GREGORY S. BERNS
Curriculum Vitae

OFFICE ADDRESS
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Emory University School of Medicine
1639 Pierce Dr, Suite 4000
Atlanta, GA 30322
Phone: (404) 727-2556
Fax: (404) 727-3233
EMAIL:

BIRTH DATE AND PLACE: Ithaca, NY 6/26/64

CITIZENSHIP: USA

AFFILIATIONS
Primary Appointment:

1998-present / Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Emory University School of Medicine

Secondary Appointments:

1998-present / Assistant Professor
Tech/Emory Biomedical Engineering Department
1998-present / Assistant Professor
School of Psychology
Georgia Institute of Technology
1998-present / Faculty Member in Neuroscience Program
Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Emory University

LICENSURES:

PA Medical License (inactive)
GA Medical License (active)

SPECIALTY CERTIFICATION:

American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology: Psychiatry (2000)

EDUCATION

1986 / A.B. / Princeton University / Physics
1990 / Ph.D. / University of California, Davis / Biomedical Engineering
1994 / M.D. / University of California, San Diego / Medicine

POSTGRADUATE TRAINING

1994-1995 / General Psychiatry and Medicine Internship
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
1995-1998 / Adult Psychiatry Residency
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

PREVIOUS ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS

1997-1998 / Supervising Physician
Comprehensive Substance Abuse Services of Westmoreland County, Greensburg, PA

HONORS & AWARDS

  • Princeton University
    Graduated with Honors, 1986
  • Princeton University Department of Physics
    Allen G. Shenstone Prize for Outstanding Work in Experimental Physics, 1986
  • University of California, Davis
    University of California Regents' Fellowship, 1989-90
  • American Society of Biomechanics
    Postdoctoral Young Scientist Award, 1991
  • Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh, PA
    Thomas Detre Prize for Outstanding Medical Student Paper in General Psychiatry, 1993
  • American Psychiatric Association
    APA/Lilly Resident Research Award, 1995-96
  • National Institute of Mental Health
    NIMH Outstanding Resident Award, 1996
  • Society of Biological Psychiatry
    SOBP/Lilly Fellowship Award, 1997
  • Organon
    Excellence in Psychiatry Residency Award, 1998
  • Anxiety Disorders Association of America
    Senior Travel Award, 1999
  • American Psychiatric Association
    APA/SmithKline Beecham Young Faculty Award, 1999

SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science, since 1988
  • Society for Neuroscience, since 1993
  • International Basal Ganglia Society, since 1994

RESEARCH FOCUS

  • Functional neuroimaging and deconstruction of spatiotemporal processes in the human brain
  • Computational neurobiology
  • Functional neuroimaging of subconscious learning
  • Functional neuroimaging of novelty/entropy detection processes in humans
  • Biologic basis of "reward-deficiency syndromes" and substance abuse

COURSES TAUGHT

  • Cognitive Neuroscience. Graduate level seminar, School of Psychology, Georgia Tech, Spring 1999.
  • Biopsychology. Undergraduate / graduate level course, School of Psychology, Georgia Tech, Fall 1999.

MANUSCRIPT REVIEWER

  • Biological Psychiatry
  • Brain and Behavioral Sciences
  • Critical Reviews in Neurobiology
  • Journal of the American Statistical Association
  • Journal of Neurophysiology
  • Journal of Neuroscience
  • Neural Computation
  • NeuroImage
  • Neuron
  • Neuropsychologia
  • Psychological Reviews

GRANT REVIEWER

  • NSF (2000)
  • NIDA (2000): SEP for "Cognitive Approaches to Addictive Processes"
  • NIH (2001): IFCN-8

GRANTS

Federally Funded:

Source: NIDA (1K08 DA00367)
Title: Neuroimaging of Novelty Detection in Cocaine Dependence
Total Direct: $710,081
Dates: 9/99 - 8/04

Source: NIMH (1RO1 MH61010)
Title: Integration of Bifurcation Theory and Continuous fMRI
Total Direct: $565,669
Dates: 3/00 - 2/04

Private Foundation Funded:

Source: Stanley Foundation
Title: Novelty Detection in Bipolar II Disorder: A PET Study
Amount: $145,000 (Total)
Dates: 8/97 - 12/00

Source: National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD)
Title: PET Measurement of Behaviorally Mediated Dopamine Release in Humans
Amount: $60,000 (Total)
Dates: 7/98 - 6/01

Source: Emory / Georgia Tech Biomedical Technology Research Center Seed Grant
Principal Investigators: Jeffrey P. Toth and Gregory S. Berns
Title: Neural Dynamics Underlying Attention and Learning in Spatial Stimulus-Response Compatibility
Amount: $29,405
Dates: 7/99 - 6/00

