortex in motivated attention. Behavioral Neuroscience, 117, 369-380.

Bradley, M. M., & Sabatinelli, D. (2003). Startle reflex modulation: Perception, attention, and emotion. In K. Hugdahl (Ed.) Experimental Methods in Neuropsychology, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 65-88.

Sabatinelli, D., Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (2001). Affective startle modulation in anticipation and perception. Psychophysiology, 38, 719-722.

Bradley, M. M., Codispoti, M., Sabatinelli, D., & Lang, P. J. (2001). Emotion and motivation II: Sex differences in picture processing. Emotion, 1, 300-319.

Courses Regularly Taught

Undergraduate

Graduate