The Brain and Biomarker Laboratory (BABL), under the direction of Dr. Lauren Ethridge, is a multidisciplinary, translational neuroscience laboratory focusing on applications of basic science to clinical outcomes, particularly in neurodevelopmental disorders.
The BABL group centers on the use of dense-array EEG as a translational tool for learning more about brain function in neurodevelopmental disorders. The ultimate goal of our research is to establish non-invasive biological markers for changes in brain function that not only elucidate neural and molecular pathways affected by disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and but also serve as aids for early identification, early predictors for response to individualized treatment protocols, and reliable indicators of treatment effects.
Research in the lab is highly collaborative, with a large network of investigators across the country. Current research includes:
Lab member Joy Li was accepted to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program. She also is a recent recipient of the Schmidlapp Young Women Scholarship, which funds her to attend two academic conferences!
Grad student Melody Reese successfully defended her Master's thesis titled Effects of Age, Gender, and Genotype on Auditory Processing in Phelan-McDermid Syndrome
. She also presented her results at the International Society for Autism Research Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada.
Grad student Lisa De Stefano published an article in Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience titled Developmental Effects on Auditory Neural Oscillatory Synchronization Abnormalities in Autism Spectrum Disorder
. Check it out here. Since we didn't have a picture of the three main contributors (Lisa, Dr. Ethridge, and Dr. Schmitt) all together, please accept this horrible photoshop of the three of us all in the same location at the Gordon Research Conference this past summer :D
Dr. Ethridge, grad students Lisa De Stefano and Nick Woodruff, and undergraduates Kara Brown (now a grad student at University of Washington) and Morgan Tran published an article in Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience titled Auditory EEG Biomarkers in Fragile X Syndrome: Clinical Relevance
. Check it out here.
Lab member Jordan Norris published an article in eNeuro with her other lab titled The TRPA1 ion channel contributes to sensory-guided avoidance of menthol in mice
. This is her first publication! Jordan is an indispensible post-bac in our lab and the lab of Dr. Chris Lemon in Biology. Check out the article here.
Congratulations to grad student Nick Woodruff, who successfully defended his Master's thesis entitled Elevated spontaneous blink rate in fragile x syndrome implicates abnormal dopaminergic activity in FXS pathophysiology.
Our graduate students had a very busy semester! Lisa and Melody proposed their dissertations, Melody passed her comps, Nick defended his Master's thesis, and Emma proposed her Master's project! On top of all the other science they are working on, of course! Go team!
BABL welcomes Jordan Norris to the doctorate program in Cellular and Behavioral Neurobiology - Psychology here at OU. Jordan has been working in our lab for several years now as a fantastic undergrad and post-bac student. Now she's decided to stay a while and we are very happy she did!
Congratulations to grad student Melody Reese for publishing her first article: Biomarkers for moral cognition: Current status and future prospects for neurotransmitters and neuropeptides.
in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. Check out the article here.
Congratulations to our graduating seniors, Abbey Wegrzynski, Katie Shepard, Nathaniel Whisenant, and Joy Li: Abbey will be joining the lab of Dr. Kovats at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, studying the impact of sex hormones on the immune system. She hopes to attend medical school the following year. Katie was accepted to Texas Women's University for a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy. She hopes to ultimately work with children with Fragile X and/or autism in a school or home-health setting. Nathaniel was accepted to Pacific University for a Master's degree in Applied Psychological Science. He is interested in mental health specifically related to the LGBTQ+ community and gender. Joy will be attending medical school at the University of Cincinatti, where she previously spent a summer internship working in the Fragile X Research and Treatment Center.
Congratulations to Lisa De Stefano for successfully (and zoomily) defending her dissertation entitled Biomarkers of ADHD and ASD: Insight into comorbid ADHD+ASD.
Fantastic job Dr. De Stefano!
Dr. Ethridge, Dr. De Stefano, and new graduate student Jordan presented virtual talks this summer at the NFXF International Fragile X Conference. We won't let quarantine stop science!
Congratulations to Dr. De Stefano, who was accepted to a post-doctoral research position in the Fragile X Research and Treatment Center at Cincinatti Children's Hospital!
Undergraduate lab member Saramarie Azzun presented her research entitled Auditory Neural Oscillation Patterns in Fragile X Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder
at the NSF-sponsored Oklahoma Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation in STEM (OK-LSAMP) conference and at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science National Conference. She won first place for oral presentations at OK-LSAMP! Woohoo!
Congratulations to Melody Reese for successfully defending her dissertation, entitled The Self Versus Others: Spatial Localization and Timing of Trait Judgments in the MPFC and PCC/Precuneus
Way to go Dr. Reese!
Congratulations to Emma Auger for successfully defending her Master's thesis, entitled Independent Evaluation of the Harvard Automatic Processing Pipeline using Multi-Site EEG Data from Children with Fragile X Syndrome
Hooray Emma!
Congratulations to Akansha Chandrasekar, Anusha Gopalam, and Jason Webb for successfully completing their Honor's thesis presentations based on work done in the lab.
