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ZVR Lab

Welcome to the ZVR Lab

My research program aims to use virtual reality (VR), multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and machine learning 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.

I am specifically interested in the case 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 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, I plan to identify new brain measures to develop sensitive, personalized, and precise diagnostic and treatment tools for psychopathology. 

Lab Members

Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, Ph.D.

Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator

Publications

    1. Alon Y
    2. Bar-Haim Y
    3. Dykan CDG
    4. Suarez-Jimenez B
    5. Zhu X
    6. Neria Y
    7. Lazarov A
    Eye-tracking indices of attention allocation and attention bias variability are differently related to trauma exposure and PTSD.; Journal of anxiety disorders; Vol 96, pp. 102715. 2023 Apr 25.
    1. Sun D
    2. Rakesh G
    3. Haswell CC
    4. Logue M
    5. Baird CL
    6. O'Leary EN
    7. Cotton AS
    8. Xie H
    9. Tamburrino M
    10. Chen T
    11. Dennis EL
    12. Jahanshad N
    13. Salminen LE
    14. Thomopoulos SI
    15. Rashid F
    16. Ching CRK
    17. Koch SBJ
    18. Frijling JL
    19. Nawijn L
    20. van Zuiden M
    21. Zhu X
    22. Suarez-Jimenez B
    23. Sierk A
    24. Walter H
    25. Manthey A
    26. Stevens JS
    27. Fani N
    28. van Rooij SJH
    29. Stein M
    30. Bomyea J
    31. Koerte IK
    32. Choi K
    33. van der Werff SJA
    34. Vermeiren RRJM
    35. Herzog J
    36. Lebois LAM
    37. Baker JT
    38. Olson EA
    39. Straube T
    40. Korgaonkar MS
    41. Andrew E
    42. Zhu Y
    43. Li G
    44. Ipser J
    45. Hudson AR
    46. Peverill M
    47. Sambrook K
    48. Gordon E
    49. Baugh L
    50. Forster G
    51. Simons RM
    52. Simons JS
    53. Magnotta V
    54. Maron-Katz A
    55. du Plessis S
    56. Disner SG
    57. Davenport N
    58. Grupe DW
    59. Nitschke JB
    60. deRoon-Cassini TA
    61. Fitzgerald JM
    62. Krystal JH
    63. Levy I
    64. Olff M
    65. Veltman DJ
    66. Wang L
    67. Neria Y
    68. De Bellis MD
    69. Jovanovic T
    70. Daniels JK
    71. Shenton M
    72. van de Wee NJA
    73. Schmahl C
    74. Kaufman ML
    75. Rosso IM
    76. Sponheim SR
    77. Hofmann DB
    78. Bryant RA
    79. Fercho KA
    80. Stein DJ
    81. Mueller SC
    82. Hosseini B
    83. Phan KL
    84. McLaughlin KA
    85. Davidson RJ
    86. Larson CL
    87. May G
    88. Nelson SM
    89. Abdallah CG
    90. Gomaa H
    91. Etkin A
    92. Seedat S
    93. Harpaz-Rotem I
    94. Liberzon I
    95. van Erp TGM
    96. Quidé Y
    97. Wang X
    98. Thompson PM
    99. Morey RA
    A Comparison of Methods to Harmonize Cortical Thickness Measurements Across Scanners and Sites.; NeuroImage. 2022 Jul 30.
    1. Zilcha-Mano S
    2. Zhu X
    3. Lazarov A
    4. Suarez-Jimenez B
    5. Helpman L
    6. Kim Y
    7. Maitlin C
    8. Neria Y
    9. Rutherford BR
    Structural brain features signaling trauma, PTSD, or resilience? A systematic exploration.; Depression and anxiety. 2022 Jun 16.
    1. Sun D
    2. Rakesh G
    3. Clarke-Rubright EK
    4. Haswell CC
    5. Logue M
    6. O'Leary EN
    7. Cotton AS
    8. Xie H
    9. Dennis EL
    10. Jahanshad N
    11. Salminen LE
    12. Thomopoulos SI
    13. Rashid F
    14. Ching CRK
    15. Koch SBJ
    16. Frijling JL
    17. Nawijn L
    18. van Zuiden M
    19. Zhu X
    20. Suarez-Jimenez B
    21. Sierk A
    22. Walter H
    23. Manthey A
    24. Stevens JS
    25. Fani N
    26. van Rooij SJH
    27. Stein M
    28. Bomyea J
    29. Koerte I
    30. Choi K
    31. van de Werff SJA
    32. Vermeiren RRJM
    33. Herzog J
    34. Lebois LAM
    35. Baker JT
    36. Ressler KJ
    37. Olson EA
    38. Straube T
    39. Korgaonkar MS
    40. Andrew E
    41. Zhu Y
    42. Li G
    43. Ipser J
    44. Hudson A
    45. Peverill M
    46. Sambrook K
    47. Gordon E
    48. Baugh L
    49. Forster G
    50. Simons R
    51. Simons J
    52. Magnotta V
    53. Maron-Katz A
    54. du Plessis S
    55. Disner S
    56. Davenport N
    57. Grupe D
    58. Nitschke J
    59. deRoon-Cassini TA
    60. Fitzgerald J
    61. Krystal JH
    62. Levy I
    63. Olff M
    64. Veltman DJ
    65. Wang L
    66. Neria Y
    67. De Bellis MD
    68. Jovanovic T
    69. Daniels JK
    70. Shenton M
    71. van de Wee NJA
    72. Schmahl C
    73. Kaufman ML
    74. Rosso IM
    75. Sponheim SR
    76. Hofmann DB
    77. Bryant RA
    78. Fercho KA
    79. Stein DJ
    80. Mueller SC
    81. Phan L
    82. McLaughlin KA
    83. Davidson RJ
    84. Larson C
    85. May G
    86. Nelson SM
    87. Abdallah CG
    88. Gomaa H
    89. Etkin A
    90. Seedat S
    91. Harpaz-Rotem I
    92. Liberzon I
    93. Wang X
    94. Thompson PM
    95. Morey RA
    Remodeling of the Cortical Structural Connectome in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Results from the ENIGMA-PGC PTSD Consortium.; Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging. 2022 Mar 15.

View All Publications

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