Welcome
Research in our lab uses translational methodologies to better understand how differences in the brain impact motivational processes and visual attention and how this manifests in various brain disorders.
Research Interests
Broadly, Dr. Troiani is interested in how innate motivation or homeostatic drives change activity in the brain and subsequently alter attention and perception. Her research aims to understand the behavioral and genetic contributions to atypical motivational circuitry in the brain and how this contributes to psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Troiani studies the structure and function of brain regions involved in motivated attention, including reward-processing structures like the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, and orbitofrontal cortex. Her scientific worldview is inherently multidisciplinary, as she is interested in how atypical motivation can manifest in multiple disorders, from autism to obesity to addiction. Dr. Troiani uses a variety of techniques in this work, including psychophysics, eye tracking, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, electronic health record analysis, and genomics.
Highlighted Research
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Eye Tracking and Pupillometry
Genetics and Addiction
Brain Structure & Function
Lab News
Student Intern William Snyder Receives Prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Since his first year at Bucknell, neuroscience major William Snyder '21 has put himself on the front line of research seeking to discover what structural patterns in the brain say about psychopathology. After Bucknell, he'll continue expanding those scientific boundaries at the University of Cambridge as a recipient of the 2021 Gates Cambridge Scholarship.
