Abigail Marsh
- Media Contact
- SPN Mentor
Abigail Marsh conducts research that is aimed at understanding aspects of human social interactions, emotional functioning, and empathy using cognitive neuroscience methods. She focuses in particular on features of emotion and on nonverbal communication. Current research includes studies with adolescents and adults, incorporating neuroimaging, cognitive and behavioral testing, and pharmacology techniques aimed at identifying the neurocognitive roots of empathy, altruism, and aggression.
Primary Interests:
- Aggression, Conflict, Peace
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Ethics and Morality
- Helping, Prosocial Behavior
- Neuroscience, Psychophysiology
- Nonverbal Behavior
Research Group or Laboratory:
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Image Gallery
Video Gallery
Why Some People Are More Altruistic Than Others
Select video to watch
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12:22 Why Some People Are More Altruistic Than Others
Length: 12:22
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5:10 The Chemistry of Love
Length: 5:10
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4:29 The Chemistry of Fear
Length: 4:29
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2:22 The Case of SM, the Fearless Woman
Length: 2:22
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6:08 What's the Difference Between Psychopathy and Sociopathy?
Length: 6:08
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12:30 When Your Child Is a Psychopath
Length: 12:30
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1:01:28 The Science of Psychopaths
Length: 1:01:28
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15:17 Human Nature Is Not Fundamentally Selfish
Length: 15:17
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48:55 The Altruistic Brain
Length: 48:55
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58:39 The Fear Factor
Length: 58:39
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1:42 Why Do I Like to Be Scared?
Length: 1:42
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9:22 Psychopathy
Length: 9:22
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25:55 The Psychology of Altruism and Kidney Donors
Length: 25:55
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37:40 The Science of Helping [Altruism]
Length: 37:40
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1:10:42 The Altruistic Brain (Expanding Empathy)
Length: 1:10:42
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1:33:50 The Neuroscience of Empathy and Altruism
Length: 1:33:50
Books:
Journal Articles:
- Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., Cardinale, E. M., Vekaria, K. M., Robertson, E. L., Walitt, B., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh, A. A. (2018). Extraordinary altruists exhibit enhanced self-other overlap in neural responses to distress. In press, Psychological Science.
- Cardinale, E. M., Breeden, A. L., Robertson, E. L., Lozier, L. M., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh, A. A. (2018). Externalizing behavior severity in youths with callous-unemotional traits corresponds to patterns of amygdala activity and connectivity during judgments of causing fear. Development & Psychopathology, 30, 191-201.
- Cardinale, E. M., O’Connell, K., Robertson, E. L., Meena, L. B., Breeden, A. L., Lozier, L. M., VanMeter, J. W. & Marsh, A. A. (2018). Callous and uncaring traits are associated with reductions in amygdala volume among youths with varying levels of conduct problems. In press, Psychological Medicine.
- Lozier, L. M., Cardinale, E. M., VanMeter, J., & Marsh, A. A. (2014). Amygdala response to fear mediates the relationship between callous-unemotional traits and proactive aggression among children with conduct problems. JAMA Psychiatry, 71, 627-636.
- Marsh, A.A. (2018). The neuroscience of empathy. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 19, 110-115.
- Marsh, A. A., Adams, R. B. Jr., & Kleck, R. E. (2005). Why do fear and anger look the way they do? Form and social function in facial expressions. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 73-86.
- Marsh, A. A., & Ambady, N. (2007). The influence of the fear facial expression on prosocial responding. Cognition & Emotion, 21, 225-247.
- Marsh, A. A., Ambady, N., & Kleck, R. E. (2005). The effects of fear and anger facial expressions on approach- and avoidance-related behaviors. Emotion, 5, 119-124.
- Marsh, A. A., & Blair R. J. R. (2008). Deficits in facial affect recognition among antisocial populations: A meta-analysis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32, 454-465.
- Marsh, A. A., Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2007). Separated by a common language: Nonverbal accents and cultural stereotypes about Americans and Australians. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38, 284-301.
- Marsh, A. A., Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2003). Nonverbal "accents": Cultural differences in facial expressions of emotion. Psychological Science, 14, 373-376.
- Marsh, A. A., Finger, E. C., Mitchell, D. G. V., Reid, M. E., Sims, C., Kosson, D. S., Towbin, K. E., Leibenluft, E., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R. (2008). Reduced amygdala response to fearful expressions in children and adolescents with callous-unemotional traits and disruptive behavior disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 712-720.
- Marsh, A. A., Finger, E. C., Schechter, J. C., Jurkowitz, I. T. N., Reid, M. E., & Blair, R. J. R. (2011). Adolescents with psychopathic traits report reductions in physiological responses to fear. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 52, 834-841.
- Marsh, A. A., Kozak, M. N., & Ambady, N. (2007). Accurate identification of fear facial expressions predicts prosocial behavior. Emotion, 7, 239-51.
- Marsh, A. A., Stoycos, S. A., Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M.,# Robinson, P.# VanMeter, J. W. & Cardinale, E. M.# (2014). Neural and cognitive characteristics of extraordinary altruists. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, 15036-41.
- Marsh, A. A., Yu, H. H., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R. (2010). Oxytocin improves specific recognition of positive facial expressions. Psychopharmacology, 209, 225-232.
- Vekaria, K. M., Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., Cardinale, E. M., Stoycos, S. A., Marsh, A. A. (2017). Social discounting and costly altruism: Examining motivations for extraordinary generosity. Nature Human Behaviour, 1, 0100.
- Vieira, J. M., Ferreira-Santos, F., Almeida, P., Barbosa, F., Marques-Teixeira, J., & Marsh, A. A. (2015). Psychopathic traits are associated with cortical and subcortical volume alterations in healthy individuals. Social, Cognitive, & Affective Neuroscience, 10, 1693-704.
- White, S. F., Marsh, A. A., Fowler, K. A., Schechter, J. C., Adalio, C., Pope, K., Sinclair, S., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R. (2012). Disrupted amygdala functioning in youth with disruptive behavior disorder and psychopathic traits is a function of emotional processing deficits, not attentional control. American Journal of Psychiatry.
Courses Taught:
- Empathy and Communication
- General Psychology
- Social and Affective Neuroscience
Abigail Marsh
Department of Psychology
White Gravenor Hall, Georgetown University
37th and O Street NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20057
United States of America
- Phone: (202) 687-4100
- Fax: (202) 687-6050