Katie Insel

Katie Insel, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University and director of the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (CATS) Lab. Her research integrates experimental psychology, functional neuroimaging (fMRI), and computational modeling to study adolescent brain development, focusing on how motivation, learning, and decision-making evolve from childhood to adulthood.

Research Interests:

• Adolescent brain maturation
• Value-guided goal pursuit
• Reward processing neurobiology
• Cognitive-emotional interactions
• Mental health risk factors
• Translational neuroscience applications

Scientific Contributions: She has received fellowships including

• Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research

Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF).

Lab & Students: Dr. Insel mentors PhD students like Katharina Seitz (focusing on neuroimaging and internalizing disorders) and Megan Spurney (investigating hormonal influences on cognitive control). The lab recruits for both online and in-person studies at Evanston and Chicago campuses.