Maureen McHugo, PhD | Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital

1601 23rd Avenue South

Suite 3057

Nashville

Tennessee

37212

maureen.mchugo@vumc.org

Research Description

Dr. McHugo completed her PhD in Neuroscience at Vanderbilt University with David Zald, PhD. Her graduate work focused on fMRI analysis of the neural systems mediating emotion-attention interactions in healthy adults and individuals with amygdala and orbitofrontal lesions. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Vanderbilt Psychotic Disorders Program with Stephan Heckers, MD, MSc.

Dr. McHugo is researching longitudinal changes in brain structure and function in early psychosis.

Selected Publications

Theiss JD, Ridgewell C, McHugo M, Heckers S, Blackford JU. Manual segmentation of the human bed nucleus of the stria terminalis using 3T MRI. Neuroimage [print-electronic]. 2017 Feb 2/1/2017; 146: 288-92. PMID: 27876653, PMCID: PMC5358094, PII: S1053-8119(16)30665-6, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.11.047, ISSN: 1095-9572.

Ridgewell C, Blackford JU, McHugo M, Heckers S. Personality traits predicting quality of life and overall functioning in schizophrenia. Schizophr. Res [print-electronic]. 2017 Apr; 182: 19-23. PMID: 27746053, PMCID: PMC5376216, PII: S0920-9964(16)30451-0, DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2016.10.007, ISSN: 1573-2509.
McHugo M, Rogers BP, Talati P, Woodward ND, Heckers S. Increased Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuations but Normal Hippocampal-Default Mode Network Connectivity in Schizophrenia. Front Psychiatry. 2015; 6: 92. PMID: 26157396, PMCID: PMC4478381, DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00092, ISSN: 1664-0640.
McHugo M, Olatunji BO, Zald DH. The emotional attentional blink: what we know so far. Front Hum Neurosci. 2013; 7: 151. PMID: 23630482, PMCID: PMC3632779, DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00151, ISSN: 1662-5161.

Olatunji BO, Armstrong T, McHugo M, Zald DH. Heightened attentional capture by threat in veterans with PTSD. J Abnorm Psychol [print-electronic]. 2013 May; 122(2): 397-405. PMID: 23148782, PMCID: PMC4104529, PII: 2012-30030-001, DOI: 10.1037/a0030440, ISSN: 1939-1846.

Edmiston EK, McHugo M, Dukic MS, Smith SD, Abou-Khalil B, Eggers E, Zald DH. Enhanced visual cortical activation for emotional stimuli is preserved in patients with unilateral amygdala resection. J. Neurosci. 2013 Jul 7/3/2013; 33(27): 11023-31. PMID: 23825407, PMCID: PMC3718371, PII: 33/27/11023, DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0401-13.2013, ISSN: 1529-2401.
Piech RM, McHugo M, Smith SD, Dukic MS, Van Der Meer J, Abou-Khalil B, Most SB, Zald DH. Attentional capture by emotional stimuli is preserved in patients with amygdala lesions. Neuropsychologia [print-electronic]. 2011 Oct; 49(12): 3314-9. PMID: 21884712, PMCID: PMC3192286, PII: S0028-3932(11)00371-X, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.08.004, ISSN: 1873-3514.
Piech RM, McHugo M, Smith SD, Dukic MS, Van Der Meer J, Abou-Khalil B, Zald DH. Fear-enhanced visual search persists after amygdala lesions. Neuropsychologia [print-electronic]. 2010 Oct; 48(12): 3430-5. PMID: 20637217, PMCID: PMC2949448, PII: S0028-3932(10)00304-0, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.07.009, ISSN: 1873-3514.
Zald DH, Cowan RL, Riccardi P, Baldwin RM, Ansari MS, Li R, Shelby ES, Smith CE, McHugo M, Kessler RM. Midbrain dopamine receptor availability is inversely associated with novelty-seeking traits in humans. J. Neurosci. 2008 Dec 12/31/2008; 28(53): 14372-8. PMID: 19118170, PMCID: PMC2748420, PII: 28/53/14372, DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2423-08.2008, ISSN: 1529-2401.