MY Research
My research is aimed at understanding the neural and cognitive basis of empathy, altruism, aggression, and psychopathy. How do we understand what others think and feel? What drives us to help other people? What prevents us from harming them? My lab’s research on these topics uses functional and structural brain imaging in children and adults, as well as behavioral, cognitive, and neurohormonal approaches.
Research Topics

Empathy is the internal representation or attempted simulation of another individual’s sensory, sensory, or...
Altruism is any behavior aimed at improving the welfare of another individual. Altruistic behaviors...
Psychopathy is a personality construct that is associated with low empathy and remorse, a...
Publications
Rhoads, S. A., & Marsh, A. A.
(2023).
In: World Happiness Report 2023 (11th ed., Chapter 4). Sustainable Development Solutions Network
Berluti, K., Ploe, M., & Marsh, A. A.
(2023).
In: Translational Psychiatry, 13, 105
Rhoads, S. A., Vekaria, K., O'Connell, K., Elizabeth, H. S., Rand, D., Williams, M. K. & Marsh, A. A.
(2023).
In: Nature Communications, 14, 1807
Ploe, M. L., Berluti, K., Ibonie, S. G., Villanueva, C. M., Marsh, A., Gruber, J.
(2023).
In: Journal of Research in Personality 103, 104357
Marsh, A. A.
(2023).
In: Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 8 (46): e71
Rhoads, S. A., O'Connell, K., Berluti, K., Ploe, M. L., Elizabeth, H. S., Amormino, P., Li, J., Dutton, M. A., VanMeter, A. S., Marsh, A. A.
(2023).
In: PNAS Nexus, pgad199
Grossmann, I., Rotella, A., Hutcherson, C. A., Sharpinskyi, K., Varnum, M. E. W., Achter, S. et al.
(2023).
In: Nature Human Behavior, 7, 484–501
O’Connell, K., Walsh, M., Padgett, B., Connell, C. Marsh, A. A.
(2022).
In: Affective Science, 3, 603–615
Marsh, A. A., Magalhaes, M., Peeler, M., Rose, S., Darton, T. C., Eyal, N., Morrison, J., Shah, Seema K., & Schmit, V.
(2022).
In: PLoS ONE, 17(11): e0275823
Marsh, A. A.
(2022).
In: Emotion Review, 14(3), 184-187
Amormino, P., Ploe, M. L., & Marsh, A. A.
(2022).
In: Scientific Reports, 12, 22111
Amormino, P., O’Connell, K., Vekaria, K. M., Robertson, E. L., Meena, L., & Marsh, A. A.
(2022).
In: Journal of Research in Personality 101, 104313
Vieira, J. B., Pierzchajlo, S., Jangard, S., Marsh, A. A., & Olsson, A.
(2022).
In: Scientific Reports, 12:18619
Cardinale, E. M., Ryan, R. M., & Marsh, A. A.
(2021).
In: Journal of Personality Disorders, 34, 486
O’Connell, K., Marsh, A. A., Edwards, D. F., Dromerick, A. W., Seydell-Greenwald, A.
(2021).
In: Neuropsychological Rehabilitation
Cardinale, Elise M; Reber, Justin; O’Connell, Katherine; Turkeltaub, Peter E; Tranel, Daniel; Buchanan, Tony W; Marsh, Abigail A
(2021).
In: The Royal Society, 288 (1943), pp. 20202651
Rhoads, S. A., Ryan, R. M., & Marsh, A. A.
(2021).
In: Psychological Science
Shawn A Rhoads, Jo Cutler, Abigail A Marsh
(2021).
In: Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Volume 16, Issue 12, December 2021, Pages 1214–1233
O’Connell, K., Berluti, K., Rhoads, S. A., & Marsh, A. A.
(2021).
In: PLoS One, 16(1): e0244974
Tierney, W., Hardy, J. H., III., Ebersole, C., Viganola, D., Clemente, E., Gordon, M., Hoogeveen, S., Haaf, J., Dreber, A.A., Johannesson, M., Pfeiffer, T., Chapman, H., Gantman, A., Vanaman, M., DeMarree, K., Igou, E., Wylie, J., Storbeck J., Andreychik, M.R., McPhetres, J., Vaughn, L.A., Culture and Work Forecasting Collaboration, & Uhlmann, E. L.
