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Welcome to the ZVR Lab

Our lab uses virtual reality (VR), multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and machine learning to try to elucidate the psychological and neural signatures of PTSD and anxiety disorders. Particularly, to delineate the contextual aspect of threat and reward learning, discrimination, and monitoring.

Specifically, we are interested in cases where an area within a larger environment becomes associated with threat, such as the area of a neighborhood where an assault or assaults took place, or the location on a battlefield where explosions occurred.

Patients with PTSD and anxiety disorders often show an overgeneralization or an exaggerated response to threat in larger contexts, even in environments predicting safety. With this research, we expect to identify new brain measures to develop sensitive, personalized, and precise diagnostic and treatment tools for psychopathology. 

Lab Members

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Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, Ph.D.

Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator

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Publications

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Affiliations

    1. Mufford MS
    2. van der Meer D
    3. Baird CL
    4. Sun D
    5. LaBar KS
    6. Ramesar R
    7. Hussain A
    8. Abdallah CG
    9. Andrew E
    10. Averill CL
    11. Baker JT
    12. Baugh LA
    13. Blackford JU
    14. Bomyea J
    15. Bryant RA
    16. Ching CRK
    17. Choi K
    18. Cotton AS
    19. Daniels JK
    20. Davenport ND
    21. Davidson RJ
    22. De Bellis MD
    23. Dennis EL
    24. Densmore M
    25. deRoon-Cassini TA
    26. Disner SG
    27. du Plessis S
    28. Etkin A
    29. Fani N
    30. Fercho KA
    31. Fitzgerald J
    32. Geuze E
    33. Gordon EM
    34. Grupe DW
    35. Harpaz-Rotem I
    36. Russel CC
    37. Herzog JI
    38. Hofmann D
    39. Hudson AR
    40. Ipser J
    41. Jahanshad N
    42. Jovanovic T
    43. Kaufman ML
    44. Koch SBJ
    45. Koerte IK
    46. Korgaonkar MS
    47. Krystal JH
    48. Lanius R
    49. Larson C
    50. Lebois LAM
    51. Levy I
    52. Li G
    53. Liberzon I
    54. Logue MW
    55. Magnotta VA
    56. Manthey A
    57. Maron-Katz A
    58. May G
    59. McLaughlin KA
    60. Mueller SC
    61. Nawijn L
    62. Nelson SM
    63. Neria Y
    64. Neufeld RWJ
    65. Nitschke JB
    66. O'Leary EN
    67. Olatunji BO
    68. Olff M
    69. Olson EA
    70. Peverill M
    71. Phan KL
    72. Pineda E
    73. Ressler KJ
    74. Rosso IM
    75. Salminen LE
    76. Meltzer K
    77. Schmahl C
    78. Seedat S
    79. Sharp CA
    80. Shenton ME
    81. Sierk A
    82. Simons RM
    83. Simons JS
    84. Sponheim SR
    85. Stein MB
    86. Stevens JS
    87. Straube T
    88. Suarez-Jimenez B
    89. Théberge J
    90. Thomopolous SI
    91. van der Wee NJA
    92. van der Werff SJA
    93. van Erp TGM
    94. van Rooij SJH
    95. van Zuiden M
    96. Veltman DJ
    97. Vermeiren RRJM
    98. Walter H
    99. Wang X
    100. Wang L
    101. Xie H
    102. Zhu X
    103. Zhu Y
