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Community members, advocates and healthcare leaders gathered at the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health’s Tiny Homes Village in Pittsboro to witness the groundbreaking of a long-awaited Community House—a space that promises to be a cornerstone for individuals living with severe mental illness.

In the immediate aftermath of trauma exposure, individuals may experience an acute stress reaction (ASR), an intense response that adversely impacts emotional, cognitive, somatic and behavioral functioning. ASRs may resolve quickly but for individuals operating in high-stakes occupations, these reactions can potentially endanger themselves and those around them. Using data...

Using a large-scale longitudinal observational emergency department (ED)-based study of individuals with recent trauma exposure, we conducted random-intercept cross-lagged panel models to test whether sex differences exist in the temporal relationships between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and alcohol use over six months (assessed at five time points timepoints: ED...

Traumatic stress exposures (TSE) are common in life. While most individuals recover following a TSE, a substantial subset develop adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae such as chronic posttraumatic musculoskeletal pain (CPMP). Vulnerability factors for CPMP are poorly understood, which hinders identification of high-risk individuals for targeted interventions. One known vulnerability factor...

We developed an explainable deep learning model that uses brain imaging data to uncover how cognitive states emerge from complex brain dynamics. By modeling the brain as a controllable system, our approach offers new insights into how brain function supports behavior.

These results highlight a novel role of a unique set of neurons within a brain region known as the extended amygdala that signal escape behavior in response to an aversive stimulus. This, in combination with our previous findings that these same neurons encode arousal responses, supports a neurobiological relationship of...

This study compared three tools for assessing bullying in autistic and ADHD youth and found variable patterns of prevalence and vulnerability between approaches. A disability-specific measure identified more nuanced patterns of victimization, underscoring the importance of using tailored and valid assessments in these populations.