INVITED LECTURES

  1. Institute for Neural Computation, University of California, San Diego & Salk Institute (1995). "The Basal Ganglia: Local Memory and Automatic Sequencing."
  2. Institute for Neural Computation, University of California, San Diego & Salk Institute (1997). "PET mapping of subconscious novelty detection mechanisms in humans."
  3. School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology (1997). "Cortico-Striatal Function in Sequence Learning."
  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Alabama, Birmingham (1998). Grand Rounds, "Imaging Cortico-Striatal Function Using Cognitive Probes."
  5. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh (1998). Ground Rounds, "Common Neurobiology of ADHD and Substance Abuse."
  6. Division of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine (1998). "Computational Neuroscience Driving Neuroimaging: Studies of Basal Ganglia Function."
  7. Division of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine (2000). "Beyond Phrenology: Using fMRI to Study Brain Dynamics."
  8. Psychology Department, Princeton University (2000). "Beyond Phrenology: Using fMRI to Study Brain Dynamics."

INVITED CONFERENCE LECTURES

  1. Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting (1998). "Modeling Basal Ganglia Function: Implications for Drug Abuse and Parkinson’s Disease."
  2. American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (1998). Workshop on "Mechanisms of Drug Craving."
  3. American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (1999). Teaching Day. "Beyond Phrenology: Using Functional MRI to Study Brain Dynamics."
  4. American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (1999). Workshop on "Mapping the functional anatomy of the anterior limbic areas: Integrating behavior, neurochemistry and anatomy in psychiatric pathophysiology."
  5. European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Munich (2000). Invited symposium on "Cognition, fMRI, and Psychopharmacology."
  6. Biodynamics III -- Nonlinear Approaches in the Health Sciences (2000). Invited presentation on fMRI and brain dynamics.
  7. NIDA (2000). Invited presentation for workshop, "Computational Models: Applications to Drug Abuse."
  8. Princeton Workshop on Neural Economics (2000). "Neural Responses to Predictability and Uncertainty."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFEREED JOURNALS

  1. Berns MW, Aist J, Edwards J, Strahs K, Girton J, McNeill P, Rattner JB, Kitzes M, Hammer-Wilson M, Liaw L-H, Siemens A, Koonce M, Peterson S, Brenner S, Burt J, Walter R, Bryant PJ, van Dyk D, Coulombe J, Cahill T, Berns GS: Laser microsurgery in cell and developmental biology. Science 213:505-513, 1981.
  2. Berns GS and Berns MW: Computer-based tracking of living cells. Exp. Cell Res. 142:103-109, 1982.
  3. Berns MW, Berns GS, Coffey J, Wile AG: Exposure (dose) tables for hematoporphyrin derivative photoradiation therapy. Lasers in Surgery & Med. 4:107-131, 1984.
  4. Berns GS, Hull ML, Patterson HA: Implementation of a five degree of freedom automated system to determine knee flexibility in vitro. J. Biomech. Eng. 112:392-400, 1990.
  5. Howell SM, Berns GS, Farley TE: Unimpinged and impinged anterior cruciate ligament grafts: MR signal intensity measurements. Radiology 179:639-643, 1991.
  6. Berns GS, Hull ML, Patterson HA: Strain in the anteromedial bundle of the anterior cruciate ligament under combination loading. J. Orthop. Res. 10:167-176, 1992.
  7. Berns GS, Howell SM, Farley TE: The accuracy of signal intensity measurements in magnetic resonance imaging as evaluated within the knee. Magn. Reson. Imag. 10:573-578, 1992.
  8. Berns GS and Howell SM: Roofplasty requirements in vitro for different tibial hole placements in anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions. Am. J. Sports Med. 21:292-298, 1993.
  9. Berns GS, Dayan P, Sejnowski TJ: A correlational model for the development of disparity selectivity in visual cortex that depends on prenatal and postnatal phases. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA90:8277-8281, 1993. PDF.
  10. Hull ML, Berns GS, Varma H, Patterson HA: Strain in the medial collateral ligament of the human knee under single and combined loads. J. Biomech. 29:199-206, 1996.
  11. Berns GS, Cohen JD, Mintun MA: Brain regions responsive to novelty in the absence of awareness. Science, 276:1272-1275, 1997. PDF
  12. Berns GS and Sejnowski TJ: A computational model of how the basal ganglia produce sequences. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 10:108-121, 1998. PDF.
  13. Nemeroff CB, Kilts CD, Berns GS: Functional brain imaging: Twenty-first century phrenology or psychobiological advance for the millennium? Am. J. Psychiatry 156:671-673, 1999.
  14. Berns GS, Song AW, Mao H: Continuous functional magnetic resonance imaging reveals dynamic nonlinearities in "dose-response" curves for finger opposition. J. Neurosci. 19:RC17:1-6, 1999. PDF.
  15. Berns GS: Functional neuroimaging.Life Sci 65:2531-2540, 1999. PDF.
  16. Bischoff-Grethe A, Proper SM, Mao H, Daniels KA, Berns GS: Conscious and unconscious processing of nonverbal predictability in Wernicke's area.J. Neurosci. 20(5):1975-1981, 2000. PDF.
  17. Berns GS, McClure SM, Pagnoni G, Montague PR: Predictability modulates human brain response to reward. J. Neurosci., in press.
  18. Bischoff-Grethe A, Martin M, Mao H, Berns GS: The context of uncertainty modulates the brain response to predictability. Submitted.
  19. Dhamala M, Pagnoni G, Wiesenfeld K, Berns GS: Dimensional estimates from fMRI signals of the human brain vary with mental load. Submitted.
  20. Berns GS, Martin M, Proper S: Limbic hyperreactivity in bipolar II disorder. Submitted.
  21. Rilling JK, Gutman DA, Zeh TR, Pagnoni G, Berns GS, Kilts CD: A neural substrate for the Nash equilibrium in the prisoner's dilemma game. Submitted.

