Aleeza Stephens: I’ve Seen How Brain Damage Can Affect Personality
Aleeza Stephens was a sophomore in high school when her cousin had a football injury. He was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury affecting his frontal lobe.
Stephens is currently in the lab of Dr. Alan Frazer where she is looking at depression and antidepressant research.
She explained that one of the areas of her research focuses on negative cognitive biases, which are a core component of major depressive disorder. An example of a negative cognitive bias is when a person who used to enjoy an activity now recalls those experiences as negative. This can result in patients with depression no longer being motivated or interested in doing activities they once enjoyed, which is called anhedonia.