Kevin M. Spencer, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, HMS
Research Roles/Affiliations
Research Health Scientist, VA Boston Healthcare System
Contact Information
VA Boston Healthcare System, Research 151C
150 S. Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02130
E-mail: kevin_spencer@hms.harvard.edu
Relevant Links
Research
I direct the Neural Dynamics Laboratory of the VABHS, where we conduct EEG research with measures of oscillatory brain dynamics and event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Our major interests are to understand how neural circuits are related to cognitive functions, and how dysfunction in these circuits is related to disordered perception and cognition in neuropsychiatric disorders. This work has involved studies of sensory processing, plasticity, attention, and executive control with oscillations and ERPs in healthy individuals and in persons with neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly schizophrenia. We use sophisticated methodological approaches such as multivariate decomposition, spectral analysis, and source localization. We also use computational modeling to test hypotheses regarding neural circuitry and the generation of oscillations and ERPs. The goal of our current work is to identify EEG-based biomarkers of neural circuits involved in perceptual and cognitive operations using data from humans, animal models, and computational models.
Research Interests
Electroencephalography
EEG
Oscillation
Gamma
Schizophrenia
Psychosis
Mild traumatic brain injury
Computational modeling