(2021).
In: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Berluti, K., O’Connell, K., Rhoads, S. A., Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., Cardinale, E. M., Vekaria, K. M., Robertson, E. L., Walitt, B., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh A. A.
(2020).
In: Journal of Personality Disorders, 34, 628–649
Rhoads, S. A., Cardinale, E. M., O’Connell, K., Palmer, A. L., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh, A. A.
(2020).
In: Personality Neuroscience, 3,
e12, 1–18
Vekaria, K. M., Hammell, A. E., Vincent, L., Smith, M., Rogers, T., Switzer, G. E. & Marsh, A. A.
(2020).
In: Health Psychology, 39, 316-324
Vekaria, K. M., O’Connell, K., Rhoads, S. A., Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., Cardinale, E. M., Robertson, E. L., Walitt, B., VanMeter, J.W., Marsh, A. A.
(2020).
In: Cortex, 127, 67-77
Marsh, N., Marsh, A. A., Lee, M. R., & Hurlemann, R.
(2020).
In: The Neuroscientist
Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., Stoianova, M. & Marsh, A. A.
(2020).
In: Cognition & Emotion, 34(8), 1532-1548
Marsh, A. A., Rhoads, S. A., & Ryan, R. M.
(2019).
In: Emotion, 19, 1500-1504
O’Connell, K., Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., Rhoads, S. A., Cardinale, E. M., Vekaria, K. M., Robertson, E. L., Walitt, B., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh, Abigail A.
(2019).
In: Scientific Reports, 9, 10774
Marsh, A.A.
(2019).
In: Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 347-371
Marsh, A. A.
(2018).
In: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 19, 110-115
Cardinale, E. M., Breeden, A. L., Robertson, E. L., Lozier, L. M., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh, A. A.
(2018).
In: Development & Psychopathology, 30, 191-201
Wygant, D. B., Pardini, D. A., Marsh, A. A., & Patrick, C. J.
(2018).
In: In C. J. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of Psychopathy (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford
Cardinale, E. M., O’Connell, K., Robertson, E. L., Meena, L. B., Breeden, A. L., Lozier, L. M., VanMeter, J. W. & Marsh, A. A.
(2018).
In: Psychological Medicine, 49, 1449-1458
Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., Cardinale, E. M., Vekaria, K. M., Robertson, E. L., Walitt, B., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh, A. A.
(2018).
In: Psychological Science, 29, 1631-1641
Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., O’Connell, K., Cardinale, E. M., Stoianova, M., Stoycos, S. A., Leah Lozier, L. M., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh, A. A.
(2017).
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B – Biological Sciences, 284 (1865)
Vekaria, K. M., Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., Cardinale, E. M., Stoycos, S. A., Marsh, A. A.
(2017).
In: Nature Human Behaviour, 1, 0100
Marsh, A. A.
(2017).
In: Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 40, e90
Cardinale, E. M. & Marsh, A. A.
(2017).
In: Assessment, 27, 57-71
Vieira, J. B., Tavares, T. P., Marsh, A. A., & Mitchell, D. G. V.
(2017).
In: Human Brain Mapping, 38, 1492-1506
Marsh, A. A.
(2017).
In: Neuroprediction. In J. Brockman (Ed.), New York: Harper Perennial (pp. 481-483)
Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., Stoycos, S. A., Cardinale, E. M., Huebner, B., & Marsh, A. A.
(2016).
In: Scientific Reports, 6, 18974
Marsh, A. A.
(2016).
In: Evidence Based Mental Health, 4, 96
Lozier, L. M., Brethel, K. M., & Marsh, A. A.
(2016).
In: In L. Freund, S. McCune, L. Esposito, N. R. Gee, & P. McCardle. (Eds.) The Social Neuroscience of Human-Animal Interaction. Washington DC: APA Books
Marsh, A. A.
(2016).
In: In J. D. Greene, I. Morrison, & M. E. P. Seligman (Eds.) Positive Neuroscience. New York: Oxford University Press (pp. 138-154)
Marsh, A.
(2015).
