Wisconsin Symposium on Emotion

Psychopathology and Well-Being: Perspectives from Transdiagnostic Translational Neuroscience

April 13 - 14, 2022

The Wisconsin Symposium on Emotion is an annual conference exploring the frontiers of affective neuroscience. For the past 27 years, the symposium has provided an intellectual container for researchers, clinicians, trainees, students, and others to learn about and discuss the biological mechanisms underlying mental health.

Founded and hosted by two world renown scientists at the University of Wisconsin, Drs Ned Kalin and Richie Davidson, the symposium is a long standing tradition that supports communication across disciplines to further cultivate our collective understanding of the relationship between mind, body, emotions, and health. Each year participants report that this meeting, where experienced scientists make a special effort to connect with student researchers, has helped forge enduring collegial relationships. 

As always, the symposium offers an outstanding lineup of leading scientists presenting their research, along with in-depth discussions. The symposium offers five 1-hour presentations, each followed by a 45-minute in-depth discussion. Additionally, the symposium includes breakout discussion sessions, reception and Poster Session, and opportunities to connect with a variety of participants from programs across the country.

We are thrilled to offer this year’s symposium in hybrid format! The event will take place in-person at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, and all registered attendees will have the option to attend some or all of the talks virtually. Additionally, all talks will be recorded and distributed to registered attendees after the event.

We hope you can join us as we deliver lively discussions on the origins of psychiatric illnesses and provide creative insights into new potential treatments.

2022 Presenters:

• Deanna Barch, PhD
• Meike Bartels, PhD
• Sidney Hankerson, MD
• Bo Li, PhD
• Melissa Rosenkranz, PhD

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FAQ

• Masks are optional per Dane County and UW Campus Policies
• This is a hybrid event: all conference activities will be held in-person at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (UW-Madison), and all registered attendees will have the option of attending any or all of the talks via livestream

• Note: at this time, we are unable to offer the Poster Session (4/13/22) and 1 hour breakout session (4/14/22) virtually - these can only be attended in-person. However, you can view poster abstracts at healthemotions.org

• There is no option to register "virtual only." Simply complete your registration (as a student, faculty, or general admission) and you will automatically have the option to participate via livestream.
• Partial registrations are not available. If you are only interested in one of the talks, you must still register for the entire conference.
• Virtual Q&A will be offered! Both the in-person and virtual audiences are invited to ask questions. Livestream attendees will have the ability to submit questions to presenters during the 45-minute post-talk discussions.
• All talks will be recorded and distributed to registered attendees after the event
• CME credits are not available

• Breakfast Menu: Just Coffee – Organic & Decaf, Assorted Tea, Madison Sourdough pastries & croissants, Bagels & Cream Cheese.
• Reception Menu: Cash Bar (assorted wine, beer and soda), Wisconsin Cheese Platter, Fresh Fruit, Mediterranean Tray, Parmesan Meatballs, Fried Vegetable Spring Rolls, Yakitori Chicken Skewers, Sliders: Cheeseburger with aoli, Black Bean Burger with pico
• PARKING: Lot #20, Lot #80 (Union South), and Lot #17 - see UW Interactive Map
• Zoom Webinar link will be shared with all registered attendees by Wednesday morning – please check your inbox for an email from Eventbrite!
• All talks will be recorded and share with registered attendees, assuming there are no technical hiccups :)

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SCHEDULE

Wednesday, April 13, 2022 (Note: all times listed are CST)

7:30-8:15am: Registration Check-in & Coffee/Breakfast*

8:15-8:30am: Welcome— Ned Kalin, MD & Richard J. Davidson, PhD

8:30-9:30am: Bo Li, PhD “Dissecting the Neural Circuitry Underlying Motivated Behaviors”

9:30-10:15am: Discussion

10:15-10:45am: (break)

10:45-11:45am: Meike Bartels, PhD “Differences in Wellbeing: What Do We Know About Genes, the Brain, and the Environment”

11:45am-12:30pm: Discussion

12:30-2:30pm: Lunch Break

2:30-3:30pm: Deanna Barch, PhD “Early Emergence of Depression: Understanding Emotion Relevant Risk Factors and Treatment”

3:30-4:15pm: Discussion

4:30-6:30pm: Poster Session and Reception

Thursday, April 14, 2022 (Note: all times listed are CST)

7:30 – 8:30am: Registration Check-in & Coffee/Breakfast*

8:30-9:30am: Sidney Hankerson, MD, MBA “Partnering with Black Churches to Promote Mental Health Equity”

