Tamara Hershey
James S. McDonnell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in Psychiatry & Radiology
- Phone: 314-362-5593
- Email: tammy@wustl.edu
Additional Titles & Roles
- Director, Neuroimaging Labs Research Center (NIL-RC) @ MIR
- Director, McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience
- Vice Chair for Translational Research in Psychiatry
Education & Training
- PhD: Clinical Psychology: Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 1996
- BA: Psychology: Earlham College, IN, 1988
Research Interests
Neuropathophysiology underlying cognitive and mood aspects of Parkinson’s disease and other dopaminergic disorders.
Neuropathophysiological and behavioral effects of obesity and diabetes.
Using neuroimaging (MRI, fMRI and PET) and neuropsychological techniques, we study:
1) effects of severe hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia on the brain in children and adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus.
2) neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative changes in Wolfram syndrome
3) relationship between obesity and dopamine receptors in the brain, their relationship to behavioral features and weight loss.
4) effects of Parkinson’s disease on cognitive and mood processes; how deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus affects brain function.
Key Publications
- Lugar HM, Koller JM, Rutlin J, Eisenstein SA, Neyman O, Narayanan A, Chen L, Shimony JS, Hershey T (2019). Evidence for altered neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration in Wolfram syndrome using longitudinal morphometry. Sci Rep; 9(1): 6010. PMCID: PMC6461605
Read publication »Evidence for altered neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration in Wolfram syndrome using longitudinal morphometry - Siller AF, Lugar H, Rutlin J, Koller JM, Semenkovich K, White NH, Arbelaez AM, Shimony J, Hershey T (2017). Severity of clinical presentation in youth with type 1 diabetes is associated with differences in brain structure. Pediatr Diabetes; 18(8): 686-95. PMCID: PMC5290262
Read publication »Severity of clinical presentation in youth with type 1 diabetes is associated with differences in brain structure. - Pepino MY, Eisenstein SA, Bischoff AN, Klein S, Moerlein SM, Perlmutter JS, Black KJ, Hershey T (2016). Sweet dopamine: Sucrose preferences relate differentially to striatal D2 receptor binding and age in obesity. Diabetes; 65(9): 2618-23. PMCID: PMC5001180
Read publication »Sweet Dopamine: Sucrose Preferences Relate Differentially to Striatal D2 Receptor Binding and Age in Obesity - Eisenstein SA, Bogdan R, Corral-Frias NS, Koller JM, Black KJ, Moerlein SM, Perlmutter JS, Barch DM, Hershey T (2016). Prediction of striatal D2 receptor binding by DRD2/ANKK1 TaqIA allele status. Synapse; 70(10): 418-31. PMCID: PMC4980198
Read publication »Prediction of striatal D2 receptor binding by DRD2/ANKK1 TaqIA allele status - Bischoff A, Reiersen A, Buttlaire A, Al-lozi A, Doty T, Marshall B, Hershey T (2015). Selective cognitive and psychiatric manifestations in Wolfram Syndrome. Orphanet J Rare Dis; 10(1): 66. PMCID: PMC4450481
Read publication »Selective cognitive and psychiatric manifestations in Wolfram Syndrome - Eggebrecht AT, Ferradal SL, Robichaux-Viehoever A, Hassanpour MS, Dehghani H, Snyder AZ, Hershey T, Culver JP (2014). Mapping distributed brain function and networks with diffuse optical tomography. Nat Photonics; 8(6): 448-54. PMCID: PMC4114252
Read publication »Mapping distributed brain function and networks with diffuse optical tomography
Funded Research Projects
NICHD (PI): Tracking Neurodegeneration in Early Wolfram Syndrome
NIDDK (PI): Early Predictors of Brain Health and Development in Youth with T1DM
NINDS (PI): Using Diffuse Optical Tomography to Understand Deep Brain Stimulations Impact on Cortical Networks
NINDS (Co-PI): NINDS Center Core for Brain Imaging
NINDS (Key Personnel): Glucose Metabolism and the Default Mode Network in Health and Disease
NIEHS (Key Personnel): Motor and Cognitive Health Outcomes in a Mn-Exposed African Community
NICHD (Key Personnel): Type One Diabetes in the Brain in Children: Metabolic Interventions
NICHD (Key Personnel): Ischemic Conditioning as a Neurorecovery Agent for Stroke
Children’s Discovery Institute (Key Personnel): Effects of Childhood Malnutrition on Brain Development
NIH/NCATS (Key Personnel): An Endoplasmic Reticulum Calcium Stabilizer for the Treatment of Wolfram Syndrome
DRTC (Co-Investigator): Neuroinflammation in Obesity