Dr. Ethridge, Melody, Emma, and Jordan all presented posters at the virtual Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome
Congratulations to recent PhD graduate Dr. Melody Reese, who has accepted a prestigious postdoctoral research position at Duke University in the Department of Anesthesiology to study the translational systems neuroscience of perioperative neurocognitive disorder and its relationship to Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias. Go Melody!
Lauren Ethridge, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Nick Woodruff, M.S.
Graduate Student
Emma Auger, M.S.
Graduate Student
Jordan Norris
Graduate Student
Claire Ashton
Undergrad Student
Sara Azzun
Undergrad Student
Akansha Chandrasekar
Undergrad Student
Anusha Gopalam
Undergrad Student
Jasmine Heidary
Undergrad Student
Shreya Lingamallu
Undergrad Student
Zach Little
Undergrad Student
Diya Mathew
Undergrad Student
Katelyn McCone
Undergrad Student
Danna Nemri
Undergrad Student
Miranda Tortorici
Undergrad Student
OU/OUHSC |
External Collaborators
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Mariscal, M.G., Berry-Kravis, E., Buxbaum, J.D., Ethridge, L.E., Filip-Dhima, R., Foss-Feig, J.H., Kolevzon, A., Modi, M.E., Mosconi, M.W., Nelson, C.A., Powell, C.M. Siper, P.M., Soorya, L., Thaliath, A., Thurm, A., Zhang, B., Sahin, M. Levin, A.R. (in press). Shifted phase of EEG cross-frequency coupling in individuals with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome. Molecular Autism .
Ethridge, L.E., Thaliath, A., Kraff, J., Nijhawan, K., Berry-Kravis, E., (2020). Development of neural response to novel sounds in fragile x syndrome: potential biomarkers. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 125 (6), 449-464.
Reese, M., Bryant, D., Ethridge, L. (2020). Biomarkers for moral cognition: Current status and future prospects for neurotransmitters and neuropeptides.Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 113, 88-97.
Ethridge, L.E., De Stefano, L.A., Schmitt, L.M., Woodruff, N.E., Brown, K.L., Tran, M., Wang, J., Pedapati, E., Erickson, C.A., Sweeney, J.A. (2019) Auditory EEG biomarkers in fragile x syndrome: Clinical relevance. Frontiers in Intergrative Neuroscience 13, 60.
De Stefano, L.A., Schmitt, L.M., White, S.P., Mosconi, M.W., Sweeney, J.A., Ethridge, L.E. (2019). Developmental effects on auditory neural oscillatory synchronization abnormalities in autism spectrum disorder. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 13, 34.
Hudgens-Haney, M.E., Ethridge, L.E., Knight, J.B., McDowell, J.E., Keedy, S.K., Pearlson, G.D., Tamminga, C.A., Keshavan, M.S., Sweeney, J.A., Clementz, B.A. (2018).Psychosis subgroups differ in intrinsic neural activity but not task-specific processing. Schizophrenia Research,, 195: 222-230.
Shou, G, Mosconi, M, Ethridge, L, Sweeney, J, Ding, L. (2018) Resting-state Gamma-band EEG Abnormalities in Autism. Accepted paper for Proceedings of 40th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.
Clementz, B.A., Sweeney, J.A, Hamm, J.P., Ivleva, E.I., Ethridge, L.E., Pearlson, G.D., Keshavan, M., Tamminga, C.A. (2018). Identification of distinct psychosis biotypes using brain-based biomarkers. Focus, 16(2), 225-236. * this is a reprint of the 2016 article by the same name in a continuing medical education journal for Influential Publications in Psychiatry.
Sahin, M., Jones, S.R., Sweeney, J.A., Berry-Kravis, E., Connors, B.W., Ewen, J.B., Hartman, A.L., Levin, A.R., Potter, W.Z., Mamounas, L.A. on behalf of the Biomarker Workshop Faculty (in press). Discovering translational biomarkers in neurodevelopmental disorders. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
Wang, J., Ethridge, L.E., Mosconi, M.W., White, S.P., Binder, D.K., Pedapati, E.V., Erickson, C. A., Byerly, M.J., Sweeney, J.A. (2017). A resting EEG study of neocortical hyperexcitability and altered functional connectivity in Fragile X Syndrome. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 9:11.
Hudgens-Haney, M.E., Ethridge, L.E., Knight, J.B., McDowell, J.E., Keedy, S.K., Pearlson, G.D., Tamminga, C.A., Keshavan, M.S., Sweeney, J.A., Clementz, B.A. (2017). Intrinsic neural activity differences among psychotic illnesses. Psychophysiology,54(8), 1223�1238.
Shou, G., Mosconi, M.W., Wang, J., Ethridge, L.E., Sweeney, J.A., Ding, L. (2017). Electrophysiological signatures of atypical intrinsic brain connectivity networks in autism. Journal of Neural Engineering, 14(4):046010.
Ethridge, L.E., White, S.P., Mosconi, M.W., Wang, J., Pedapati, E.V., Erickson, C., Byerly, M.J., Sweeney, J.A. (2017). Neural synchronization deficits linked to cortical hyper-excitability and auditory sensitivity in Fragile X Syndrome. Molecular Autism, 8:22.
