Assistant Professor of Psychology

Clinical

Office: 305 Wilson Hall
Phone: (615) 322-1781
Fax: (615) 343-8449
Email:

Personal Website

Degrees

Ph.D. Duke University, 1997

Research Area

Early adverse events have been linked to the onset and maintenance of depression but the mechanisms underlying this relationship are less clear. The focus of Dr. Grant�s research is on developing and investigating neurobiological models of the transduction of stress into changes in brain structure and function in depression that underlie disturbances in cognitive control and self-regulation of emotion using novel behavioral paradigms, fMRI and MR spectroscopy. The general focus of the lab is on spatial localization/mapping of brain regions central to efficient cognitive control in relation to affective disorders, including functional subdivisions of the anterior cingulate [dorsal and rostral-ventral], lateral PFC and amygdala. Our work to date suggests considerable disturbances in both behavioral and neural response to tasks that require high attention load and varied affective valence in patients with unipolar depression. Further research will continue to investigate the link between efficiency of stimulus processing and mood congruence. In addition, more recent work in our lab is now focusing on the link with stress including HPA activity, with a particular focus on cortical GABA and glutamate levels, in addition to cortisol.

Current Research

Neural basis of cognitive control and regulation of emotion in depression. Neurobiology of stress

Representative Publications

Grant, M.M., Friedman, E., Haskett, RF, Riso, L.P & Thase, ME. Urinary free cortisol patterns in depressed men and women: Relevance to pathophysiology (submitted).
Grant, M.M., Woodward, N., Logan, G., Hollon, S., & Shelton, R. (Oct, 2005). Cognitive control and self-regulation of emotion in MDD�Is there a relationship between spatial localization and efficiency of processing in anterior cingulate? Poster to be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology in Miami, FL.
Grant, M., Hollon, S., Shelton, R., Stringer, E. (Dec, 2005). Prevention of relapse in MDD: Aninvestigation of the neural basis of self-regulation of emotion. Poster to be presented at the 44th annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychoparmacology in Waikoloa, HI.
Riso, L.P., du Toit, P.L., Dacey, S. Blandino, J., Pena, S., Duin, J., Grant, M. & Ulmer, C. (2003). Cognitive aspects of chronic depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 112 (72-80).
Riso, L.P., Blandino, J.A., Hendricks, E., Grant, M.M., & Duin, J.S. (2002). Marital history and current marital satisfaction in chronic depression. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 32(4) Win 291-295.
Grant, M.M., Thase, M.E. & Sweeney, J.A. (2001). Cognitive disturbance in outpatient depressed younger adults: Evidence of modest impairment, Biological Psychiatry, 50 (1), 35-43.
Grant, M.M., Gil, K.M., Floyd, M. & Abrams, M. (Spring, 2000). Depression and functioning in relation to health care use in sickle cell disease. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 22(2) 149-157.
Gil, K.M., Wilson, J., Edens, J., Webster, D., Abrams, M., Orringer, E., Grant, M., Clark, W. & Janal, M. (1996). Effects of cognitive coping skills training on coping strategies and experimental pain sensitivity in African-American adults with sickle cell disease. Health Psychology, 15(1), 3-10.
Hamilton, J. & Grant, M.M. & Jensvold, M.J. (1996). Sex differences in antidepressant treatment outcome and pharmacokinetic studies: A quantitative analysis with a focus on imipramine. In M.J. Jensvold, U. Halbreich & J. Hamilton (Eds.), Psychopharmacology and women: Sex, gender and hormones, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Press.