BOOK CHAPTERS & UNREFEREED JOURNALS

  1. Berns GS: Force distribution patterns in the foot during running. A.B. Thesis, Dept. of Physics, Princeton University, 1986.
  2. Berns GS: Strain within the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments of the human knee under combination loading. Ph.D. Dissertation, Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, 1990.
  3. Berns GS, Hull ML, Patterson HA: Design and performance evaluation of an automated system to determine knee flexibility in vitro. Skiing Trauma and Safety: Eighth International Symposium. ASTM STP 1104. CD Mote, Jr and RJ Johnson eds, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA, 1991, pp 57-76.
  4. Berns GS, Hull ML, Patterson HA: Strains within the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments of the knee at loads causing failure. Skiing Trauma and Safety: Ninth International Symposium. ASTM STP 1182. RJ Johnson, CD Mote, and J Zelcer eds, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA, 1993, pp 89-110.
  5. Berns GS, Dayan P, Sejnowski TJ: Correlational-based development of disparity sensitivity. Computation and Neural Systems. FH Eeckman and JM Bower eds, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, 1993, pp 207-214.
  6. Berns GS, Sejnowski TJ: A model of basal ganglia function unifying reinforcement learning and action selection. Proceedings of the Joint Symposium on Neural Computation, University of California San Diego and California Institute of Technology, Volume 4. Institute for Neural Computation, University of California, San Diego, 1994, pp. 129-148.
  7. Berns GS, Sejnowski TJ: How the basal ganglia make decisions. The Neurobiology of Decision-Making. A Damasio, H Damasio, Y Christen eds, Springer-Verlag, 1996, pp. 101-113.
  8. Berns GS and Nemeroff CB: Book Review of "The Neuropsychiatry of Limbic and Subcortical Disorders." J Psych Neurosci 24:251-252, 1999.
  9. Berns GS and Nemeroff CB: Extreme measures. The neurobiology of bipolar disorder.Odyssey 5:36-41, 1999.
  10. Berns GS: Cognitive neuroscience. Encyclopedia of Psychology and Neuroscience, WE Craighead and CB Nemeroff eds. John Wiley & Sons, 2000, pp. 314-315.

