ResearchBroadly, my current research program integrates neuroscience and developmental perspectives to address how social experiences manifest themselves in brain development and functioning in at-risk populations. My research explores the mechanisms linking social experience, neural function, and socio-emotional and cognitive processes in at-risk populations. Within this framework, I have begun to examine how brain development and function mediate the association between biological and psychosocial adversity and resilient or maladaptive outcomes. My reserach bridges traditional fields of study to incorporate a multidisciplinary approach to examining the mechanisms by which mutually influencing biological, psychological, and social systems contribute to children's adaptive and maladaptive outcomes.
Selected Publications
- Curtis, W. J., & Cicchetti, D. (in press). Emotion and resilience: A multi-level investigation of hemispheric electroencephalogram asymmetry and emotion regulation in maltreated and non-maltreated children. Development and Psychopathology.
- Curtis, W. J., Zhuang, J., Townsend, E. L., Hu, X., & Nelson, C. A. (2006). Memory in early adolescents born prematurely: A functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation. Developmental Neuropsychology, 29, 341-377.
- Singh, N. N., Lancioni, G. E., Winton, A. S. W., Curtis, W. J., Wahler, R. G., Sabaawi, M., Singh, J., & McAleavey, K. (2006). Mindful staff increase learning and reduce aggression in adults with developmental disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 27, 545-558.
- Cicchetti, D., & Curtis, W. J. (2005). An event-related potential (ERP) study of processing of affective facial expressions in young children who have experienced maltreatment during the first year of life. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 641-677.
- Curtis, W. J., & Cicchetti, D. (2003). Moving research on resilience into the 21st century: Theoretical and methodological considerations in examining the biological contributors to resilience. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 773-810.
- Monk, C. S., Zhuang, J., Curtis, W. J., Ofenloch, I. T., Tottenham, N., Nelson, C. A., & Hu, X. (2002). Human hippocampal activation in the delayed matching-and nonmatching-to-sample memory tasks: An event-related fMRI approach.Behavioral Neuroscience, 116, 716-721.
- Curtis, W. J., Lindeke, L. L., Georgieff, M., & Nelson, C. A. (2002). Neurobehavioral functioning in neonatal intensive care unit graduates in late childhood and early adolescence. Brain, 125, 1646-1659.
- Singh, N. N., Wechsler, H. A., Curtis, W. J., Sabaawi, M., Myers, R. E., & Singh, S. D. (2002). Effects of role-play and mindfulness training on enhancing the family friendliness of the admissions treatment team process.Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 10, 90-98.