Christina Karns

Christina Karns serves as an Assistant Research Professor at the Center on Brain Injury Research and Training (CBIRT) and Senior Instructor in the Psychology Department at the University of Oregon's College of Arts and Sciences. She is also affiliated faculty with the Clark Honors College. Her research program integrates neuroimaging with behavioral interventions to investigate fundamental questions about neural development and plasticity across the lifespan.

Dr. Karns' research focuses on how attention and self-regulation support healthy neural development in children, teens, and adults with and without disabilities. She employs multiple methodologies including human neuroimaging (fMRI and EEG), behavioral assessments, and qualitative data to address critical questions about positive emotions like gratitude, brain injury effects, and fundamental neuroplasticity mechanisms. Her work bridges basic neuroscience with practical applications for improving social interactions and emotional well-being.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on gratitude neuroscience, cross-modal plasticity in sensory deprivation, attention development across the lifespan, and the neural mechanisms underlying prosocial behavior. Her work consistently demonstrates how experience shapes brain organization and function, with particular attention to how positive interventions can harness neuroplasticity for therapeutic benefit.

Dr. Karns is an active educator who teaches diverse courses including Biosensing Emotion and Cognition, Psychoactive Drugs, Neuroscience Perspectives on Drug Policy, Music and the Brain, and Developmental Psychology. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes connecting neuroscience to real-world applications and fostering critical thinking skills that extend beyond the classroom.

She actively mentors undergraduate researchers in her laboratory and participates in graduate student mentorship teams. Her outreach extends to community education through public lectures and media appearances where she makes complex neuroscience concepts accessible to broader audiences.