Aloha,

Aaron Nakamura belongs to the Department of Psychology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His work spans neuroscience, clinical, developmental, and cultural psychology, with a particular focus on understanding how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) shape the brain and identity.

Prior to joining the Brain & Behavior Lab, he spent four years working as a research technician at the University of Tokyo, contributing to four labs and gaining expertise in advanced research techniques such as fMRI and EEG. His academic journey began with earning two Associate’s degrees in Psychology and Social & Behavioral Science, along with a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) credential at Merced College. He then completed a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Teaching ESL (TESL) at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. His professional background includes working with youth in a mental health treatment center.

His research interests have two distinct yet overarching goals. The first is to examine how ACEs, particularly child maltreatment, shape brain structure and function, including cognition, perception, and threat processing. He explores mechanisms of neural plasticity and functional connectivity using fMRI, with particular attention to how adversity alters attentional biases and threat detection — not only in social contexts (e.g., faces) but also in object-based environments. His work seeks to investigate how trauma may contribute to generalized threat sensitivity and hypervigilance. The second goal is to investigate how individuals formulate and stabilize their national, racial/ethnic, and cultural identities in response to these experiences, with a focus on mitigating identity crises and fostering healthy identity development. He is also broadly interested in second language acquisition, particularly learning L2 beyond the critical period and how environmental factors influence this process.

You may find him at:

Brain & Behavior Laboratory

Kotoboo.org

You may find his mentoring statement here