9:30 – 10:15am: Discussion

10:15 – 11:15am: Student Breakout Discussion Sessions (see below)

11:15 – 12:15am: Melissa Rosenkranz, PhD “Toward an Integrated Understanding of Mind-Body Health: From Mechanisms to Interventions”

12:15 – 1:00pm: Discussion

1:00pm: Closing Remarks – Ned Kalin, MD and Richard J. Davidson, PhD

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Talk Details

“Early Emergence of Depression: Understanding Emotion Relevant Risk Factors and Treatment” - Deanna Barch, PhD

This talk with overview research on the psychological and neurobiological risk factors related to emotion processing and regulation that are associated with very early onset depression, with onset as early as preschool. These factors include reduced responses to rewarding outcomes associated with impaired activation of striatal and insular regions, increased responses to negatively valenced outcomes, also associated with disrupted amygdala, striatal and insular activation, impaired emotion regulation associated with decreased prefrontal activity, and disrupted connectivity between emotion reactivity and emotion regulation regions. I will also present results of a novel emotion regulation focused treatment for early onset depression and evidence for modulation of hypothesized neural targets as a function of treatment. Together, these data support the validity of early onset depression, and provide evidence for the emotion relevant psychological and neural factors that can be targeted by treatments and which may serve to identify children at risk for the development of early onset depression.

“Differences in Wellbeing: What Do We Know About Genes, the Brain, and the Environment” - Meike Bartels, PhD

Happiness and wellbeing have emerged as important study subjects within and across many fields of research. A major driving force behind this is the association with physical and mental health and its pivotal role in socioeconomic issues and economic development. With the increased interest in the importance of wellbeing it is critically important to understand and reveal sources of individual differences. Dr. Bartels will present her work on happiness and wellbeing that describing the complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. She will present the current state of art within the field of behavioral and molecular genetic research into well-being, including twin-family studies and molecular genetic findings and the search for the exposome. She will furthermore explain the importance of her findings for individuals and the society at large.

“Partnering with Black Churches to Promote Mental Health Equity” - Sidney Hankerson, MD

African Americans with depression are more impaired, have a longer illness course, and have more severe symptoms compared to White Americans. The purpose of this talk is to briefly review socio-ecological factors that contribute to mental health inequities and describe a novel, church-based depression intervention with a focus on engaging Black men in depression care.

“Dissecting the Neural Circuitry Underlying Motivated Behaviors” - Bo Li, PhD

The basal ganglia and amygdala circuits have important roles in learning and expression of behavioral responses driven by either appetitive or aversive stimuli. How exactly distinct circuits contribute to the generation of such divergent behavioral responses remains unclear. Our recent studies in mice indicate that reward and punishment based learning induces distinct plastic changes in distributed circuits in the basal ganglia and the amygdala, and reveal how these learning-induced changes can be used to guide flexible behaviors. Here I will report our recent findings regarding the cellular and circuit mechanisms underlying some of the behavioral roles of these distinct circuits.

“Toward an Integrated Understanding of Mind-Body Health: From Mechanisms to Interventions” - Melissa Rosenkranz, PhD

This talk will cover the bidirectional interactions between the brain and the immune system, using asthma as a clinical model to investigate the mechanisms that underlie the over-representation of psychopathology and cognitive decline in populations with chronic inflammatory disease. I will present data from a series of brain imaging studies that show that inflammation in the body can modulate neural responses to emotion and that neural responses to emotion can modulate inflammation in the body, with clinically meaningful consequences. I’ll also share work demonstrating that mental training can have descending impact on peripheral inflammation and disease-related outcomes. Finally, I’ll advance the hypothesis that the relationship between emotion and inflammation may portend a more fundamental neurodegenerative process, giving rise a range of poor outcomes, including dementia.

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For additional information and complete program details, please visit: www.healthemotions.org 

World-renowned scientists Ned Kalin, MD and Richie Davidson, PhD formed the HealthEmotions Research Institute (HERI) at the University of Wisconsin in 1995 to investigate the complex neurobiological relationship between mind, body, and emotions. This video explores the origins of their early collaborations on the frontiers of affective neuroscience and the formation of the "Wisconsin Symposium on Emotion"-- an annual conference which, for over 25 years, continues to bring together world class scientists and student researchers to investigate the neuromechanisms underlying emotions, stress, and wellbeing.