Jessica A. Cooper
(Jessica Cooper Robinson)
36 Eagle Row
Atlanta, Georgia 30322
T. 469-438-4032
j.cooper@emory.edu
Employment and Education
Sept 2022- Assistant Professor, Emory University School of Medicine
Present Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
June 2016- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Emory University
Aug 2022 Department of Psychology
Mentor: Michael T. Treadway, Ph.D.
Jan 2017 The University of Texas, Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience – PhD
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Research Fellow
“Attenuating Reflexive and Reflective Decision Making Deficits Through Targeted Training”
Mentors: Christopher G. Beevers, Ph.D. & W. Todd Maddox, Ph.D.
May 2016 The University of Texas, Statistics, Portfolio in Applied Statistical Modeling
“Dual-task effects on decision-making performance and strategy engagement: an analysis using bootstrapping methods”
Mentor: Lawrence Cormack, Ph.D.
May 2009 Texas Tech University, Psychology (Honors) – BA Summa Cum Laude,
Honors College Undergraduate Research Fellow
Research mentors: Jessecae K. Marsh, Ph.D. & William S. Maki, Ph.D.
Grants, Fellowships, and Awards
Research Funding
2022-2027 National Institute of Mental Health K01 Mentored Career Development Award
“From stress to anhedonia: examining inflammation and altered glutamate function as distinct or common etiological pathways” Impact Score: 27
Role: PI ($900,340); Start date 04/01/2022
2021-2022 Emory University Center for Translational Social Neuroscience (CTSN) Pilot Project Grant from Young parent award P50-MH100023
“Identifying a distinct circuit for social motivation and its impairment with computational fMRI and TMS”
Role: Subaward M-PI ($22,720)
2018-2021 National Institute of Mental Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Postdoctoral Fellowship MH115692
“Motivational anhedonia: neurocomputational mechanisms and temporal dynamics”
Role: PI ($218,055)
2018-2019 Scientific Research Network on Decision Neuroscience and Aging Pilot Grant from Samanez- Larkin parent award R24-AG054355
Do Age Differences in Associative Learning and Stimulus Generalization Lead to Age Differences in Trust?”
Role: Subaward Co-I (PI Cassidy; $30,000)
Graduate Funding and Fellowships
2015-2016 University of Texas Departmental Continuing Fellowship ($27,181 & tuition)
2012-2015 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) Department of Defense, Air Force Office of Scientific Research ($99,000 & tuition)
2012 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship ($90,000 & tuition; declined to accept NDSEG)
2011-2012 University of Texas Graduate School Mentoring Diversity Fellowship ($16,000 & tuition)
Selected Awards
2024 Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award for a Junior Faculty Member, Emory University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
2024 Travel Award, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
2024 Emory School of Medicine Educator Appreciation Day Recognition
2014 University of Texas Dissertation Research Grant ($500)
2012-2015 University of Texas Graduate Dean’s Prestigious Fellowship Award ($1000 per year)
2012-2015 University of Texas Professional Development Award ($500 per year)
2012 John Wallace Dallenbach Summer Fellowship in Psychology ($5000)
2009 Phi Beta Kappa
2007-2009 Texas Tech University Honors College Undergraduate Research Fellowship
2005-2009 Senator Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship
Peer-Reviewed Publications
1. Brassard, S. L., Dosanjh, J., Cooper, J.A., Weber, J., Zald, D., MacKillop, J., & Balodis, I. M. (In Press) A behavioural and neurobiological assessment of effort-based decision-making in cannabis use disorder: An initial/preliminary investigation. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience.
2. Goldsmith, D. R., Ning, C., Strauss, G., Gross, R., Cooper, J. A., Wommack, E. C., Haroon, E., Felger, J. C., Walker, E. F., Treadway, M. T., & Miller, A. H. (In Press). Inflammation is associated with avolition and reduced resting state functional connectivity in corticostriatal reward circuitry in patients with schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology.
3. Treadway, M.T., Betters, S., Cooper, J.A., Li, C., Zhang, X, Michopolous, V. (In Press). Medial prefrontal glutamate response to acute stress is associated with social subordination in female rhesus macaques. Translational Psychiatry.
4. Kuhn, M., Palermo, E. H., Pagnier, G., Blank, J. M., Steinberger, D. C., Long, Y., Nowicki, G. P., Cooper, J. A., Treadway, M. T., Frank, M. J., & Pizzagalli, D. A. (In Press). Computational Phenotyping of Effort-Based Decision Making in Unmedicated Adults with Remitted Depression. Biological Psychiatry: CNNI.