In: In J. Brockman (Ed.) This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress (Edge Question Series). New York: Harper Perennial, pp. 503-505
Marsh, A. A.
(2015).
In: WIREs Cognitive Science, 7, 59-71
Vieira, J. B., Ferreira-Santos, F., Almeida, P. R., Barbosa, F., Marques-Teixeira, J., Marsh, A. A.
(2015).
In: Social Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience, 10, 1693-704
Breeden, A. L., Cardinale, E. M., Lozier, L. M., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh, A. A.
(2015).
In: Psychological Medicine, 45, 3033-3046
Marsh, A. A.
(2015).
In: Caring machines. In J. Brockman (Ed.) New York: Harper Perennial, pp. 415-417
Brewer, R., Marsh, A. A., Catmur, C., Cardinale, E. M., Stoycos, S. A., Cook, R., & Bird, G.
(2015).
In: Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 124, 589-595
Cardinale, E. M. & Marsh, A. A.
(2015).
In: PLoS ONE, 10, e0125708
Hammer, J. L. & Marsh, A. A.
(2015).
In: Emotion, 15, 223-31
Marsh, A. A.
(2015).
In: Journal of Neuroscience Research, 94, 513-525
Marsh, A. A., Stoycos, S. A., Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., Robinson, P. VanMeter, J. W. & Cardinale, E. M.
(2014).
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, 15036-41
Lozier, L. M., Cardinale, E. M., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh A. A.
(2014).
In: JAMA Psychiatry, 71, 627-636
Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M. & Marsh, A. A.
(2014).
In: Psychological Science, 25, 762-771
Lozier, L. M., VanMeter, J. W., & Marsh, A. A.
(2014).
In: Development & Psychopathology, 26, 933-45
Marsh, A. A., Cardinale, E. M., Chentsova-Dutton, Y. E., Grossman, M. R., & Krumpos, K. A.
(2014).
In: Social & Personality Psychological Science, 5, 684-690
Markowitz, A. J., Ryan, R. M., & Marsh, A. A.
(2014).
In: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 24, 1103-1118
Marsh, A. A.
(2014).
In: H. Maibom (Ed.) Empathy & Morality. (pp. 138-154). New York: Oxford University Press
Vieira, J. B. & Marsh, A. A.
(2014).
In: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 907
Cardinale, E. M., Finger, E. C., Schechter, J. C., Jurkowitz, I. T. N., Blair, R. J. R. & Marsh, A. A.
(2014).
In: J. Knobe, T. Lombrozo, & S. Nichols (Eds.) Oxford Studies in Experimental Philosophy, Vol. 1. New York: Oxford University Press. (pp. 138-154)
Thomas, L. A., Kim, P., Bones, B. L., Hinton, K. E., Milch, H. S., Reynolds, R. C., Adleman, N. E., Marsh, A. A., Blair, R. J. R., Pine, D. S., & Leibenluft, E.
(2013).
In: Neuroimage: Clinical, 2, 637-645
Marsh, A. A., Finger, E. C., Fowler, K. A., Adalio, C. J., Jurkowitz, I. T. N., Schechter, J. C., Pine, D. S., Decety, J., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2013).
In: Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 54, 900-910
Marsh, A. A.
(2013).
In: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 181
Vieira, J. B., Almeida, P. R., Ferreira-Santos, F., Barbosa, F., Marques-Teixeira, J. & Marsh, A. A.
(2013).
In: Social Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience, 9, 1099-1107
Marsh, A. A., Yu, Henry, H. H., Pine, D. S., Gorodetsky, E., Goldman, D., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2012).
In: Psychopharmacology, 224, 469-76
Marsh, A. A. & Cardinale, E. M.
(2012).
In: Emotion, 12, 892-898
White, S. F., Marsh, A. A., Fowler, K. A., Schechter, J. C., Adalio, C., Pope, K., Sinclair, S., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2012).
In: American Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 750-758
Marsh, A. A., & Cardinale, E. M.
(2012).
In: Social Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience, 9, 3-11
Finger, E. C., Marsh, A. A., Blair, K. S., Reid, M. E., Sims, C., Ng, P., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2011).
In: American Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 152-162
Marsh, A. A.
(2011).
