September 2010

University of Southern California Department of Psychology Vol 5.7

Antonio Damasio, MD, PhD receives Honda Prize

The Honda Foundation of Japan has announced that its annual

Honda Prize, one of the most important international awards
for scientific achievement, will go to Antonio Damasio, the
David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience in the Department
of Psychology and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute
at USC.

Damasio, the sole recipient of this year’s honor, will become

the 31st laureate of the Honda prize at an award ceremony to
be held Nov. 17 at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

In its citation, the Honda Foundation said Damasio was chosen

“for his pioneering efforts and remarkable contributions in the
world of neuroscience.”
Dr. Antonio Damasio, Director of the
Brain and Creativity Institute at USC
Photo/Philip Channing

Dr. Richard Davidson, the department’s first col-

loquium speaker for 2010-2011, is welcomed by
Dr Michael Dawson and Drs Antonio and Hanna
Damasio. Dr. Davidson’s colloquium was titled
“ Order and Disorder in the Emotional Brain.”
Students and faculty enjoyed coffee, lunch and
informal conversation with Dr. Davidson
throughout the day.

Drs Antonio Damasio, Hanna Damasio, Richard Davison, Michael Dawson

 Volume 5 , Issue 4 Inside/Outside Page 2

 Barbara Cadow, PhD, a Clinical Associate of the USC Psychology Department and former Director of the
USC Student Counseling Services, takes up her new appointment to the California Board of Psychology at its
first meeting in November. Amidst efforts to balance the budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her
this past summer. The Board, a subdivision of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, had been
slated for elimination last year in order to save about $200,000 a year in expenses, before a professional asso-
ciation campaign lobbied the Governor to retain it. The Board of Psychology establishes the rules according to
which psychologists can obtain (or lose) licenses in the state.

 Susan Luczak, PhD, (Research Associate Professor), is Principal Investigator on a recently funded NIH R01
grant titled “Intergenerational Transmission of Alcohol Involvement.” It is a project continuing the longitudi-
nal study in Mauritius headed by Adrian Raine, PhD. Jo Ann Farver, PhD, Jack McArdle, PhD and Carol Pres-
cott, PhD are all co-PIs on the project.

 Nicholas Scurich ( advisor, Dr. Richard John) will begin a year long fellowship as a mental health law fel-
low at the new Saks institute for mental health law, ethics and policy. The institute was recently started by
Elyn Saks of the law school. Nicholas also recently received a Ruebhausen Travel Grant to attend Yale Law
School’s Conference on Empirical Legal Studies where he will present two papers; “Lay Judgments of Legal
decisions (w/ Dan Simon); and DNA Database Trawling: Effect on Judgments of Guilt and the Interpretation
of Non-Genetic Evidence (w/ Richard John).”

 Jessica Brommelhoff (advisor, Dr. Margaret Gatz) successfully defended her dissertation “Underlying Neural
Mechanisms of Depression and Dementia” and began a postdoctoral fellowship at the Semel Institute for Neu-
roscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

 Lauren Spies ( advisor, Drs. Gayla Margolin and Elizabeth Sussman) has received an NSRA fellowship
award. The title of her project is “Adolescent Conflict, Physiological stress, and Risky Health Behaviors.”

 Reynolds, C., Hong, M., Eriksson, U., Blennow, K., Wiklund, F., Johansson, B., Malmberg, B., Berg,
S., Alexeyenko, A., Grönberg, H., Gatz, M., Pedersen, N., & Prince, J. (2010). Analysis of lipid pathway genes
indicates association of sequence variation near SREBF1/TOM1L2/ATPAF2 with dementia risk. Human Mo-
lecular Genetics, 19, 2068-2078

 Xue, G., Mei, L., Chen, C., Lu, Z.-L., Dong, Q. & Poldrack, R., Greater neural pattern similarity across repeti-
tions is associated with better memory, Science, (DOI: 10.1126/science.1193125)

 Dawson, M.E., Schell, A.M., Rissling, A., Ventura, J., Subotnik, K.L., & Neuchterlein, K.H. (2010). Psycho-
physiological prodromal signs of schizophrenic relapse: A pilot study. Schizophrenia Research, 123, 64-67

 Thadani, V., Breland, W., & Dewar, J. (2010). College instructors’ implicit theories about teaching skills and
their relationship to professional development choices. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 21, 113-131.

WEDNESDAY MORNING IS COFFEE AND PASTRY IN ROOM SGM 501

PLEASE DROP BY -- 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

SPECIAL GUESTS: OCTOBER 20 - NATHAN FOX

Volume 5 , Issue 4 Inside/Outside Page 3

Announcements & Colloquia

Wednesday, September 29
Neurodevelopmental Psychology Interest Group - 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
HNB 107

Wednesday, October 20
Nathan Fox, PhD
Distinguished University Professor, Department of Human Development
University of Maryland, College Park

9:30 am - 10:00 am - SGM 514 - Coffee Guest

12:00 - 1:00 pm - HNB 100 - Colloquium

“The effects of severe psychosocial depravation on brain and
behavior: Lessons from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project”

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm - HNB 107 - Conversation Hour on

temperamental antecedents to anxious behavior/anxiety disorders
Wednesday, December 1
Elizabeth Loftus, PhD

9:30 am - 10:00 am - SGM 514 - Coffee Guest

12:00 - 1:00 pm - HNB 100 - Colloquium

GASP NEWS!
September 30—SGM 514 -1:00 am - 12:00 pm - GASP meeting.

November 3 - SGM 414 -12 pm –1pm- Science and Technology - Jason Goldman
(advisor, Dr. Frank Manis) will talk about his experience with blogging and how to make
scientific research more accessible to a larger audience.

November 19 - NSF SUBMISSION DUE DATE

If you are interested in being involved in GASP events

you are encouraged to show up and join in the fun!

Have an idea for GASP programming? Email Rachel-

rachel.beattie@gmail.com

Editor: Sandy Medearis

medearis@college.usc.edu