About

Postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University, member of the Princeton Computational Memory lab led by Dr. Ken Norman.

My interests include:

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

Feel free to shoot me an email, reach out on twitter, or check out my github.

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Research Statement

The broad goal of my research is to leverage insights from episodic memory to better understand emotional associative learning. I use Pavlovian threat learning and extinction as experimental models of PTSD and exposure therapy, respectively. My PhD focused on describing how episodic-like contextual processes govern the retrieval of, and competition between, associative memories of threat and safety. Currently, I am exploring how real-time fMRI neurofeedback can be used to enhance the efficacy of extinction learning in humans. The ultimate goal of this work is to improve clinical outcomes of individuals suffering from PTSD.

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Publications

1. Hennings AC, Bibb SA, Lewis-Peacock JA, & Dunsmoor JE (submitted). Neural reinstatement of encoding context mediates the switch between fear and extinction recall. Preprint available on PsyArXiv.

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.

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