Research
Developmental neuropsychology, electrophysiology and molecular genetics
Appointments
- Associate Professor In-Residence, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
- Brain Research Institute
- Member, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Genetics & Genomics GPB Home Area
- Neuroscience GPB Home Area
- Faculty, Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics
Biography
Dr. Loo is principal investigator of two NIH grants examining the genetics of electrophysiological (EEG) measurements in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The goal of this work is to define EEG correlates of cognitive and behavioral functioning and use these as ‘refined phenotypes’ to identify risk genes for psychiatric disorder. The long-term goal of this research is to better understand the neural mechanisms by which genetic polymorphisms produce the cognitive and behavioral phenotypes evident in childhood psychiatric disorders.
Dr. Loo’s lab is also studying cognitive and electrophysiological measures as biomarkers for treatment response in ADHD and Tourette’s Disorder. Through collaborations with other neuroscientists, protocols are being developed for the integration of EEG with cognitive and behavioral assays of inhibition and working memory as treatment outcome measures.
Publications
- Peck, FC, Walsh, CR, Truong, H, Pochon, JF, Enriquez, KD, Bearden, CE et al.. Spectral and non-spectral EEG measures in the prediction of working memory task performance and psychopathology. bioRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.03.25.714248. PubMed PMID:41929093 PubMed Central PMC13042055.
- Yassin, W, Green, JB, Cai, M, Ansari, D, Kong, XJ, Del Re, EC et al.. Cognition and Electrophysiology Clustering in Clinical High Risk for Psychosis Delineates Distinct Dimensions of Heterogeneity: Implications for Multimodal Clustering. medRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.03.14.26347633. PubMed PMID:41890988 PubMed Central PMC13015652.
- Hajal, NJ, Salgari, G, Loo, SK. Emotion Dysregulation in Children with ADHD: Irritability is Associated with EEG-Measured Frontal Alpha Asymmetry in Response to Emotional Stimuli. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2026;54 (2):. doi: 10.1007/s10802-026-01439-w. PubMed PMID:41879883 PubMed Central PMC13018046.
- Diaz-Fong, JP, McGough, J, McCracken, JT, Loo, SK, Lenartowicz, A. Structural integrity of the anterior thalamic radiation predicts alpha oscillations and inattention during visual encoding. Sci Rep. 2026;16 (1):. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-40086-5. PubMed PMID:41714759 PubMed Central PMC13018530.
- Grotzinger, AD, Werme, J, Peyrot, WJ, Frei, O, de Leeuw, C, Bicks, LK et al.. Mapping the genetic landscape across 14 psychiatric disorders. Nature. 2026;649 (8096):406-415. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09820-3. PubMed PMID:41372416 PubMed Central PMC12779569.