ABSTRACTS

  1. Berns GS: A flexible piezoelectric transducer for the measurement of force distribution patterns in the foot. Proc. of the Am. Soc. of Biomech. 11:119-120, 1987.
  2. Berns GS and Hull ML: A robotic system to measure in vitro knee compliance and strength with five degrees of freedom. Proc. of the Am. Soc. of Biomech. 12:34-35, 1988.
  3. Berns GS and Hull ML: A robotic system to measure in vitro knee compliance and strength with five degrees of freedom. Advances in Bioengineering 8:155-158, 1988.
  4. Berns GS, Hull ML, Patterson HA: Design and performance evaluation of an automated system to determine knee flexibility in vitro. 8th International Society for Skiing Safety Symposium, Riksgransen, Sweden, 1989.
  5. Berns GS and Hull ML: Comparison of a four-bar linkage model of cycling motion with actual kinematics. 2nd International Symposium on Computer Simulation in Biomechanics, Davis, CA, USA, 1989.
  6. Berns GS, Hull ML, Patterson HA: The determination of strain within the ACL and MCL under generalized knee loading. Trans. 36th Ann. Meeting Orthop. Res. Soc., 15:32, 1990.
  7. Berns GS, Hull ML, Patterson HA: Strain relationships of the anteromedial bundle of the anterior cruciate ligament under combination loading. Proceedings of First World Congress of Biomechanics, II:262, 1990.
  8. Howell SM, Berns GS, Farley TE, Clark JA: Pixel signal intensity analysis of anterior cruciate ligament grafts in knees with and without intercondylar roof impingement. Radiologic Society of North America, Radiology (Supl.), 177(P):295, 1990.
  9. Berns GS, Hull ML, Patterson HA: Strains within the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments of the knee at loads causing failure. 9th International Society for Skiing Safety Symposium, Perth, Australia, 1991.
  10. Berns GS and Howell SM: The effect of roofplasty and tibial hole placement on impingement of anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions. Proceedings of the American Society of Biomechanics 15:24-25, 1991.
  11. Berns GS and Howell SM: The effect of tibial hole placement and roofplasty on impingement of anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions. Trans. 38th Ann. Meeting Orthop. Res. Soc., 17:656, 1992.
  12. Berns GS, Dayan P, Sejnowski TJ: Correlational-based development of disparity sensitivity. Computational and Neural Systems 1992.
  13. Berns GS, Dayan P, Sejnowski TJ: Development of disparity sensitivity in a correlational-based network model of the visual cortex requires two phases. Soc. Neurosci. Abs. 18:1306, 1992.
  14. Berns GS: A linear-systems model of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Am. Psych. Assoc., 1993.
  15. Berns GS: A control-systems model of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic 50th Anniv Convocation, 1993.
  16. Berns GS and Sejnowski TJ: A network model of the ventral striatum as an active filter for cognitive and sensory information. Cognitive Neuroscience Society, 1994.
  17. Berns GS and Sejnowski TJ: A model of basal ganglia function unifying reinforcement learning and action selection. Institute for Neural Computation Joint UCSD and Caltech Symposium, 1994.
  18. Berns GS and Sejnowski TJ: A computational model of basal ganglia function with output selection and reinforcement learning. Soc. Neurosci. Abs. 20:2, 1994.
  19. Berns GS: The basal ganglia: local memory and automatic sequencing. Institute for Neural Computation, 1995.
  20. Berns GS and Sejnowski TJ: A computational model of local memory in the primate pallidal-subthalamic circuit. Soc. Neurosci. Abs. 21:678, 1995.
  21. Berns GS and Sejnowski TJ: A computational model of the basal ganglia and how pallidotomy alleviates symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Soc. Neurosci. Abs. 22:2028, 1996.
  22. Berns GS, Cohen JD, Mintun MA: PET mapping of subconscious novelty detection mechanisms in humans. Biol. Psychiatry 41:69S, 1997.
  23. Berns GS and Sejnowski TJ: A computational model of the basal ganglia and the effect of pallidotomy on sequence learning. Neural Modeling of Brain and Cognitive Disorders 2:52, 1998.
  24. Berns GS, Tarter RE, Cohen JD: Chronic cocaine use is associated with brain blood flow abnormalities during sequence learning. College on Problems on Drug Dependence, 1998.
  25. Berns GS and Cohen JD: Dissociating brain regions for novel learning from response competition. Soc. Neurosci. Abs., 1998.
  26. Berns GS: PET imaging of the basal ganglia: correlations with cognitive uncertainty. Int. Basal Ganglia Soc., 1998.
  27. Berns GS, Song AW, Mao H: Nonlinear spatiotemporal dynamics of finger tapping revealed by continuous fMRI. Soc. Neurosci. Abs., 1999.
  28. Bischoff-Grethe A, Proper SM, Mao H, Berns GS: Neural correlates of informational uncertainty: an FMRI study. Soc. Neurosci. Abs., 1999.
  29. Bischoff-Grethe A, Martin M, Mao H, Berns GS: History dependent modulation of subcortical responses to motor entropy. Human Brain Mapping, 2000.
  30. Bischoff-Grethe A, Martin M, Mao H, Berns GS: History dependent modulation of subcortical responses to motor entropy. Soc. Neurosci. Abs., 2000.
  31. McClure SM, Berns GS, Montague PR: Human brain response to preference and predictability. Soc. Neurosci. Abs., 2000.

PUBLIC SERVICE

  • 5/2897 National Public Radio. Interview on learning without awareness.
  • 5/28/97 BBC. Interviewed on learning without awareness.
  • 7/97 Insight magazine. Quoted on subconscious learning in interview with Gavin de Becker and his book, "The Gift of Fear."
  • 9/97 Psychology Today. Interview on, "Learning but not Trying."
  • 5/99Georgia Tech / Emory MiniMedical School lecture on "Imaging the Mind."
  • 7/99 WSB-TV Atlanta. Interviewed for special production on Depression.
  • 12/00 CNN-FYI. Live webcast for high-school Q&A on "Brain Structure and Function".