Dr. McMakin is currently exploring two areas that she has identified as having high translational potential: 1) enhancing reward processing during the sensitive window of early adolescence to observe potential impacts on the onset, maintenance, and recurrence of depression, and 2) examining sleep as it relates to emotional processing (including emotional memory consolidation during sleep) and neurodevelopment in adolescents with, or at risk for, anxiety or depression. A key aim of this work is to identify opportunities to develop interventions that capitalize on neural plasticity to positively influence socio-emotional development.
