Aaron Heller

Aaron Heller is a Professor and Director of the Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Division within the Department of Psychology at the University of Miami's College of Arts and Sciences. His work focuses on emotional dynamics, neuroimaging, and translational neuroscience across domains like psychopathology, health psychology, and decision-making. Key areas include understanding mechanisms underlying repetitive negative thinking, affective responses to real-world events, and neurobiological correlates of stress and depression.

Research interests span clinical psychology (e.g., premenstrual symptoms, cancer survivorship), cognitive neuroscience (neural networks in emotion regulation), and translational research (stress management interventions for cancer patients). Over 60 peer-reviewed publications demonstrate his contributions to understanding brain-age associations with social connection, prediction errors in depression, and neuroimmune interactions.

• Leads studies on computational models of expectation dynamics and their emotional impacts
• Investigates cultural factors (e.g., familism) influencing health outcomes in Hispanic populations
• Collaborates on randomized controlled trials (e.g., cognitive behavioral stress management)

His lab integrates neuroimaging (fMRI/PET), ecological momentary assessment, and behavioral economics methods to bridge basic and applied research. Notably, work shows blunted reward prediction error responses in depression and links hippocampal-striatal connectivity to affective well-being.