Shruti Japee, PhD

I am a biomedical engineer turned cognitive neuroscientist, and my research focuses primarily on how the brain processes emotions, especially those conveyed via facial and body expressions.  I use a combination of computer tasks and neuroimaging methods such as task-based and resting-state fMRI and MEG to characterize behavior and examine the neural correlates of emotion processing.  I also leverage clinical populations to address basic science questions relating to how we process emotional facial expressions.

Currently, I am a Senior Associate Scientist in Dr. Chris Baker's Section on Learning and Plasticity in the Lab of Brain and Cognition at NIMH/NIH. I study the neural basis of facial and body expression processing by using behavioral, fMRI, and MEG methods.  

2024:

On the Role of Sensorimotor Experience in Facial Expression Perception. 

Japee S. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.  

Real Face Value: The Processing of Naturalistic Facial Expressions in the Macaque Inferior Temporal Cortex. 

Taubert J & Japee S. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.  

Dynamic effects of psychiatric vulnerability, loneliness, and social distancing on distress during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from a large-scale longitudinal study 

Atlas L, Farmer C, Gibbons A, Guinee E, Lossio-Ventura JA, Ballard E, Ernst M, Japee S, Pereira F, Chung J. PsyArXiv.  

2023:

Emotion and Anxiety Interact to bias spatial attention.

Bachmann HP, Japee S, Merriam EP, Liu TT. Emotion.

Inability to move one’s face dampens facial expression perception.

Japee S, Jordan J, Licht J, Lokey S, MSRC, Chen G, Snow J, Jabs EW, Webb BD, Engle EC, Manoli I, Baker C*, Ungerleider LG*. Cortex.

A database of heterogeneous faces for studying naturalistic expressions.

Long H, Peluso N, Baker CI, Japee S*, Taubert J*.

Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 3;13(1):5383. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-32659-5.

PMID: 37012369

Equivalent processing of facial expression and identity by macaque visual system and task-optimized neural network.

Zhang H, Ding X, Liu N, Nolan R, Ungerleider LG, Japee S.

Neuroimage. 2023 Jun;273:120067. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120067. Epub 2023 Mar 28.

PMID: 36997134

2022:

A broadly tuned network for affective body language in the macaque brain.

Taubert J*, Japee S*, Patterson A, Wild H, Goyal S, Yu D, Ungerleider LG.

Sci Adv. 2022 Nov 25;8(47):eadd6865. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.add6865. Epub 2022 Nov 25. PMID: 36427322

Layer-specific, retinotopically-diffuse modulation in human visual cortex in response to viewing emotionally expressive faces.

Liu TT, Fu JZ, Chai Y, Japee S, Chen G, Ungerleider LG, Merriam EP.

Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 22;13(1):6302. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33580-7. PMID: 36273204 

The NIMH intramural healthy volunteer dataset: A comprehensive MEG, MRI, and behavioral resource.

Nugent AC, Thomas AG, Mahoney M, Gibbons A, Smith JT, Charles AJ, Shaw JS, Stout JD, Namyst AM, Basavaraj A, Earl E, Riddle T, Snow J, Japee S, Pavletic AJ, Sinclair S, Roopchansingh V, Bandettini PA, Chung J.

Sci Data. 2022 Aug 25;9(1):518. doi: 10.1038/s41597-022-01623-9. PMID: 36008415 

2021:

COVID-19 and Mental Health: Predicted Mental Health Status is Associated with Clinical Symptoms and Pandemic-Related Psychological and Behavioral Responses.

Chung JY, Gibbons A, Atlas L, Ballard E, Ernst M, Japee S, Farmer C, Shaw J, Pereira F.

medRxiv. 2021 Oct 14:2021.10.12.21264902. doi: 10.1101/2021.10.12.21264902. Preprint. PMID: 34671781

Using FACS to trace the neural specializations underlying the recognition of facial expressions: A commentary on Waller et al. (2021).

Taubert J, Japee S.

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2021 Jan;120:75-77. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.10.016. Epub 2020 Nov 20.  PMID: 33227326

2020:

Parallel Processing of Facial Expression and Head Orientation in the Macaque Brain.

Taubert J, Japee S, Murphy AP, Tardiff CT, Koele EA, Kumar S, Leopold DA, Ungerleider LG.

J Neurosci. 2020 Oct 14;40(42):8119-8131. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0524-20.2020. Epub 2020 Sep 14.

PMID: 32928886 Free PMC article.

Anterior superior temporal sulcus is specialized for non-rigid facial motion in both monkeys and humans.

Zhang H, Japee S, Stacy A, Flessert M, Ungerleider LG.

Neuroimage. 2020 Sep;218:116878. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116878. Epub 2020 Apr 28.

PMID: 32360168 Free PMC article.

From visual awareness to consciousness without sensory input: The role of spontaneous brain activity.

Vernet M, Quentin R, Japee S, Ungerleider LG.

Cogn Neuropsychol. 2020 May-Jun;37(3-4):216-219. doi: 10.1080/02643294.2020.1731442. Epub 2020 Feb 25.

PMID: 32093525 Free PMC article.