Research Interests
Neurobiology of mother-infant attachment; Neurodevelopmental disabilities such as autism; Addiction; Dopamine; Oxytocin;

Training Areas

• Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience

Research Group

• Developmental Psychopathology

Representative Publications

Strathearn, L., Kim, S., Bastian, D. A., Jung, J. , Iyengar, U., Martinez, S., . . . Fonagy, P. (2017). Visual systemizing preference in children with autism: a randomized controlled trial of intranasal oxytocin. Development and Psychopathology, 1-11. doi:10.1017/S0954579417001018

Kim, S., Iyengar, U., Mayes, L. C., Potenza, M. N., Rutherford, H. J. V., & Strathearn, L. (2017). Mothers with Substance Addictions Show Reduced Reward Responses When Viewing Their Own Infant's Face. Human Brain Mapping, 38(11), 5421-5439. doi:10.1002/hbm.23731

Mills, R., Kisely, S., Alati, R., Strathearn, L., & Najman, J. M. (2017). Child maltreatment and cannabis use in young adulthood: a birth cohort study. Addiction, 112(3), 494-501. doi:10.1111/add.13634.

Kim, S., Kwok, S., Mayes, L. C., Potenza, M. N., Rutherford, H. J. V., & Strathearn, L. (2017). Early adverse experience and substance addiction: dopamine, oxytocin, and glucocorticoid pathways. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1394(1), 74-91. doi:10.1111/nyas.13140. 

Sharp, C., Kim, S., Herman, L., Pane, H., Reuter, T., & Strathearn, L. (2014). Major depression in mothers predicts reduced ventral striatum activation in adolescent female offspring with and without depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 123(2), 298-309. doi:10.1037/a0036191. 

Kim, S., Soeken, T. A., Cromer, S. J., Martinez, S. R., Hardy, L. R., & Strathearn, L. (2014). Oxytocin and postpartum depression: delivering on what's known and what's not. Brain Res, 1580, 219-232. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2013.11.009

Kim, S., Fonagy, P., Koos, O., Dorsett, K., & Strathearn, L. (2014). Maternal oxytocin response predicts mother-to-infant gaze. Brain Res, 1580, 133-142. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2013.10.050

Kim, S., Fonagy, P., Allen, J., & Strathearn, L. (2014). Mothers' unresolved trauma blunts amygdala response to infant distress. Soc Neurosci, 9(4), 352-363. doi:10.1080/17470919.2014.896287

Kim, S., Fonagy, P., Allen, J., Martinez, S., Iyengar, U., & Strathearn, L. (2014). Mothers who are securely attached in pregnancy show more attuned infant mirroring 7 months postpartum. Infant Behavior and Development, 37(4), 491-504. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2014.06.002

Strathearn, L., Iyengar, U., Fonagy, P., & Kim, S. (2012). Maternal oxytocin response during mother-infant interaction: Associations with adult temperament. Horm Behav, 61(3), 429-435. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.01.014 

Strathearn, L. (2011). Maternal Neglect: Oxytocin, Dopamine and the Neurobiology of Attachment. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 23(11), 1054-1065. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2826.2011.02228.x

Strathearn, L., Fonagy, P., Amico, J., & Montague, P. R. (2009). Adult attachment predicts maternal brain and oxytocin response to infant Cues. Neuropsychopharmacology, 34(13), 2655-2666. doi:10.1038/npp.2009.103 

Strathearn, L. (2009). The elusive etiology of autism: Nature and nurture? Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 3(JUL). doi:10.3389/neuro.08.011.2009

Strathearn, L., Li, J., Fonagy, P., & Montague, P. R. (2008). What’s in a smile? Maternal brain responses to infant facial cues. Pediatrics, 122(1), 40-51. doi:10.1542/peds.2007-1566