Research Overview
My research investigates how social and environmental determinants of health relate to brain function and health. I examine how race-related stress, socioeconomic conditions, adversity, and neighborhood conditions are associated with neural processes involved in affect, stress responding, and social information processing, as well as with longer-term differences in brain aging. I also study how inflammatory, autonomic, and other stress-related physiological processes relate to neural function and behavior.
To address these questions, I combine human neuroimaging with psychophysiological and inflammatory measures across experimental, longitudinal, daily-life studies. Across this work, the brain serves as a central level of analysis for understanding relationships among lived environments, physiological processes, and health inequities.
Questions Guiding My Research
- How do the social and environmental conditions people experience relate to brain function and brain aging?
- How are stress regulation and recovery expressed across the brain, body, emotions, and behavior, and how do these patterns vary across contexts and unfold over time?
- What social, environmental, and individual resources are associated with recovery from stress?
- How are cumulative experiences and stress-related processes associated with brain health, brain aging, and health disparities across the lifespan?
To read more about our work, please visit thenhelab.com.
Lab Personnel
- Amanda Johnston, Graduate Student
- Helena Huynh, Graduate Student
- Chloe Newbill, Lab manager
- AB, Washington University in St. Louis
- PhD, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Education & Training
Alvarez, G. M., Rudolph, M., Cohen, J., Muscatell, K. (2022) Lower socioeconomic position is associated with greater activity and integration within an allostatic-interoceptive brain system in response to affective stimuli. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Muscatell, K. A., Alvarez, G. M., Bonar, A. S., Cardenas, M. N., Galvan, M. J., Merritt, C. C., & Starks, M. D. (2022). Brain-body pathways linking racism and health. The American Psychologist, 77(9), 1049–1060. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001084
Duell, N., Alvarez, G. M., Telzer, E. H., & Muscatell, K. A. (2025). Racial/ethnic discrimination shapes adolescent brain connectivity: Social buffers and implications for executive function. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 76, 101625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101625
Johnston, A., Tchala, Y., Newbill, C., Kraynak, T. E., Gianaros, P. J., Marsland, A. L., & Alvarez, G. M. (2026). At the intersection of place and race: Neighborhood and racialized exposures associated with brain age gap in midlife. Brain and Environment, 8, 100027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.braen.2026.100027
