The human brain is both the world’s most adept learner and greatest translator. From infancy and throughout development our brains rapidly learn how to take basic physical properties such as light, pressure, and time and transform them into the most complex of human capacities such as thought, memory and imagination. This translation arises via billions of nanoscopic transmissions that flow across a vast yet infinitesimal labyrinth of neurons. Once opaque, the immense neural maze of the brain is now recognized as being organized into coordinated yet discrete specialized systems, each composed of a series of distributed regions throughout the brain.
Specific research questions:
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How do our experiences, particularly stressful ones, shape the way our neural systems function, and thus how we engage with the world around us?
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How can we best capture (ie. quantify) someones "stress"?
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How do we best identify the neural systems in our brains so their relative contributions to cognition can be examined?
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Experimental Psychopathology, PhD Candidate
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Harvard University, Psychology Department
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Mentor: Dr. Katie McLaughlin
PEER REVIEWED RESEARCH ARTICLES:
On the topic of stress and well-being:
Bryce, N., Flournoy, J. C., Hanford, L., & McLaughlin, K. (in prep). The stress profile: capturing an individual's stress as a complex system of interacting phenomena.
Bryce, N., Flournoy, J. C., Hanford, L., & McLaughlin, K. (in prep). Examining the effect of stress on cortical network recruitment during emotion processing.
Slopen, N., Chang, A. R., Johnson, T. J., Anderson, A. T., ... Bryce, N., & Heard-Garris, N. (2024). Racial and ethnic inequities in the quality of paediatric care in the USA: a review of quantitative evidence. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 8(2), 147-158 [PDF] (See image on right)
Gee, D. G., Sisk, L. M., Cohodes, E. M., & Bryce, N. V. (2022). Leveraging the science of stress to promote resilience and optimize mental health interventions during adolescence. nature communications, 13(1), 5693. Concept Development and Figure Development [PDF]
Ecological Model of Human Systems
Developed for: Slopen, et al., 2024
On the topic of evaluating and advancing fMRI data analysis techniques:
Bryce, N. V., Flournoy, J. C., Hanford, L., & McLaughlin, K. (in prep). Transitioning from standard volumetric-based fMRI task data extraction techniques to individualized cortical networks results in dramatic signal gains. (in prep)
Hanford, L., Du, J., Saadon-Grosman, N., Angeli, P., DiNicola, L., Bryce, N., Flournoy, J., Mair, R., Buckner, R., & McLaughlin, K. (in prep). Effects of scan acquisition and smoothing on cortical network parcellations.
Flournoy, J. C., Bryce, N. V., Dennison, M. J., Rodman, A. M., McNeilly, E. A., Lurie, L. A., ... & McLaughlin, K. A. (2024). A precision neuroscience approach to estimating reliability of neural responses during emotion processing: Implications for task-fMRI. NeuroImage, 285, 120503. [PDF]
Bryce, N., Flournoy, J. C., Moreira, J. F. G., Rosen, M. L., Sambook, K. A., Mair, P., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2021). Brain parcellation selection: An overlooked decision point with meaningful effects on individual differences in resting-state functional connectivity. NeuroImage, 243, 118487.[PDF] (cover art -- see left)
On learning and decision making:
Potter, T.*, Bryce, N.*, Hartley, C., (2016). Cognitive Components Underpinning the Development of Model-Based Learning. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. *Denotes equal author contribution [PDF]
On creativity and Insight:
Bryce, N., Lenkic, P., Enns, J., (under revision). Pupil dilation fails to predict spontaneous insight. Psychology of Creativity, Aesthetics, and the Arts.
