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Temple University Brain Research & Imaging Center

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Research

Research

TUBRIC supports research aimed at understanding the human brain across the lifespan, in health and disease, and in the social and environmental contexts of everyday life. Research conducted at TUBRIC spans fundamental and applied questions about memory, reward, decision-making, trust, social connection, depression, aging, substance use, and other dimensions of brain health. It also advances the methods used to study the brain, including precision imaging, real-time fMRI, multimodal acquisition, and open neuroimaging datasets. Across these areas, our goal is to produce rigorous neuroscience that contributes to a better understanding of brain health and the brain in society, while making the resulting knowledge, data, and tools as useful as possible to other researchers and the communities we serve.

research resources

Publications

Recent peer-reviewed empirical publications using data collected at TUBRIC include: 

  • Bounyarith, T., Braun, D., & Kucyi, A. (2026). Real-time fMRI-triggered experience sampling: A proof-of-concept study. Imaging Neuroscience, 4, IMAG.a.1268. https://doi.org/10.1162/IMAG.a.1268
  • Mattoni, M., Wang, S., Sharp, C. J., Olino, T. M., & Smith, D. V. (2026). Precision imaging for intraindividual investigation of the reward response. Human Brain Mapping, 47(5), e70512. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.70512
  • Smith, D. V., Zaff, O., Wyngaarden, J. B., Dennison, J. B., Sazhin, D., Chein, J., McCloskey, M., Alloy, L. B., Jarcho, J. M., & Fareri, D. S. (2026). Social closeness and reward sensitivity enhance corticostriatal function during experiences of shared rewards. Biological Psychology, 204, 109209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2026.109209
  • Wyngaarden, J. B., Nambiar, A., Dennison, J. B., Alloy, L. B., Fareri, D. S., Jarcho, J. M., & Smith, D. V. (2026). Trait reward sensitivity and behavioral motivation are associated with connectivity between the default mode network and the striatum during reward anticipation. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 26(3), 838–849. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-025-01396-9
  • Wang, S., Yang, Y., Sharp, C. J., Fareri, D. S., Chein, J., & Smith, D. V. (2026). Striatal social reward sensitivity predicts trust-related brain responses depending on closeness and depression. Biological Psychology, Article 109381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2026.109381
  • Litwin, J., Hill, K., Foley, J. M., Tani, N., Cohen, S. S., Newcombe, N. S., & Olson, I. R. (2025). Autobiographical memory in children: Relation to neural white matter. Memory, 33(9), 1129–1141. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2025.2554938
  • Nguyen, K. V., Olson, I. R., & Newcombe, N. S. (2025). Do spatial navigation and episodic memory rely on the same systems? Evidence from a naturalistic experience with children and adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 154(10), 2726–2739. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001805
  • Sazhin, D., Wyngaarden, J. B., Dennison, J. B., Zaff, O., Fareri, D. S., McCloskey, M. S., Alloy, L. B., Jarcho, J. M., & Smith, D. V. (2024). Trait reward sensitivity modulates connectivity with the temporoparietal junction and anterior insula during strategic decision making. Biological Psychology, 192, 108857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2024.108857
  • Wyngaarden, J. B., Johnston, C. R., Sazhin, D., Dennison, J. B., Zaff, O., Fareri, D. S., McCloskey, M., Alloy, L. B., Smith, D. V., & Jarcho, J. M. (2024). Corticostriatal responses to social reward are linked to trait reward sensitivity and subclinical substance use in young adults. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 19(1), nsae033. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsae033
  • Chat, I. K.-Y., Gepty, A. A., Kautz, M., Mac Giollabhui, N., Adogli, Z. V., Coe, C. L., Abramson, L. Y., Olino, T. M., & Alloy, L. B. (2022). Residence in high-crime neighborhoods moderates the association between interleukin 6 and social and nonsocial reward brain responses. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, 2(3), 273–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsgos.2022.04.006
  • Fareri, D. S., Hackett, K., Tepfer, L. J., Kelly, V., Henninger, N., Reeck, C., Giovannetti, T., & Smith, D. V. (2022). Age-related differences in ventral striatal and default mode network function during reciprocated trust. NeuroImage, 256, 119267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119267
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Open Data

TUBRIC is committed to making high-quality neuroimaging data more useful beyond the studies for which they were originally collected. Researchers in the TUBRIC community have released datasets spanning social reward, decision-making, aging, diffusion imaging, and multimodal EEG-fMRI. 

Openly sharing well-documented data allows researchers around the world to test new questions, compare methods, reproduce findings, and train the next generation of scientists. These resources are part of TUBRIC’s broader commitment to open and reproducible neuroscience.

Social and nonsocial reward processing across the adult lifespan 
An interim multi-echo fMRI and diffusion dataset spanning adulthood and designed to support research on reward processing across the lifespan.

Reference: Smith, D. V., Sharp, C. J., Dachs, A., Wyngaarden, J. B., Sazhin, D., Yang, Y., Kos, M., Tropea, T., Kohli, I., Clithero, J. A., Olson, I. R., Giovannetti, T., Fareri, D. S., & Jarcho, J. M. (2024). Social reward and nonsocial reward processing across the adult lifespan: An interim multi-echo fMRI and diffusion dataset. Data in Brief, 56, 110810.

Social and nonsocial reward processing in younger adults 
An fMRI dataset supporting research on social and nonsocial reward processing in younger adults. 

Reference: Smith, D. V., Wyngaarden, J. B., Sharp, C. J., Sazhin, D., Zaff, O., Fareri, D. S., & Jarcho, J. M. (2024). An fMRI dataset of social and nonsocial reward processing in younger adults. Data in Brief, 53, 110197.

Social reward and decision-making in younger and older adults 
An fMRI dataset designed to support research on social reward processing and decision-making across younger and older adulthood.

Reference: Smith, D. V., Ludwig, R. M., Dennison, J. B., Reeck, C., & Fareri, D. S. (2024). An fMRI dataset on social reward processing and decision making in younger and older adults. Scientific Data, 11(1).

Multi-session simultaneous EEG-fMRI with online experience sampling A multi-session simultaneous EEG-fMRI dataset paired with online experience sampling, supporting methodological and substantive research on moment-to-moment experience.

Reference: Kucyi, A., Shareef-Trudeau, L., Braun, D., Peng, H., Bounyarith, T., & Li, J. Z. (2026). A multi-session simultaneous EEG-fMRI dataset with online experience sampling. OpenNeuro.

image of TUBRIC entrance and doors

Educational Resources

TUBRIC supports the dissemination of methods and expertise alongside research findings and data. This page shares tutorials, training materials, analysis resources, and other openly available educational products created by members of the TUBRIC community. 

Scripted First-Level Analyses in FSL using fMRIPrep data 

A novice-friendly workflow that takes learners from an OpenNeuro dataset through fMRIPrep preprocessing, FEAT-ready confounds and event files, first-level FEAT modeling, and an initial visualization of results in NiiVue. 
View the tutorial in Neurodesk EDU. 

Scripted Higher-Level Analyses in FSL using FEAT derivatives 

A companion workflow for higher-level analysis that walks through Level-2 fixed-effects and Level-3 group modeling in FSL FEAT, with an emphasis on inspecting analysis masks and validating outputs before interpreting activation maps.
View the tutorial in Neurodesk EDU.