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Degrees:
M.D., Tel Aviv Univ.
B.Med.Sc., Tel Aviv Univ.
Dr. Michal Assaf is the Research Director of the newly established Mary W. Parker Autism Center, and the director of the Autism & Functional Mapping lab at the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center at the Institute of Living (Hartford, CT). She is also appointed as an adjunct associate professor at the department of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. Before joining the Institute of Living, Dr. Assaf earned her M.D. at Tel Aviv University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Yale University. Dr. Assaf’s research is focused on understanding the neural organization underlying impaired social and emotional cognitive process in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. By applying advanced neuroimaging analysis methods, such as dynamic functional connectivity and machine learning, she explores the heterogeneity in behavioral phenotypes and their underlying neural mechanisms, with the aim to implement and optimize interventions based on neural target engagement.
Dr. Assaf's website can be found here. |
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Neuroimaging methods
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Neurodevelopmental disorders
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Psychiatry neuroimaging
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NESC-301
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Introduction to Neuroscience Methodology
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Social Cognition
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Emotion Regulation
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Autism Spectrum Disorder
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Schizophrenia
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Functional Connectivity
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Neuromodulation
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- Hyatt CJ, Wexler BE, Diefenbach GJ, Dichter GS, Mazefsky CA, Wolf J, Sahl RA, Pittman B, Uscatescu LC, Pearlson GD and Assaf M. Brain-wide connectivity changes due to social-emotional regulation during a naturalistic fMRI task. Cerebral Cortex, 2025, 35 (5), bhaf118. PMID: 40401354 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf118
- Uscatescu LC, Hyatt CJ, Dunn J, Kronbichler M, Calhoun V, Corbera C, Pelphrey K, Pitman B, Pearlson G and Assaf M. Using the Excitation/Inhibition Ratio to Optimize the Classification of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia. Translational Psychiatry, 2025, 15(1):234; PMID: 40634290. DOI: 10.1038/s41398-025-03455-8
- Uscatescu LC, Kronbichler M, Said-Yürekli S, Kronbichler L, Calhoun V, Corbera S, Bell M, Pelphrey K, Pearlson G, and Assaf M. Intrinsic neural timescales in autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. A replication and direct comparison study. Schizophrenia (Heidelb). 2023;9(1):18. doi: 10.1038/s41537-023-00344-1.PMID: 36997542
- Hyatt C, Wexler B, Calhoun V, Pittman B, Nicholson A, Corbera S, Bell M, Pelphrey K, Pearlson G and Assaf M. (2022) Atypical dynamic functional network connectivity state engagement during social-emotional processing in schizophrenia and autism. Cerebral Cortex. 2022;32(16):3406-3422, PMID: 34875687
- Hyatt CJ, Calhoun VD, Pittman B, Corbera S, Bell MD, Rabany L, Pelphrey K, Pearlson GD and Assaf M. (2020) Default Mode Network Modulation by Mentalizing in Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Schizophrenia. NeuroImage: Clinical, 27, 2020, 102343 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102343; PMID: 32711391
- Rabany L, Brocke S, Calhoun VD, Pittman B, Corbera S, Wexler BE, Bell MD, Pelphrey K, Pearlson GD, Assaf M. (2019) Dynamic functional connectivity in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder: Convergence, divergence and classification. NeuroImage: Clinical, 24:101966. PMID: 31401405
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Assaf M, Rabany L, Zertuche L, Bragdon L, Tolin D, Goethe J, and Diefenbach G. (2018) Neural Functional Architecture and Modulation during Decision Making under Uncertainty in Individuals with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Brain and Behavior, 2018; e01015. doi: 10.1002/brb3.1015, PMID: 2993183
- Diefenbach G, Tolin D, Hallion L, Zertuche L, Rabany L, Goethe J and Assaf M (2015) A Case Study of Clinical and Neuroimaging Outcomes Following Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Hoarding Disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 172 (11), 1160-1162. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.15050602 PMID: 26575452
- Diefenbach G, Bragdon LB, Zertuche L, Hyatt CJ, Hallion L, Tolin D, Goethe J and Assaf M (2016) A Pilot Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Trial of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 209 (3) 222-228. PMID: 27198484
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Assaf M, Hyatt CJ, Wong CG, Johnson MR, Schultz RT, Hendler T and Pearlason GD (2013). Mentalization and Motivation Neural Function during Social Interactions in Autism Spectrum Disorders. NeuroImage: Clinical, 3: 321-331 (doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2013.09.005)
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Assaf M, Jagannathan K, Calhoun V, Miller L, Stevens MC, Sahl R, O'Boyle JG, Schultz RT and Pearlson G. (2010) Abnormal Functional Connectivity of Default Mode Sub-Networks in Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients. NeuroImage, 53: 247-256. PMID: 20621638
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Assaf M, Kahn I, Pearlson GD, Johnson MR, Yeshurun Y, Calhoun V and Hendler T (2009). Brain Activity Dissociates Mentalization from Motivation during an Interpersonal Competitive Game. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 3 (1): 24-37.
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