About

Postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, member of the Princeton Computational Memory lab led by Dr. Ken Norman. Currently supported by an F32 NRSA fellowship from the NIMH.

I am currently on the academic job market! Please feel free to shoot me an email, or follow me on bluesky.

My interests include:

• studying learning and memory in humans
• obsessing over graph aesthetics
• spending time with my dogs

---

Research Statement

My research investigates the neurobiological and cognitive mechanisms that contribute to the etiology and maintenance of anxiety- and trauma-related disorders. I leverage these findings to test novel, neuroscience-informed clinical interventions. I use behavioral and physiological assessment, advanced fMRI analysis, real-time fMRI neurofeedback, and computational modeling to address these questions.

---

In-Progress Publications

Brooks PP^, Hennings AC^, Guzman BA, Norman KA, & Ritchey M. (submitted). Eye movements reveal the cognitive dynamics supporting successful memory suppression. ^denotes equal contribution. Preprint available on PsyArXiv.

Laing PAF, Hennings AC, Cooper SE, & Dunsmoor JE. (submitted). Emotional Learning Selectively Distorts the Temporal Organization of Memory: a Quantitative Synthesis. Preprint available on PsyArXiv.

Cooper SE, Keller NE, Bauer EA, Lambert SR, Hennings AC, Azar AA, Bibb SA, Nemeroff CB, Cisler JM, Lewis-Peacock JA, & Dunsmoor JE. (submitted). Augmenting extinction with counterconditioning strengthens and sustains neural safety representations in PTSD. Preprint available on PsyArXiv.

Hennings AC & Norman KA. (in prep). Enhancing inhibitory control of memory via real-time fMRI neurofeedback.

Chandrasekhar D, Hennings AC, Niv Y, & Berwian I. (in prep). Selective maintenance of adverse events may explain conditioning phenomena attributed to fear generalization.

---

Peer-Reviewed Publications

1. Hennings AC, Bibb SA, Lewis-Peacock JA, & Dunsmoor JE (2025). Neural reinstatement of encoding context mediates the switch between fear and extinction recall. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (forthcoming).

2. Cooper SE, Hennings AC, Bibb SA, Lewis-Peacock JA, & Dunsmoor JE (2024). Semantic structures facilitate threat memory integration throughout the medial temporal lobe and medial prefrontal cortex. Current Biology.

3. Hennings AC, Cooper SE, Lewis-Peacock JA, & Dunsmoor JE (2022). Pattern analysis of neuroimaging data reveals novel insights on threat learning and extinction in humans. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

4. Keller NE, Hennings AC, Leiker EK, Lewis-Peacock JA, & Dunsmoor JE (2022). Rewarded extinction increases amygdalar connectivity and stabilizes long-term memory traces in the vmPFC. Journal of Neuroscience.

5. Hennings AC, McClay M, Lewis-Peacock JA, & Dunsmoor JE (2022). Neural reinstatement reveals divided organization of fear and extinction memories in the human brain. Current Biology.

6. Hennings AC, Lewis-Peacock JA, & Dunsmoor JE (2021). Emotional learning retroactively enhances item memory but distorts source attribution. Learning & Memory.

7. Hennings AC, Bibb SA, Lewis-Peacock JA, Dunsmoor JE (2021). The effect of top-down thought suppression on fear extinction generalization. Behavioural Brain Research.

8. McClay M, Hennings AC, Reidel A, & Dunsmoor JE (2020). The features that shape fear: How emotional intensity and threat relevance interact to guide fear learning. Neuropsychologia.

9. Hennings AC, McClay M, Lewis-Peacock JA, & Dunsmoor JE (2020). Contextual reinstatement promotes extinction generalization in healthy adults but not PTSD. Neuropsychologia.

10. Keller NE, Hennings AC, & Dunsmoor JE (2020). Behavioral and neural processes in counterconditioning: past and future directions. Behaviour Research and Therapy.

---

source