Phone: (412) 624-9578
Email: gianaros@pitt.edu

 Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University

Research Interests

Dr. Gianaros maintains two lines of research on individual differences in brain function and structure, particularly as they relate to biological and behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

In the first line of research, functional brain imaging methods are used to characterize individual differences the reactivity of paralimbic brain areas, such as the cingulate cortex, insula, and amygdala, to acute psychological stressors. These paralimbic areas are targeted because they play instrumental roles in processing stress-related information, regulating stress-related coping behaviors, and orchestrating physiological stress reactions that may influence cardiovascular disease vulnerability. Such individual differences in stressor-evoked paralimbic reactivity are specifically examined in association with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as dysregulated forms of cardiovascular and autonomic nervous system activity and indicators of preclinical atherosclerosis. The chief aim of this line of research is to identify functional neural phenotypes that may predispose individuals to cardiovascular disease.

In the second line of research, structural brain imaging methods are used to investigate the relationships between chronic forms of stress and changes in the morphology of paralimbic brain areas. This line of research builds on animal models showing that chronic stress leads to a structural remodeling of brain areas such as the cingulate cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. Importantly, these structural changes may alter cognitive, behavioral, physiological stress-regulatory functions that may influence cardiovascular disease vulnerability. Examples of putative indicators of chronic stress that are examined are low socioeconomic status and longitudinal reports of perceived stress during key life transitions (e.g. menopause). This line of research is being extended to investigate changes in brain morphology (e.g., reductions in regional grey matter volume and cortical thickness) as possible sequelae of etiological risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including hypertension and inflammation.

Recent Publications

• Gianaros PJ, Marsland AL, Sheu LK, Erickson KI, Verstynen TD. (in press). Inflammatory pathways link socioeconomic inequalities to white matter architecture. Cerebral Cortex.
• Sheu LK, Jennings JR, Gianaros PJ. (2012). Test-retest reliability of an fMRI paradigm for studies of cardiovascular reactivity. Psychophysiology, 49, 873-884.
• Gianaros PJ, Onyewuenyi IC, Sheu LK, Christie IC, Critchley HD. (2012). Brain systems for baroreflex suppression during stress in humans. Hum Brain Mapp, 33, 1700-1716.
• Gianaros PJ, Manuck SB, Sheu LK, Kuan DCH, Votruba-Drzal E, Craig AE, Hariri AR (2011). Parental education predicts corticostriatal functionality in adulthood. Cereb Cortex, 21, 896-910.
• Gianaros PJ & Manuck SB (2010). Neurobiological pathways linking socioeconomic position and health. Psychosom Med, 72, 450-461.
• Gianaros PJ & Sheu LK (2009). A review of neuroimaging studies of stressor-evoked blood pressure reactivity: Emerging evidence for a brain-body pathway to coronary heart disease risk. NeuroImage, 47, 922-936.
• Gianaros PJ, Hariri AR, Sheu LK, Sutton-Tyrrell K, Muldoon MF, Manuck SB. (2009). Preclinical atherosclerosis covaries with individual differences in reactivity and functional connectivity of the amygdala. Biol Psychiatry, 65, 943-950.