Understanding neural circuits that support mood is a central goal of affective neuroscience, and improved understanding of the anatomy could inform more targeted interventions in mood disorders. Lesion studies provide a method of inferring the anatomical sites causally related to specific functions, including mood.
Here, we will discuss two projects: first, a large-scale study evaluating the location of acquired, focal brain lesions in relation to symptoms of depression. Multivariate lesion-symptom mapping was performed and identified brain regions and networks significantly associated with both higher and lower depression severity. Second, we will discuss ongoing projects in the Trapp Lab focused on using neurostimulation to better understand brain networks associated with mood and psychiatric disease.
Dr. Trapp is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the University of Iowa, where he is an assistant professor of psychiatry. He currently serves as the director of the interventional psychiatry program, which focuses on brain stimulation treatment for conditions such as major depressive disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder and procedural treatments for other neuropsychiatric conditions.
Dr. Trapp grew up in Cary, Illinois in the suburbs of Chicago. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (2009) where he received bachelor degrees in sociology and preprofessional studies, and remains an avid Notre Dame football fan. He completed medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE, followed by residency training in psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis. He completed a 2-year neuromodulation and neuroimaging fellowship at the University of Iowa in 2019, as well as a Masters in Translational Biomedicine, followed by a 1-year Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology fellowship at Stanford University in 2021.
Dr. Trapp’s research focuses on clinical and translational projects related to optimizing and targeting brain stimulation. Interests include neuropsychiatry, neurostimulation, neuroimaging, traumatic brain injury, mood disorders, device development, clinical trials, scientific communication, and education.
Non-clinical interests include sports, hiking, reading, travel, and spending time with his wife and 3 kids.