Research Interests and Publications:

How do we pursue long-term goals?  What are the behavioral, motivation, and neural factors that contribute to our success or failure?  A central aim of Dr. Berkman’s research is to understand how these systems work together to help us pursue our goals.  To do this, he combines the distinct strengths of several research methods including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), cross-sectional and longitudinal survey methods, and laboratory experiments.  Examples of his research include fMRI studies of basic goal-relevant processes such as self-regulation and inhibitory control, experimental studies on how approach and avoidance motivation relate to emotions and performance, and longitudinal studies on real-world goals such as smoking cessation and dieting.  As part of this research program, Dr. Berkman is developing and using new statistical techniques to integrate data across a number of methodologies, including structural equation modeling, idiographic analysis of fMRI data, and joint hierarchical linear modeling of fMRI and behavioral data.

Dr. Berkman will not be accepting new master's students for Fall 2013.

Selected Publications:

Berkman, E.T., Graham, A.M., & Fisher, P.A. (in press). Training self-control: A domain-general translational neuroscience approach. Child Development Perspectives.

Falk, E.B., Berkman, E.T., & Lieberman, M.D. (2012). From neural responses to population behavior: Neural focus group predicts population-level media effects. Psychological Science.

Berkman, E.T., & Reise, S.P. (2011). A Conceptual Guide to Statistics Using SPSS. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Berkman, E.T., Falk, E.B., & Lieberman, M.D. (2011). In the trenches of real-world self-control: Neural correlates of breaking the link between craving and smoking. Psychological Science, 22(4), 498-506.

Berkman, E.T., Dickenson, J., Falk, E., & Lieberman, M.D. (2011). Using SMS text messaging to assess moderators of smoking reduction: Validating a new tool for ecological measurement of health behaviors. Health Psychology, 30(2), 186-194.

Berkman, E.T., & Lieberman, M.D. (2010). Approaching the good and avoiding the bad: Separating action and valence using dorsolateral prefrontal cortical asymmetry. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22(10).

Falk, E.B., Berkman, E.T., Mann, T., Harrison, B, & Lieberman, M.D. (2010). Predicting persuasion-induced behavior change from the brain. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(25), 8421-8424.

Berkman, E.T., Burklund, L., & Lieberman, M.D. (2009). Inhibitory spillover: Intentional motor inhibition produces incidental limbic inhibition via right inferior frontal cortex. Neuroimage, 47, 705-712.