Carrie McAdams, MD, PhD

Dr. Carrie McAdams is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. McAdams’ research is focused on the relationship between cognition and brain function. Her graduate work at Baylor College of Medicine and postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School examined how neuronal signaling was altered by visual attention in macaques. With the development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), she became excited about the potential of this technique to examine how cognitive processes contribute to mental illness. Focusing on brain function in eating disorders, she has identified differences in the neural circuitry involved in social and self-perception and related these differences to illness and recovery in anorexia nervosa.

Her current research examines the connections between biological and psychological aspects of eating disorders using functional neuroimaging. She has focused on understanding the neurodevelopmental changes related to identity formation and social cognition. These constructs are closely related to long-term psychotherapeutic interventions in eating disorders.