    104. Thompson PM
    105. Andreassen OA
    106. Stein DJ
    107. Morey RA
    108. Dalvie S
    Shared and specific associations of amygdala nuclei volumes with PTSD symptom domains and childhood trauma: An ENIGMA-PGC PTSD mega-analysis.; Molecular psychiatry. 2026 Jul 02.
    1. Hinojosa CA
    2. Sun D
    3. Russell C
    4. Baird CL
    5. Hussain A
    6. Sendi M
    7. Jahanshad N
    8. Salminen LE
    9. Olff M
    10. Frijling JL
    11. Veltman DJ
    12. Koch SBJ
    13. Nawijn L
    14. van Zuiden M
    15. Wang L
    16. Zhu Y
    17. Li G
    18. Stein DJ
    19. Ipser J
    20. Koopowitz SM
    21. Neria Y
    22. Zhu X
    23. Ravid O
    24. Zilcha-Mano S
    25. Lazarov A
    26. Suarez-Jimenez B
    27. Huggins AA
    28. Ressler K
    29. Jovanovic T
    30. Fani N
    31. Mueller SC
    32. Hudson AR
    33. Daniels JK
    34. Sierk A
    35. Manthey A
    36. Walter H
    37. van der Wee NJA
    38. van der Werff SJA
    39. Vermeiren RRJM
    40. Rektor I
    41. Říha P
    42. Kaufman ML
    43. Lebois LAM
    44. Baker JT
    45. King A
    46. Liberzon I
    47. Angstadt M
    48. Davenport ND
    49. Disner SG
    50. Sponheim SR
    51. Straube T
    52. Hofmann D
    53. Lu GM
    54. Qi R
    55. Wang X
    56. Kunch A
    57. Xie H
    58. Quidé Y
    59. El-Hage W
    60. Lissek S
    61. Berg H
    62. Cisler J
    63. Ross M
    64. Herringa RJ
    65. Grupe DW
    66. Nitschke JB
    67. Davidson RJ
    68. Larson CL
    69. deRoon-Cassini TA
    70. Tomas CW
    71. Fitzgerald JM
    72. Feola B
    73. Urbano-Blackford J
    74. Olatunji BO
    75. May G
    76. Nelson SM
    77. Gordon EM
    78. Abdallah CG
    79. Lanius R
    80. Densmore M
    81. Théberge J
    82. Neufeld RWJ
    83. Baugh LA
    84. Simons RM
    85. Simons JS
    86. Magnotta VA
    87. Fercho KA
    88. Elman J
    89. Panizzon M
    90. Franz C
    91. Lyons MJ
    92. Kremen W
    93. McLaughin KA
    94. Peverill M
    95. Sambrook K
    96. Thompson PM
    97. Stevens JS
    98. Morey RA
    99. van Rooij SJH
    Resting-State Functional Connectivity of the Amygdala and Hippocampus in PTSD: Results From the PGC-ENIGMA PTSD Working Group.; The American journal of psychiatry. 2026 Apr 02.
    1. Steele N
    2. Hussain A
    3. Sun D
    4. Baird CL
    5. Russell C
    6. Jahanshad N
    7. Salminen LE
    8. Olff M
    9. Frijling JL
    10. Veltman DJ
    11. Koch SBJ
    12. Nawijn L
    13. van Zuiden M
    14. Wang L
    15. Zhu Y
    16. Li G
    17. Stein DJ
    18. Ipser J
    19. Koopowitz S
    20. Neria Y
    21. Zhu X
    22. Ravid O
    23. Zilcha-Mano S
    24. Lazarov A
    25. Suarez-Jimenez B
    26. Huggins AA
    27. Stevens J
    28. Ressler K
    29. Jovanovic T
    30. van Rooij SJH
    31. Fani N
    32. Dennis EL
    33. Tate DF
    34. Cifu DX
    35. Walker WC
    36. Wilde EA
    37. Rektor I
    38. Říha P
    39. Kaufman ML
    40. Lebois LAM
    41. Baker JT
    42. King A
    43. Liberzon I
    44. Angstadt M
    45. Davenport ND
    46. Disner SG
    47. Sponheim SR
    48. Straube T
    49. Hofmann D
    50. Lu GM
    51. Qi R
    52. Etkin A
    53. Maron-Katz A
    54. Wang X
    55. Kunch A
