Steven J. Lamontagne

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Postdoctoral Fellow at National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health

Background An urgent need exists to identify neural correlates associated with differing levels of suicide risk and develop novel, rapid-acting therapeutics to modulate activity within these neural networks. Methods Electrophysiological correlates of suicide were evaluated using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in 75 adults with differing levels of su...

Although suicide is a leading cause of preventable death worldwide, current prevention efforts have failed to substantively mitigate suicide risk. Suicide research has traditionally relied on subjective reports that may not accurately differentiate those at high versus minimal risk. This narrative review supports the inclusion of objective task-bas...

During the past 60 years, perceptions about the origins of mental illness have shifted toward a biomedical model, depicting depression as a biological disorder caused by genetic abnormalities and/or chemical imbalances. Despite benevolent intentions to reduce stigma, biogenetic messages promote prognostic pessimism, reduce feelings of agency, and a...

Anhedonia is characteristically preceded by chronic stress, likely involving downstream effects of glucocorticoid alterations on dopamine (DA) function. To elucidate the neural underpinnings of this interaction, we examined whether acute pharmacological modulation of DA alters reward learning after chronic mild stress (CMS). Forty-eight male Wistar...

Suicide is a leading cause of death and morbidity worldwide, yet few interventions are available to mitigate its risk. Barriers to effective treatments involve a limited understanding of factors that predict the onset of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. In the context of suicide risk, stress is a precipitating factor that is largely overlooked in t...

Anhedonia is a core feature of psychopathological conditions that have recent exposure to stress and trauma as central to their etiology. Indeed, evolutionary accounts of depression suggest that decreased motivation to pursue reward may be an adaptive strategy in the face of social stress, in particular, as it may serve to defuse interpersonal conf...

Acute health consequences associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection have been thoroughly characterized; however, long-term impacts are not yet understood. Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), also known as Long COVID syndrome, is the persistence of COVID-19 symptoms long after viral infection. In addition to physical symptoms...

Like singing, speech is governed by a control system that requires sensory information about the effects of its actions, and the major source of this sensory feedback is the auditory system. This chapter addresses a number of issues related to the perceptual control of speech production. The study of postlingually deafened individuals represents th...

Binge eating disorder (BED), characterized by excessive food consumption within a discrete period of time, is the most prevalent of all eating disorders, with higher rates in women than men. Chronic stress, particularly during adolescence, is a significant risk factor for BED in women, but the mechanism underlying this relationship remains elusive....

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) continues to ravage communities across the world. Despite its primary effect on the respiratory system, the virus does not solely impact those with underlying lung conditions as initially predicted. Indeed, prognosis is worsened (often fatal) in patients with pre‐existing hyperinflammatory responses (e.g., hypert...

L’étude scientifique de la cognition animale prend racine tant dans la psychologie expérimentale que dans la biologie évolutive, si bien que les recherches s’effectuent souvent dans des disciplines connexes, comme les neurosciences, l’informatique ou l’écologie. La nature interdisciplinaire de cette entreprise constitue à la fois une richesse et un...

The scientific study of animal cognition has roots in both experimental psychology and evolutionary biology, with researchers often working in related disciplines such as neuroscience, computing science, or ecology. The interdisciplinary nature of the endeavour is both a strength and a challenge for the field. We begin this review with a brief hist...

Drug addiction affects approximately 10% of the population and these numbers are rising. Treatment and prevention of addiction are impeded by current diagnostic systems, such as DSM-5, which are based on outcomes rather than processes. Here, we review the importance of adopting a dimensional framework, specifically the Research Domain Criteria (RDo...

Rationale Anhedonia, a deficit in reward processing, is an endophenotype of several neuropsychiatric conditions. Despite its prevalence and debilitating effects, treatments for anhedonia are lacking, primarily because its underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Dopamine (DA) has been implicated in anhedonia through its role in reward-related l...

Both the lateral septum (LS) and anterior hypothalamus (AHA) regulate behavioural defense. We tested whether those two interconnected structures act in serial in that regard. Infusions of the GABAA agonist muscimol into one side of the LS and the contralateral (but not ipsilateral) AHA suppressed rats’ burying in the shock-probe test whereas none o...