5. Migo, M., Cooper, J.A., Kragel, P.A., & Treadway, M.T. (2025) Spontaneous thought separates into clusters of negative, positive, and flexible thinking. Communications Psychology, 3(1), 21.
6. Treadway, M.T., Etuk, S.M., Cooper, J.A., Kragel, P.A., Hossein, S., Hahn, E.C., DeVries, B. A M., Irfan, N., Nuutinen, M.R., Arulpragasam, A.R., Wommack, E.C., Woolwine, B.J., Bekhbat, M., Felger, J.C., Haroon, E., and Miller, A.H. (2024). A randomized proof-of-mechanism trial of TNF antagonism for motivational anhedonia and related corticostriatal circuitry in depressed patients with high inflammation. Molecular Psychiatry.
7. Whitton, A.E., Cooper, J.A., Merchant, J., Lampropoulos, E., Treadway, M.T., & Lewandowski, K.E. (2024). Using a computational phenotyping approach to identify divergent strategies for effort allocation across the psychosis spectrum. Schizophrenia Bulletin.
8. Hossein, S., Cooper, J.A., DeVries, B.A.M, Nuutinen. M.R., Hahn, E.C., Kragel, P.A., & Treadway, M.T. (2023). Effects of Acute Stress and Depression on Functional Connectivity between Prefrontal Cortex and the Amygdala. Molecular Psychiatry. 1-11.
9. Swales, D. A., Lozza-Fiacco, S., Andersen, E. H., Cooper, J. A., Treadway, M. T., Xia, K., Schiller, C. E., Girdler, S. S., & Dichter, G. S. (2023). Hormone sensitivity predicts the beneficial effects of transdermal estradiol on reward-seeking behaviors in perimenopausal women: A randomized controlled trial. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 156, 106339.
10. Seaman, K. L., Christensen, A. P., Senn, K. D., Cooper, J. A., & Cassidy, B. S. (2023). Age Differences in the Social Associative Learning of Trust Information. Neurobiology of Aging. 125, 32-40.
11. Cooper, J.A., Nuutinen, M.R., Lawlor, V.L., DeVries, B.A.M, Barrick, E.M., Hossein, S., Cole, D.J., Leonard, C.V., Hahn, E.C., Teer, A.P., Shields, G.S., Slavich, G.M., Ongur, D., Jensen, J.E., Du, F., Pizzagalli, D.A. & Treadway, M.T. (2021). Reduced adaptation of glutamatergic stress response is associated with pessimistic expectations in depression. Nature Communications. 12(1), 1-12.
12. Hoots, J.K., Webber, H.E., Nunez, C., Cooper, J.A., Lopez-Gamundi, P., Lawlor, V.M., Lane, S.D., Treadway, M.T. & Wardle, M.C. (2021). Acute drug effects differentially predict desire to take amphetamine again for work and recreation. Psychopharmacology. 238(10), 2815-2826
13. Suzuki, S., Lawlor, V.M., Cooper, J.A., Arulpragasam, A.R., Treadway, M.T. (2021). Distinct regions of the striatum underlying effort, movement initiation and effort discounting. Nature Human Behavior, 5(3), 378-388.
14. Soder, H.E., Cooper, J.A., Lopez-Gamundi, P., Hoots, J.K., Nunez, C., Lawlor, V.M., Lane, S.D., Treadway, M.T. & Wardle, M.C. (2021). Dose-response effects of d-amphetamine on effort-based decision-making and reinforcement learning. Neuropsychopharmacology, 46(6), 1078-1085.
15. Cooper, J.A., Barch, D.M., Reddy, L.F., Horan, W.P., Green, M.F, & Treadway, M.T. (2019). Effortful goal-directed behavior in schizophrenia: computational subtypes and associations with cognition. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 28(7), 710-722.
16. Treadway, M.T., Cooper, J.A., & Miller, A.H. (2019). Can’t or Won’t? Immunometabolic Constraints on Dopaminergic Drive. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 23(5), 435-448.
17. Cooper, J.A., Arulpragasam, A.R. & Treadway, M.T. (2018). Anhedonia in depression: biological mechanisms and computational models. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 22, 128-135.
18. Arulpragasam, A.R., Cooper, J.A., Nuutinen, M.R. & Treadway, M.T. (2018). Cortico-insular circuits encode subjective value expectation and violation for effortful goal directed behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.115(22), E5233-E5242.
19. Cooper, J.A., Blanco, N., & Maddox, W.T. (2017). Framing Matters: Effects of Framing on Older Adults' Exploratory Decision-Making. Psychology & Aging, 32(1), 60-68.
