ADRIENNE TAREN

Occupational Neuro-Stress & Performance Laboratory

Our Research Approach

Our long-term objective is to elucidate—and ultimately interrupt—the cascade by which occupational trauma transforms neural circuit function into persistent post-traumatic stress symptoms. Frontline healthcare workers and first responders routinely perform under conditions of acute threat, moral stress, and chronic uncertainty. For many, repeated exposures precipitate intrusive memories, dysregulated arousal, and functional impairment. Yet the same individual may oscillate between resilience and distress across time, suggesting that state-dependent neurobiological processes and environmental contexts interact in complex ways.

To close this knowledge gap, our lab combines high-resolution neuroimaging with “everyday” biology. Functional MRI is paired with ambulatory autonomic monitoring, ecological momentary assessment, and molecular profiling (inflammatory markers, polygenic risk) to construct individualized stress response signatures. We then aim to test causality through precision neuromodulation and field-ready behavioral interventions, evaluating their ability to recalibrate circuits and forestall symptom progression. In doing so, we aim to translate mechanistic insight into scalable prevention and early-treatment strategies for those who operate under high-stakes conditions.

CONTACT DR. TAREN

Research Program Highlights

Main Questions

Which neural circuit, molecular, and genetic mechanisms confer vulnerability or resilience to post-traumatic stress in chronically trauma-exposed professionals?
How do these mechanistic signatures map onto day-to-day function and symptom trajectories, and can multimodal “digital phenotyping” improve prediction of PTSD onset and course?
Can scalable, personalized interventions modulate these circuits to prevent or reduce PTSD symptoms in real-world field settings?

Approach

We use neuroimaging, wearable technology, and immune system biomarkers to model underlying mechanisms and responses to behavioral and neuromodulatory interventions.

Future Directions

The lab’s next projects will leverage low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) neuromodulation, Floatation-REST therapy, and acute exercise as a potential therapeutic intervention for PTSD symptoms in frontline healthcare workers.

Scientific Background

Dr. Taren received her BA in Neuroscience and Economics from Middlebury College, and subsequently completed a post-baccalaureate fellowship in functional brain imaging under Dr. Scott Huettel at Duke University, working on the neural underpinnings of economic decision making. She received her MD and PhD (Neuroscience) from the University of Pittsburgh-Carnegie Mellon University Medical Scientist Training Program, with an additional certificate in cognitive science from the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. Her PhD research focsed on prefrontal regulatory mechanisms of mindfulness-based stress reduction interventions in chronically stressed community adults. She did post-doctoral work with Dr. David V. Smith at Temple University, examining parcellation of the default mode network.

Dr. Taren moved to Tulsa to complete medical residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma, and is board certified in emergency medicine (ABEM) and in lifestyle medicine (ABLM). She has practiced emergency medicine in Oklahoma since 2017 and serves as an adjunct professor of medical education at Oklahoma State University. In January 2025, she joined the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) in Tulsa, OK as an associate investigator. She is integrating her experience in emergency medicine with her clinical neuroscience expertise to study the neural mechanisms underlying PTSD associated with chronic, repeated occupational trauma exposure among healthcare workers, with the aim of identifying scalable interventions for stress-related disorders in this population.