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Ifat Levy, PhD

Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Diversity, Inclusion and Equity at Comparative Medicine; Co-director, Science Fellows Program

Contact Information

Ifat Levy, PhD

Lab Location

Office Location

Mailing Address

  • Comparative Medicine

    PO Box 208016

    New Haven, CT 06520-8016

    United States

Decision Neuroscience Lab

Related Links

Research Summary

I am interested in the neural mechanisms that underlie human decision-making, especially under risk and uncertainty, and in the way individual differences in decision-making are reflected by the neural activation. My studies combine functional MRI methods from cognitive neuroscience and experimental methods from behavioral economics to study the neural correlates of decision parameters and valuation processes. Similar paradigms are used in healthy young volunteers, as well as in adolescents, older adults and obese individuals in order to unravel changes in behavior and in neural activation that may be at the core of pathological behaviors such as extreme risk-taking in adolescents and overeating in obese individuals.

Specialized Terms: Decision-making; Value; Reward; Risk; Ambiguity; Functional MRI

Extensive Research Description

  1. Risk and ambiguity in the negative domain – examining behavior and neural activation for decision in terms of risk and ambiguity between outcomes that include losses.
  2. Behavior and neural correlates of decision under risk and ambiguity across the lifespan.
  3. Decision parameters in obese and lean individuals – comparing attitudes towards decision parameters such as risk and ambiguity in different BMI groups.
  4. Implicit learning of value - behavior and neural correlates of value learning in conditioning paradigms and their relationship to choice processes.
  5. Representation of food in obese and lean subjects - how is food that is depicted in movies perceived and how does it affect choice.

Coauthors

Research Interests

Basal Ganglia; Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms; Central Nervous System; Cerebral Cortex