20. Treadway, M.T., Admon, R., Arulpragasam, A.R., Mehta, M.M., Douglas, S., Vitaliano, G., Olson, D.O., Cooper, J.A., Pizzagalli, D.A. (2017). Association between interleukin-6 and striatal prediction-error signals following acute stress in healthy females. Biological Psychiatry, 82(8), 570-577.
21. Cooper, J.A., Worthy,D.A., & Maddox, W.T. (2016). Information about forgone rewards impedes dynamic decision-making in older adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. 3(1), 103-16.
22. Worthy, D.A., Davis, T., Gorlick, M.A., Cooper, J.A., Bakkour, A., Mumford, J., Poldrack, R.A., & Maddox, W.T. (2016). Neural Correlates of State-Based Decision-Making in Younger and Older Adults. NeuroImage, 130, 13-23.
23. Cooper, J.A., Worthy, D.A., & Maddox, W.T. (2015). Chronic Motivational State Interacts with Task Reward Structure in Dynamic Decision-Making. Cognitive Psychology, 80, 40-53.
24. Cooper, J.A., & Marsh, J.K. (2015). The influence of expertise on essence beliefs for mental and medical disorder categories. Cognition, 144, 67-75.
25. Blanco, N.J., Love, B.C., Cooper, J.A., McGeary, J.E., Knopik, V.S., & Maddox, W.T. (2015). A Frontal Dopamine System for Reflective Exploratory Behavior. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 123, 84-91.
26. Cooper, J.A., Gorlick, M.A., Denny, T., Worthy, D.A., Beevers, C.G., & Maddox, W.T. (2014). Training Attention Improves Decision Making in Individuals with Elevated Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 14(2), 729-41.
27. Worthy, D.A., Cooper, J.A., Byrne, K.A., Gorlick, M.A., & Maddox, W.T. (2014). State-Based Versus Reward-Based Motivation in Younger and Older Adults. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 14(4), 1208-20.
28. Cooper, J.A., Worthy, D.A., Gorlick, M.A., & Maddox, W.T. (2013). Scaffolding Across the Lifespan in History-Dependent Decision Making. Psychology and Aging, 28(2), 505-514.
Preprints and Manuscripts in Progress
1. Hahn, E. C., Molla, H., Cooper, J. A., DeBrosse, J., & de Wit, H. (Under Review). Effects of methamphetamine on human effort task performance are unrelated to its subjective effects.
2. Rilling, J. K., Lee, M., Zhou, C., Jung, E., Arrant, E., Cooper, J. A., Davenport-Nicholson, A., & Treadway, M. T. (Under Review). First-time human fathers exhibit longitudinal increases in activation of parental brain circuitry.
3. Luther. L., Cooper, J.A., Treadway, M.T., Knippenberg, A.R., Walker, E., Gold, J.M., Waltz, J.A., Schiffman, J. Ellman, L.M., Mittal, V.A., Zinbarg, R., Silverstein, S.M., Corlett, P.R, Powers, A.R., Woods, S.W., Allen, D.N., Lahti, A., & Strauss, G.P. (Under Review) Computational phenotypes underlying effort-based decision making and negative symptoms in a transdiagnostic sample of individuals with severe mental illness.
4. Lilly, L. H., Cooper, J. A., Cassidy, B. S., & Seaman, K. L. (Under Review) Age-related differences in generalization of social learning.
5. Dong, X, Cooper, J.A., Moran, E & Barch, D.M. (Under Review). Understanding effort-cost decision-making mechanisms in mood and psychotic disorders: A computational modeling approach across physical and cognitive ECDM paradigms.
6. Cooper, J.A., Ryan, J.S., Webber, H.E., Lopez-Gamundi, P., Hoots, J.K., Nunez, C., Lane, S.D., Wardle, M.C.& Treadway, M.T. (In Preparation) Dose-response effects of d-amphetamine on regret and relief during counterfactual decision making.
7. Arulpragasam, A.R., Kwok, K.S., Cooper, J.A., & Treadway, M.T. (In Preparation) Mapping the heterogeneous functions for dACC in effort-based decision-making.
8. Arulpragasam, A.R., LoPilato, A.M., DeVries, B.A.M., Andrews, E.M., Cooper, J.A., Craighead, W.E., & Treadway, M.T. (In Preparation) Developmental differences in the neural mechanisms underlying effort-based decision-making.
Entries and Chapters
Cooper, J.A., Worthy, D.A., & Maddox, W.T. (2018). Decision Making. In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Lifespan Human Development.
Smayda, K., Cooper, J.A., & Maddox, W.T. (2018). Cognitive Training. In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Lifespan Human Development.