Ethridge, L.E., White, S.P., Mosconi, M.W., Wang, J. Byerly, M.J., Sweeney, J.A. (2016). Reduced habituation of auditory evoked potentials indicate cortical hyperexcitability in Fragile X Syndrome. Translational Psychiatry, 6: e787.
Clementz, B.A., Sweeney, J.A, Hamm, J.P., Ivleva, E.I., Ethridge, L.E., Pearlson, G.D., Keshavan, M., Tamminga, C.A. (2016). Identification of distinct psychosis biotypes using brain-based biomarkers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 173(4): 373-384.
Ethridge, L.E. Soilleux, M., Nakonezny, P.A., Reilly, J.L., Hill, S.K., Keefe, R.S.E., Gershon, E.S., Pearlson, G., Tamminga, C.A., Keshavan, M.S., Sweeney, J.A. (2015). Behavioral response inhibition in psychotic disorders: Diagnostic specificity, familiality, and relation to generalized cognitive deficit. Schizophrenia Research, 159(2-3): 491-498.
Ethridge, L.E., Hamm, J.P., Pearlson, G.D., Tamminga, C.A., Sweeney, J.A., Keshavan, M.S., Clementz, B.A. (2015). Event-related potential and time-frequency endophenotypes for schizophrenia and psychotic bipolar disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 77(2): 127-136.
Narayanan, B., Ethridge, L.E., O�Neil, K., Dunn, S., Mathew, I., Tandon, N., Calhoun, V.D., Ruano, G., Kocherla, M., Windemuth, A., Clementz, B.A., Tamminga, C.A., Sweeney, J.A., Keshavan, M.S., Pearlson, G.D. Genetic sources of subcomponents of event-related potential in the dimension of psychosis analyzed from the BSNIP study. American Journal of Psychiatry, epub ahead of print DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.13101411.
Hamm, J.P., Ethridge, L.E., Boutros, N.N., Keshavan, M.S., Sweeney, J.A., Pearlson, G.D., Tamminga, C.A., Clementz, B.A. (2014) Diagnostic Specificity and Familiality of Early versus Late Evoked Potentials to Auditory Paired-Stimuli across the Schizophrenia-Bipolar Psychosis Spectrum. Psychophysiology, 51(4): 348-357.
Ethridge, L.E., Malone, S.M., Iacono, W.G., Clementz, B.A. (2013) Genetic influences on composite neural activations supporting visual target identification. Biological Psychology, 92(2):329-341.
Hamm, J.P., Ethridge, L.E., Shapiro, J.R., Pearlson, G., Tamminga, C.A., Sweeney, J.A., Keshavan, M.S., Thaker, G., Clementz, B.A. (2013) Family history of psychosis moderates auditory neural abnormalities in non-psychotic bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders,15: 774-786.
Wang, J., Barstein, J., Ethridge, L.E., Mosconi, M., Takarae, Y., Sweeney, J.A. (2013) Resting state EEG abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 5(1):24. *(�Highly accessed� designation awarded through BioMed Central)
Hamm, J.P., Ethridge, L.E., Shapiro, J.R., Stevens, M.C., Boutros, N.N., Summerfelt, A.T., Keshavan, M.S., Sweeney, J.A., Pearlson, G., Tamminga, C.A., Thaker, G., Clementz, B.A. (2012) Spatio-temporal and frequency domain analysis of auditory paired stimuli processing in schizophrenia and psychotic bipolar disorder. Psychophysiology,49(4):522-530.
Ethridge, L.E., Hamm, J.P., Shapiro, J.R., Thaker, G., Summerfelt, A.T., Keedy, S.K., Stevens, M.C., Pearlson, G., Boutros, N.N., Tamminga, C.A., Sweeney, J.A., Keshavan, M.S., Clementz, B.A. (2012). Neural activations during auditory oddball processing discriminating schizophrenia and psychotic bipolar disorder. Biological Psychiatry,72(9):766-774.
Ethridge, L.E., Moratti, S., Gao, Y., Keil, A., Clementz, B.A. (2011). Sustained versus transient brain responses in schizophrenia: The role of intrinsic neural activity. Schizophrenia Research, 133:106-111.
Knight, J.B., Ethridge, L.E., Marsh, R.L., Clementz, B.A. (2010). Neural correlates of attentional and mnemonic processing in event-based prospective memory. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Feb.9; 4:5. doi:10.3389/neuro.09.005.2010
Hamm, J.P., Dyckman,.K.A., Ethridge., L.E., McDowell., J.E., Clementz, B.A. (2010). Preparatory activations across a distributed cortical network determine production of express saccades in humans. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(21): 7350-7.
Ethridge, L.E., Brahmbhatt, S., Gao, Y., McDowell, J.E., Clementz, B.A. (2009). Consider the context: blocked versus interleaved presentation of antisaccade trials. Psychophysiology, 46(5): 1100-7.
