Michael Koenigs, Ph.D.
Professor (Tenure Track)
The Koenigs lab seeks to characterize the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms underlying emotion, decision-making, and social behavior through the study of multiple clinical populations with deficits in these domains, including neurological patients with prefrontal brain damage, prison inmates with psychopathic personality disorder, and psychiatric outpatients with mood and anxiety disorders
Wisconsin Psychiatric Institute and Clinics
- Lab
- Koenigs Lab
- Recent Publications
- Pub Med
Michael Koenigs, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Neuroscience & Public Policy Program. The goal of Dr. Koenigs’ research is to identify and characterize the brain circuits underlying human emotion, decision-making, and social behavior. A better understanding of the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms that underlie deficits in these functions may lead to more effective strategies for diagnosing, treating, and preventing mental illness. The Koenigs lab studies multiple clinical populations with deficits in social and affective function, including neurological patients with prefrontal brain damage, prison inmates with psychopathic personality disorder, and psychiatric outpatients with mood and anxiety disorders. The Koenigs lab employs a variety of measures, including clinical diagnostic interviews, cognitive and behavioral testing, physiological responses (e.g., heart rate, eye movements), and neuroimaging assessments of brain structure and function (e.g., fMRI).
Publications
- The Multifaceted Role of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Emotion, Decision Making, Social Cognition, and Psychopathology.
- Ventromedial prefrontal cortex is critical for the regulation of amygdala activity in humans.
- Altered resting-state functional connectivity in cortical networks in psychopathy.