Samantha Fede

Samantha Fede is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Auburn University, part of the College of Liberal Arts. She specializes in clinical cognitive neuroscience, focusing on neuroimaging techniques like fMRI and neurofeedback to study psychopathology and high-risk behaviors, particularly alcohol use disorder. Her work integrates sociomoral cognition to improve treatment strategies.

Education:

• PhD in Cognition, Brain, and Behavior from University of New Mexico
• MS in Psychology from University of New Mexico
• BS in Psychology from Virginia Tech

Research Interests: Dr. Fede explores how neuroscience can inform interventions for alcohol use disorder and other addictive behaviors. Her studies investigate neural mechanisms of decision-making, moral processing, and emotion regulation in clinical populations. She employs fMRI neurofeedback to modulate craving and uses longitudinal approaches to track brain changes in substance users.

Lab Affiliation: She leads the Social Cognition and Affective/Moral Processing Imaging Research Lab, which examines the neural underpinnings of social and moral behavior in health and disease.

Teaching: Teaches PSYC 3620: Cognitive Neuroscience, focusing on brain-behavior relationships in cognitive processes.

Advising & Grants: Advises students in clinical and cognitive neuroscience. Her research has been supported by studies at NIAAA, University of New Mexico, and other institutions. She prioritizes translational research to bridge basic neuroscience findings with clinical applications.