Jennifer Mingrino is a candidate for a Master’s Psychology degree in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University.   She joined the Cognitive Neurophysiology Research Group as a research assistant in the spring of 2008.  Within the group Jennifer is working on a study that includes the analysis of the morphological abnormalities in brain pathologies associated with epilepsy in comparison to other sub-populations.  Utilizing morphometric analyses, based upon structural MRI data, she is examining the brain to eventually determine gross intra-cranial irregularities associated with post-ictal psychosis. 

Within the Epilepsy Center at NYU Medical Center Jennifer has the opportunity to formulate a comprehensive perception of the disease by observing the daily interactions of neurologists and epileptologists with their patients in the clinical setting.  In conjunction with this, Jennifer is compiling clinical information to collaborate with neuroimaging results to support the understanding of epilepsy.

She graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Trinity College in Hartford, CT completing an undergraduate thesis measuring emotional responses to musical stimuli. Upon analysis of raw electrocardiogram (ECG) results, heart rate variability measures, and self-reports Jennifer explored the autonomic physiological response to musical stimuli as well as the potential synchronizations it exerts on human brain activity and emotional states.  During this time she also practiced forms of Art Therapy with patients suffering from terminal renal failure in the Integrative Medicine Unit at Hartford Hospital. 

Jennifer maintains a penchant for the neural underpinnings of emotion and motivation.  To further her understanding of these topics her studies at NYU include neuroscience and neurophysiology.  Her research interests are focused on pharmacology and behavior, the mesocortico-limbic reward pathway and related neural substrates, and the functional connectivity of the mesocortico-limbic pathway to emotional centers of the brain.  These neural substrates of motivation and reward compelled her interest of neuroimaging techniques, most notably MRI.   In her future studies Jennifer aspires to obtain a Ph.D./M.D. degree with a specialization in neuroscience.

Jennifer is an avid concertgoer and a supporter of the studio glass movement and other contemporary art as well.