    56. Xie H
    57. Quidé Y
    58. El-Hage W
    59. Lissek S
    60. Berg H
    61. Bruce SE
    62. Cisler J
    63. Ross M
    64. Herringa R
    65. Grupe DW
    66. Nitschke JB
    67. Davidson RJ
    68. Larson C
    69. deRoon-Cassini TA
    70. Tomas CW
    71. Fitzgerald JM
    72. Feola B
    73. Blackford JU
    74. Olatunji BO
    75. May G
    76. Nelson SM
    77. Gordon EM
    78. Abdallah CG
    79. Lanius R
    80. Densmore M
    81. Théberge J
    82. Neufeld RWJ
    83. Thompson PM
    84. Morey RA
    Disrupted intrathalamic and thalamocortical structural covariance networks in posttraumatic stress disorder.; Network neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.); Vol 10(1), pp. 244-266. 2026 Mar 20.
    1. Wang HR
    2. Liu ZQ
    3. Pozzi E
    4. Hussain A
    5. Sigar P
    6. Abdallah C
    7. Alexander N
    8. Baker J
    9. Bauer J
    10. Blackford JU
    11. Cisler J
    12. Connolly CG
    13. Cotton A
    14. Daniels J
    15. Dannlowski U
    16. Densmore M
    17. deRoon-Cassini T
    18. Dima D
    19. Du Plessis S
    20. Etkin A
    21. Fani N
    22. Fisch L
    23. Fitzgerald J
    24. Frodl T
    25. Fu CHY
    26. Gonul AS
    27. Gordon EM
    28. Gotlib I
    29. Goya-Maldonado R
    30. Groenewold NA
    31. Grotegerd D
    32. Hahn T
    33. Hamilton JP
    34. Han L
    35. Harpaz-Rotem I
    36. Haswell CC
    37. Herringa R
    38. Herzog J
    39. Ipser J
    40. Jahanshad N
    41. Jovanovic T
    42. Kaufman M
    43. Kircher T
    44. Konowski M
    45. Koopowitz SM
    46. Krug A
    47. Krystal J
    48. Lanius R
    49. Larson C
    50. Lazarov A
    51. Lebois L
    52. Leehr E
    53. Levy I
    54. Li M
    55. Manthey A
    56. Maron-Katz A
    57. McIntosh A
    58. McLaughlin K
    59. Meinert S
    60. Mwangi B
    61. Nelson SM
    62. Nenadić I
    63. Neria Y
    64. Neufeld R
    65. Ojha A
    66. Olatunji B
    67. Olson EA
    68. Opel N
    69. Peverill M
    70. Ressler K
    71. Ross M
    72. Rosso I
    73. Sacchet M
    74. Sambrook K
    75. Schmahl C
    76. Seedat S
    77. Shenton ME
    78. Sicorello M
    79. Sierk A
    80. Soares JC
    81. Stein DJ
    82. Stein F
    83. Stein MB
    84. Suarez-Jimenez B
    85. Théberge J
    86. Thomopoulos SI
    87. Tomas C
    88. Usemann P
    89. van den Heuvel LL
    90. van Rooij S
    91. Walter H
    92. Walter M
    93. Wang X
    94. Whalley H
    95. Winter NR
    96. Wu MJ
    97. Xie H
    98. Yang T
    99. Zhu X
    100. Zilcha-Mano S
    101. Zunta-Soares GB
    102. Frangou S
    103. Thompson PM
    104. Salminen L
    105. Sun D
    106. Morey R
    107. Stevens JS
    108. Schmaal L
    109. Ho TC
    Childhood Maltreatment and Deviations from Normative Brain Structure: A Mega-Analysis of 3,711 Individuals from the ENIGMA MDD and ENIGMA PTSD Working Groups.; Biological psychiatry. 2026 Mar 04.

Contact Us

ZVR Lab
 Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, Ph.D.
601 Elmwood Ave, Box 603
Medical Center Annex
Offices: 2B-210, 2B-202
Rochester, NY 14642

Office: 2B210 - (585) 275-6866

Office: 2B202 - (585) 275-7103

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Funding Sources