developmental social neuroscientist

Leehyun Yoon

[pronounced: ee-hyuhn]

I will launch the Developmental Social Affective Neuroscience (DSAN) lab at the Psychology Department & the Center for Vital Longevity at the University of Texas at Dallas as an Assistant Professor in Jan 2024. I shared my 2022-23 academic job search experience at [this] page.

Introduction

I am a postdoctoral scholar working at Teen Experiences, Emotions, and Neurodevelopment (TEEN) lab (PI: Dr. Amanda Guyer) at the Center for Mind and Brain (University of California, Davis). I’m interested in understanding the developing self & brain that interact with various social contexts and translation of this research topic to the clinical and educational practice.

My research interest includes:

Neural and psychological mechanisms of the developmental process of learning, thinking & presenting about the self in social contexts.
Identifying self-relevant and social-affective information processing predictive of the development of mood disorders and interpersonal problems in youth.
The effect of deprived and negative social interaction on social and affective brain development.

I’ve been attracted to the adolescent period both through the viewpoint of a basic and translational scientist:

(1) This is the life phase when tremendous changes in brain organization, dynamic social interaction, and intense socialization process co-occur — therefore best suited for investigating the mechanisms of the emergence of complex social motivation and the formation of unique individuals; (2) I have a longstanding interest in understanding high and increasing rates of depression and other mental health problems in today’s teens and young adults and the social/performance stress that they face. I hope that my research can enhance our understanding of the social selves and contribute to shaping social environment that promotes young people's health & positive development.

Contact Information: leehyun.yoon@utdallas.edu

[CV]

Education / Experience

I did my PhD in Social and Decision Neuroscience Lab (PI: Dr. Hackjin Kim) at Korea University, where I studied neural processes underlying self-relevant social evaluation processing and their development. I did early postdoctoral research at Brain development, Psychopathology, and Mental health lab (PI: Dr. Johnna R. Swartz) at UC Davis and studied affective neural functions and network topology associated with risk and presence of depression in adolescents.

Publications

Development and Neural Processing of Responses to Social Evaluation

Yoon, L., Keenan, K., Hipwell, A. E., Forbes, E. E., & Guyer, A. E. (2023). Hooked on a thought: Associations between rumination and neural responses to social rejection in adolescent girls. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. [article] [neurovault]

Yoon, L.*, Kim, K.*, Jung, D., & Kim, H. (2021). Roles of the MPFC and insula in impression management under social observation. Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience (*Equal Contribution) [article] [supplementary] [neurovault]

Yoon, L., Somerville, L., & Kim, H. (2018). Development of MPFC function mediates shifts in self-protective behavior provoked by social feedback. Nature Communications, 9(1), 3086. (selected as Editors’ Highlights) [article] [neurovault] [script/taskstimuli]

Social and Affective Brain Functions associated with Adolescent Depression and other Psychopathology

Baranger DAA, Lindenmuth M, Yoon L, Guyer AE, Keenan K, Hipwell AE, Forbes EE. (2023) Accelerated neurodevelopment of reward anticipation processing in adolescent girls with depression. medRxiv doi: 10.1101/2023.09.15.23295631

Rohrsetzer R., …, Yoon, L., et al. (2023) An MRI-based morphometric and structural covariance network study of Brazilian adolescents stratified by depression risk. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry.

Beard, S. J., Yoon, L., Venticinque J. S., Shepherd N. E., Guyer, A. E. (2022) The Brain in Social Context: A Systematic Review of Substance Use and Social Processing from Adolescence to Young Adulthood. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. [article]

Yoon, L., Rohrsetzer R., Battel L., Anes M., Manfro P. H., Rohde L. A., Viduani A., Zajkowska Z., Mondelli V., Kieling C.*, Swartz J. R.* (2022) Frontolimbic network topology associated with risk and presence of depression in adolescence: a study using a composite risk score in Brazil. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. [article]

Kieling C. et al. The Identifying Depression Early in Adolescence Risk Stratified Cohort (IDEA - RiSCo): rationale, methods, and baseline characteristics (2021). Frontiers in Psychiatry, section Child and Adolescent Psychiatry [article]

Yoon, L., Rohrsetzer R., Battel L., Anes M., Manfro P. H., Rohde L. A., Viduani A., Zajkowska Z., Mondelli V., Kieling C.*, Swartz J. R.* (2021) Reward- and threat-related neural function associated with risk and presence of depression in adolescents: a study using a composite risk score in Brazil. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry [article] [podcast]

Individual Differences in Social Cognition and Behavior

Holbrook, C., Yoon, L., Fessler, D.M.T., Jimenez, S., Kim, H. (2022) Moral Parochialism and Causal Appraisal of Transgressive Harm in Seoul and Los Angeles. Scientific Reports. [article]

Yoon, L., Carranza, A. F., Swartz J. R. (2022) Resting-state functional connectivity associated with extraversion and agreeableness in adolescence. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. (invited for a research topic “Prosocial and Hypersocial Behavior: From Genes to Circuits and Behavior”) [article]

Yoon, L., Yoo, M., Ryu, J., & Park, S. (2016). Explicit and Implicit Attitudes Toward Homosexuals. Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue, 22(3), 343-362. [article (with English Abstract)]

Recent Talks

11/2023 “How adolescents' brains respond to social evaluation” Guest Lecture, Mcgill University

10/2023 “How adolescents' brains respond to social evaluation” Lecture, Director’s Research Circle, Center for Vital Longevity

3/2023 “Peer Exclusion in Childhood and Adolescence: Multi-level Mechanisms and Risk for Depression,” Paper Symposium, 2023 Society for Research in Child Development

1-2/2023 “Development and Alteration of Rejection-related Brain Function in Adolescents,” Research Seminar (Job Talk)

10/2022 “Stress, Brain Development, and Mental Health” (Stress, Adversity, & Resilience (HDE 133)), Guest Lecture, UC Davis

01/2022 “The neural basis of adolescent development and individual differences in social behavior,” Invited Talk, Neuroscience Program Seminar Series, Michigan State University

10/2021 “Research Questions and Methods of Developmental Social Neuroscience,” Guest lecture, Korea University

04/2021 “The adolescent development of social-affective neural function and its relevance to risk for depression,” Guest lecture, Advanced Topic in Developmental Psychology, Virginia Tech

Conference affiliation / Service

Member of Flux Society (Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Society), SANS (The Social & Affective Neuroscience Society), SAS (Society for Affective Science), & IMBES (International Mind, Brain, and Education Society)

Trainee Committee (2020-2022) of Flux : Grant writing workshop organization for Flux 2022, Social media account management for Flux 2021

Peer review

Child Development, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Child Neuropsychology, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Research on Adolescence

Cerebral Cortex, Human Brain Mapping, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Biological Psychology

Emotion, Psychological Medicine, Frontiers in Psychiatry: Neuroimaging and Stimulation (Review Editor)

Scientific Reports, Plos ONE, Frontiers in Psychology, Journal of Happiness Studies