Rachael Grazioplene, Social Coordinator

I am interested in understanding the genetic and biological factors that contribute to human individual differences.  Before coming to Minnesota, I worked in Dr. Rex Jung’s lab in Albuquerque, NM and focused on examining the neurobiological correlates of Big Five personality, intelligence, and creativity. I am now working on extending this work in the lab of Dr. Colin DeYoung, where I hope to unravel how normal variations in personality, neurobiology, and genetics are related to the etiology of common and highly heritable disorders (including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression). Presently, my research focus involves examining gene by environment interactions on personality outcomes, and I am particularly interested in how genetic, neuropharmacological, and neuromorphological underpinnings of Openness/Intellect relate to cognitive flexibility, intelligence, apophenia, novelty, and reward sensitivity.