In: J. Decety (Ed.) Empathy: From Bench to Bedside. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Marsh, A. A., Finger, E. C., Fowler, K. A., Jurkowitz, I. T., Schechter, J. C., Yu, H. H., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2011).
In: Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 194, 279-286
Marsh, A. A., Crowe, S. L., Yu, H. H., Gorodetsky, E. K., Goldman, D., & Blair, R. J.
(2011).
In: PLoS ONE, 6, e25148
Marsh, A. A., Finger, E. C., Schechter, J. C., Jurkowitz, I. T. N., Reid, M. E., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2010).
In: Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 52, 834-841
Marsh, A. A. Kozak, M. N., Wegner, D. M., Reid, M. E., Yu, H. H., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2010).
In: Social Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience, 5, 392-403
Marsh, A. A., Yu, H. H., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2010).
In: Psychopharmacology, 209, 225-32
Marsh, A. A., Yu, H. H., Schechter, J. C., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2009).
In: PLoS ONE, 4, e5707
Marsh, A. A., Blair, K. S., Jones, M. M., Soliman, N. & Blair, R. J. R.
(2009).
In: Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21, 713-24
Blair, R. J. R., Finger, E. C., & Marsh, A. A.
(2009).
In: M. de Haan & M. R. Gunnar (Eds.) Handbook of Developmental Social Neuroscience. New York: Guilford, pp. 419-34
Blair, K. S., Finger, E., Marsh, A. A., Morton, J., Mondillo, K., Buzas, B., Kamel, N., Goldman, D., Drevets, W. C., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2008).
In: Psychopharmacology, 196, 29-38
Marsh, A. A., Finger, E. C., Mitchell, D. G. V., Reid, M. E., Sims, C., Kosson, D. S., Towbin, K. E., Leibenluft, E., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2008).
In: American Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 712-20. (Cover article)
Marsh, A. A., Blair R. J. R.
(2008).
In: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32, 454-65
Finger, E. C., Marsh, A. A., Mitchell, D. G. V., Reid, M. E., Sims, C., Budhani, S., Kosson, D. S., Chen, G. Towbin, K. E., Leibenluft, E., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2008).
In: Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 586-94
Marsh, A. A., Kozak, M. N., Ambady, N.
(2007).
In: Emotion, 7, 239-51
Marsh, A. A., Elfenbein, H. A., Ambady, N.
(2007).
In: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38, 284-301
Marsh, A. A., Ambady, N.
(2007).
In: Cognition & Emotion, 21, 225-47
Marsh, A. A., Blair, K. S., Vythilingam, M., Busis, S. & Blair, R. J. R.
(2007).
In: Neuroimage, 35, 979-88
Budhani, S., Marsh, A. A., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2007).
In: NeuroImage, 34, 1754-65
Blair, R. J. R., Marsh, A. A., Finger, E., Blair, K. S., & Luo, J.
(2006).
In: Philosophical Explorations, 9, 13-27
Finger, E., Marsh, A. A., Buzas, B., Kamel, N., Richell, R., Vythilingham, M. Pine, D. S., Goldman, D., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2006).
In: Neuropsychopharmacology, 32, 206-15
Marsh, A. A., Finger, E., Buzas, B., Kamel, N., Richell, R., Vythilingham, M., Pine, D. S., Goldman, D., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2006).
In: Psychopharmacology, 189, 387-94
Blair, K. S., Marsh, A. A., Morton, J., Vythilingam, M., Mondillo, K., Jones, M. M., Pine, D. S., Drevets, W.C., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2006).
In: Journal of Neuroscience, 26, 11379-86
Finger, E., Marsh, A. A., Mitchell, D. G. V., & Blair, R. J. R.
(2006).
In: NeuroImage, 33, 414-21
Kozak, M., Marsh, A. A., & Wegner, D. M.
(2006).
In: Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 90, 543-55
Marsh, A. A., Ambady, N., Kleck, R. E.
(2005).
In: Emotion, 5, 119-24
Marsh, A. A., Adams, R. B. Jr, Kleck, R. E.
(2005).
In: Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 73-86
Marsh, A. A., Elfenbein, H. A., Ambady, N.
(2003).
In: Psychological Science, 14, 373-6