Katharine Thakkar

Assistant Professor of Psychology Michigan State University

  • East Lansing MI

Professor Thakkar is an expert in psychotic disorders.

Contact

Michigan State University

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Biography

Dr. Thakkar is a clinical psychologist with expertise in experimental psychology and brain imaging. She has a long-standing interest in the biological causes of psychotic disorders, and she currently directs the MSU Clinical Neuroscience Lab. Dr. Thakkar received B.A. degrees in Psychology and Mathematics at Boston University. She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Vanderbilt University and her clinical internship at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, where she specialized in Clinical Neuropsychology. She was awarded a Rubicon grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research to conduct a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at the University Medical Center Utrecht.

Areas of Expertise

Neuropsychological Assessment
Eye Tracking
Psychosis
Bipolar Disorder
Schizophrenia
Mental Health
Experimental Psychology
Neuroimaging

Education

Vanderbilt University

Ph.D.

Psychology

2012

Boston University

B.A.

Mathematics

2004

Boston University

BA

Psychology

2004

Research Focus

The biological causes for the symptoms of psychotic disorder

Dr. Thakkar has a long-standing interest in understanding the biological causes for the symptoms of psychotic disorders, like schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, so that they may be more effectively treated. She uses a variety of methods to understand the basic building blocks of impaired cognitive abilities, social difficulties, and psychotic symptoms like hallucinations and delusions.

Research Grants

Uncovering pathophysiological mechanisms of psychosis using the oculomotor system

NIMH, R01

2017-2021

Sensory consequences of action in children with autism spectrum disorders

NIMH, R21

2017-2019
Co-Pi with Jennifer Foss-Feig

Corollary discharge disturbances in schizophrenia: investigating the role of the thalamus

Brain and Behavior Foundation

2016-2019
NARSAD Young Investigator Award

Journal Articles

Reduced pupil dilation during action preparation in schizophrenia

International Journal of Psychophysiology

Katharine N Thakkar, Jan W Brascamp, Livon Ghermezi, Kassidy Fifer, Jeffrey D Schall, Sohee Park

2018

Impairments in cognitive control—the ability to exert control over thoughts and actions and respond flexibly to the environment—are well-documented in schizophrenia. However, the degree to which experimental task performance reflects true cognitive control impairments or more general alterations in effort, arousal and/or task preparedness is unclear. Pupillary responses can provide insight into these latter factors, as the pupil dilates with degree of cognitive effort and response preparation...

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Eye gaze perception in bipolar disorder: Self‐referential bias but intact perceptual sensitivity

Bipolar Disorders

Beier Yao, Savanna A Mueller, Tyler B Grove, Merranda McLaughlin, Katharine Thakkar, Vicki Ellingrod, Melvin G McInnis, Stephan F Taylor, Patricia J Deldin, Ivy F Tso

2018

Deficits in social cognition predict poor functional outcome in severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and autism. However, research findings on social cognition in bipolar disorder (BD) are sparse and inconsistent. This study aimed to characterize a critical social cognitive process—eye gaze perception—and examine its functional correlates in BD to inform psychopathological mechanisms.

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Altered short-term neural plasticity related to schizotypal traits: Evidence from visual adaptation

Schizophrenia research

Katharine N Thakkar, Anna Antinori, Olivia L Carter, Jan W Brascamp

2018

Abnormalities in synaptic plasticity are argued to underlie the neural dysconnectivity observed in schizophrenia. One way to measure synaptic plasticity is through sensory adaptation, whereby sensory neurons exhibit reduced sensitivity after sustained stimulus exposure. Evidence for decreased adaptation in individuals with schizophrenia is currently inconclusive, possibly due to heterogeneity in clinical and medication status across
samples.

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