Public Health Interests

Aging; Obesity; Child/Adolescent Health

Selected Publications

  • Evaluating the Evidence for Brain-Based Biotypes of Psychiatric Vulnerability in the Acute Aftermath of TraumaBen-Zion Z, Spiller T, Keynan J, Admon R, Levy I, Liberzon I, Shalev A, Hendler T, Harpaz-Rotem I. Evaluating the Evidence for Brain-Based Biotypes of Psychiatric Vulnerability in the Acute Aftermath of Trauma American Journal Of Psychiatry 2023, 180: 146-154. PMID: 36628514, PMCID: PMC9898083, DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20220271.
  • P651. Emotional Numbing is Associated With Reduced Pain Processing in the AmygdalaKorem N, Duek O, Kaczkurkin A, Lissek S, Schiller D, Levy I, Harpaz-Rotem I. P651. Emotional Numbing is Associated With Reduced Pain Processing in the Amygdala Biological Psychiatry 2022, 91: s353. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.02.888.
  • P621. Amygdala-Hippocampus Coupling is Associated With Aversive LearningDuek O, Levy I, Korem N, Harpaz-Rotem I. P621. Amygdala-Hippocampus Coupling is Associated With Aversive Learning Biological Psychiatry 2022, 91: s340. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.02.858.
  • Enhancing Trauma-Memories Reconsolidation With One-Time Ketamine InfusionDuek O, Yutong L, Kelmendi B, Amen S, Gordon C, Levy I, Harpaz-Rotem I. Enhancing Trauma-Memories Reconsolidation With One-Time Ketamine Infusion Biological Psychiatry 2021, 89: s298. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.02.743.
  • Assessing consumer demand with noisy neural measurementsWebb R, Mehta N, Levy I. Assessing consumer demand with noisy neural measurements Journal Of Econometrics 2021, 222: 89-106. DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconom.2020.07.028.
  • Linking Emotion Perception Ability to the Neural and Computational Processes Underlying Adaptive Social FunctioningHo E, Reinen J, Patrick L, Anderson K, Seo H, Levy I, Holmes A. Linking Emotion Perception Ability to the Neural and Computational Processes Underlying Adaptive Social Functioning Biological Psychiatry 2020, 87: s192. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.02.501.
  • O40. PTSD Augmented Psychotherapy With Ketamine (KPE) - First ResultsDuek O, Levy I, Yutong L, Gordon C, Kelmendi B, Harpaz-Rotem I. O40. PTSD Augmented Psychotherapy With Ketamine (KPE) - First Results Biological Psychiatry 2019, 85: s122. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.03.305.
  • Neural Random Utility: Relating Cardinal Neural Observables to Stochastic Choice BehaviorWebb R, Levy I, Lazzaro S, Rutledge R, Glimcher P. Neural Random Utility: Relating Cardinal Neural Observables to Stochastic Choice Behavior Journal Of Neuroscience Psychology And Economics 2019, 12: 45-72. DOI: 10.1037/npe0000101.
  • Distributed neural representation of saliency controlled value and category during anticipation of rewards and punishmentsZhang Z, Fanning J, Ehrlich DB, Chen W, Lee D, Levy I. Distributed neural representation of saliency controlled value and category during anticipation of rewards and punishments Nature Communications 2017, 8: 1907. PMID: 29203854, PMCID: PMC5714958, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02080-4.
  • Neuroeconomic approach to trauma related psychopathology: A version to ambiguous losses in PTSDHarpaz-Rotem I, Jia R, Ruderman L, Pietrzak R, Levy I. Neuroeconomic approach to trauma related psychopathology: A version to ambiguous losses in PTSD European Psychiatry 2017, 41: s358. DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.02.349.
  • Neuroanatomy accounts for age-related changes in risk preferencesGrubb MA, Tymula A, Gilaie-Dotan S, Glimcher PW, Levy I. Neuroanatomy accounts for age-related changes in risk preferences Nature Communications 2016, 7: 13822. PMID: 27959326, PMCID: PMC5159889, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13822.
  • NeuroeconomicsLevy I. Neuroeconomics 2015, 1-14. DOI: 10.1002/9781118900772.etrds0238.
  • Neuroanatomy Predicts Individual Risk AttitudesGilaie-Dotan S, Tymula A, Cooper N, Kable JW, Glimcher PW, Levy I. Neuroanatomy Predicts Individual Risk Attitudes Journal Of Neuroscience 2014, 34: 12394-12401. PMID: 25209279, PMCID: PMC4160774, DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1600-14.2014.
  • Impaired Associative Learning with Food Rewards in Obese WomenZhang Z, Manson KF, Schiller D, Levy I. Impaired Associative Learning with Food Rewards in Obese Women Current Biology 2014, 24: 1731-1736. PMID: 25042588, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.05.075.
  • Does Patient Age Affect Physician Decision Making Under Varying Risk and Ambiguity?Wiechers I, Ruderman L, Levy I. Does Patient Age Affect Physician Decision Making Under Varying Risk and Ambiguity? American Journal Of Geriatric Psychiatry 2014, 22: s98. DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2013.12.113.
  • Like cognitive function, decision making across the life span shows profound age-related changesTymula A, Belmaker L, Ruderman L, Glimcher PW, Levy I. Like cognitive function, decision making across the life span shows profound age-related changes Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2013, 110: 17143-17148. PMID: 24082105, PMCID: PMC3801020, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1309909110.
  • Poor Decisions About SecurityPushkarskaya H, Levy I. Poor Decisions About Security 2013, 347-348. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199856800.003.0033.
  • Measuring the Subjective Value of Risky and Ambiguous Options using Experimental Economics and Functional MRI MethodsLevy I, Rosenberg Belmaker L, Manson K, Tymula A, Glimcher P. Measuring the Subjective Value of Risky and Ambiguous Options using Experimental Economics and Functional MRI Methods Journal Of Visualized Experiments 2012 DOI: 10.3791/3724-v.
  • P-786 - The neural correlates of aversive learning among PTSD patientsHarpaz-Rotem I, Levy I, Schiller D. P-786 - The neural correlates of aversive learning among PTSD patients European Psychiatry 2012, 27: 1. DOI: 10.1016/s0924-9338(12)74953-2.
  • Center–periphery organization of human object areasLevy I, Hasson U, Avidan G, Hendler T, Malach R. Center–periphery organization of human object areas Nature Neuroscience 2001, 4: 533-539. PMID: 11319563, DOI: 10.1038/87490.

Clinical Trials

ConditionsStudy Title
Diseases of the Nervous System; Mental Health & Behavioral ResearchIntensive 7-day Treatment for PTSD Combining Ketamine With Exposure Therapy (PTSD)
Diseases of the Nervous System; Mental Health & Behavioral ResearchBiomarkers of Clinical Subtype and Treatment Response in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
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