SCIENTIFIC JOURNALISM:
I served as a freelance writer for Scientific American on and off from 2014-2019)
“The Aha! Moment. A step-by-step guide to your next creative breakthrough”. (Winter 2019). Scientific American Mind. Print. (Feature Article and Cover story -- see cover above) [PDF] (Also published in Genius Special Issue Winter 2015 and initially in standard issue in July 2014)
“Magnetic Stimulation May Halt Rumination in Depression” (January 2015). Scientific American Mind. Print. (Article for Head Lines department) [LINK]
“Creative Spark: Neuroscientist-Turned-Artist Shares His Process”. Online. (July 2014). Scientific American Mind. Online. [LINK]
“The early bird makes the moral decision”. (March 2014). Scientific American Mind. Print. (Article for the Head Lines department) [LINK]
SCIENTIFIC FIGURE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Dr. David Helfand, The Universal Timekeeper, Columbia University Press. (2023)
McLaughlin, K. A., Rosen, M. L., Kasparek, S. W., & Rodman, A. M. (2022). Stress-related psychopathology during the COVID-19 pandemic. Behaviour research and therapy, 154, 104121.
Humphreys, K. L., King, L. S., Guyon-Harris, K. L., & Zeanah, C. H. (2022). Caregiver regulation: A modifiable target promoting resilience to early adverse experiences. Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy, 14(S1), S63.
Gee, D. G. (2022). Neurodevelopmental mechanisms linking early experiences and mental health: Translating science to promote well-being among youth. American Psychologist, 77(9), 1033.
Ellis, B. J., Sheridan, M. A., Belsky, J., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2022). Why and how does early adversity influence development? Toward an integrated model of dimensions of environmental experience. Development and Psychopathology, 34(2), 447-471.
Colich, Natalie L., and Katie A. McLaughlin. "Accelerated pubertal development as a mechanism linking trauma exposure with depression and anxiety in adolescence." Current opinion in psychology (2022): 101338.
Finn, E. S. (2021). Is it time to put rest to rest?. Trends in cognitive sciences, 25(12), 1021-1032.
McLaughlin, K. A., Sheridan, M. A., Humphreys, K. L., Belsky, J., & Ellis, B. J. (2021). The value of dimensional models of early experience: Thinking clearly about concepts and categories. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(6), 1463-1472.
Gabard-Durnam, L., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2020). Sensitive periods in human development: charting a course for the future. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 36, 120-128.
Gabard-Durnam, L. J., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2019). Do sensitive periods exist for exposure to adversity?. Biological psychiatry, 85(10), 789-791.
SCIENTIFIC TALKS:
Bryce, N., McLaughlin. K, (2021, March). Brain parcellation selection: An overlooked decision point with meaningful effects on individual differences in resting-state functional connectivity. Blitz Talk at the annual meeting of CNS, Virtual Program.
Bryce, N., Using science, and the study of insight, to understand the creative process. (DayCon 2019)
POSTER PRESENTATIONS:
Bryce, N., McLaughlin. K, (2021, March). Brain parcellation selection: An overlooked decision point with meaningful effects on individual differences in resting-state functional connectivity. Poster presented at the annual meeting of CNS, Virtual Program
Bryce, N., McLaughlin. K, (2020, August). Evaluation of common brain atlases used in the a priori identification of primary functional networks. Poster presented at the annual meeting of FLUX, Virtual Program
Bryce, N., McLaughlin. K, (2020, June). Evaluation of common brain atlases used in the a priori identification of primary functional networks. Poster presented at the annual meeting of OHBM, Virtual Program
Bryce, N., McLaughlin. K, (2019, August). Subnetworks that comprise the core functional brain networks display distinct patterns of maturation. Poster presented at the annual meeting of FLUX, New York, NY
Bryce, N., McLaughlin, K., (2019, March). Default mode network subsystems display distinct maturational trajectories. Poster presented at the annual meeting of Society for Research on Child Development, Baltimore, MD
Bryce, N., Shi, T., Hartley, C., (2016, September). Cognitive Components Underpinning the Development of Model-Based Learning. Poster presented at the annual meeting of FLUX, St. Louis, MO
Bryce, N., Shi, T., Hartley, C., (2016, April). The Role of Statistical Learning in the Development of Model-Based Choice. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Social Affective Neuroscience Society, New York, NY