Yu Gao, PhD
Postdoctoral Research
Associate
Departments of Criminology,
Psychology, and Psychiatry
Office:
Phone: 2157464391
Fax: 2157464239
Email: yugao at sas.upenn.edu
RESEARCH INTERESTS
1. Biological bases of
aggressive, antisocial, psychopathic, and criminal behavior
I am interested in identifying
neurobiological bases of externalizing behavior in children, adolescents, and
adults using psychophysiological method (e.g. electrodermal conditioning,
P300). Specifically:
l
What are the neurobiological deficits and
which brain circuits are involved?
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Are they specific to aggressive
individuals with psychopathic traits?
l
Do children/adolescents show similar
deficits as observed in adults?
l
Are neurobiology-aggression
associations moderated by psychosocial factors?
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Are there any cultural differences in
the above associations?
2. Decision making deficits in
psychopathy
I have been examining decision making
deficits in community psychopaths and psychopathic-like adolescents.
l
Do successful psychopaths show decision
making deficits as observed in unsuccessful criminal psychopaths?
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What factors predispose to decision
making deficits?
l
Which aspects of psychopathy are more
closely related to decision making deficits?
3. Basic cognitive-affective
processes development in children
Using latent growth curve analysis, I
have been investigating the developmental trajectories of cognitive (e.g.
orienting) and emotional (e.g. fear conditioning) in early childhood.
EDUCATION
PUBLICATIONS
Gao,
Y., Raine, A., & Schug, R. A. (in press). P3 deficits and childhood victimization in successful and
unsuccessful psychopaths. Brain and Cognition.
Gao, Y., Glenn, A. L., Peskin, M., Rudo-Hutt, A., Schug, R. A.,
Yang, Y., & Raine, A. (in press). Neurocriminological
approaches. In D. Gadd, S. Karstedt,
and
Gao,
Y., & Raine, A. (in press). Psychophysiology
and crime. In F. Cullen, Wilcox, P., and Swartz, K.
(Eds.), Encyclopedia of criminological
theory.
Yang, Y., Gao, Y., Glenn,
A. L., Schug, R. A., Peskin,
M., & Raine, A. (in press). Biosocial contributors of
antisocial behavior. In M. DeLisi and K.
Beaver (Eds.), The Life-course of
antisocial behavior: Aggression to delinquency to crime.
Peskin, M., Gao, Y.,
Glenn, A.L., Schug, R.A., Yang, Y., Raine, A., et al.
(in press). Personal characteristics of delinquents: Neurobiology, genetic
predispositions, individual psycho-social attributes. In B.
C. Feld and D. M. Bishop (Eds.),
Gao, Y., Raine, A., Venables, P. H.,
Gao, Y., Raine, A., Venables, P. H.,
Gao, Y., & Raine, A. (2010). Successful and unsuccessful
psychopaths: A neurobiological model. Behavioral
Sciences and the Law, 28, 194-210.
Gao, Y., Raine, A., Venables, P. H., & Mednick, S. A.
(2010). Early maternal and paternal bonding, childhood
physical abuse, and adult psychopathic personality. Psychological Medicine, 40, 1007-1016.
Gao, Y., Raine, A., Venables, P. H.,
Fung, A.L.C., Gao, Y. & Raine, A. (2010). The
utility of the child and adolescent psychopathy construct in
Schug, R. A., Gao, Y., Glenn, A. L., Peskin,
M., Yang, Y., & Raine, A. (2010). The developmental bases: Neurobiological
research and forensic applications. In G. J. Towl and
D. A. Crighton (Eds.), Forensic Psychology (pp. 73-94),
Gao, Y., Glenn, A. L., Schug, R.
A., Yang, Y., & Raine, A. (2009). The neurobiology of psychopathy: A
neurodevelopmental perspective. Canadian
Journal of Psychiatry, 54, 813-823.
Gao, Y., & Raine, A. (2009). P3 event-related potential impairments
in antisocial and psychopathic individuals: A meta-analysis. Biological Psychology, 82, 199-210.
Gao, Y., Baker,
Gao, Y., Tuvblad, C., Raine, A.,
& Baker,
Fung, A.L.C., Raine,
A., & Gao, Y. (2009). Cross-cultural
generalizability of the reactive-proactive aggression
questionnaire (RPQ). Journal of Personality Assessment, 91, 473-479.
Schug, R. A., Gao, Y., Glenn, A. L., Yang, Y., &
Raine, A. (2009). Role of the frontal lobe in violence.
In McGraw-Hill yearbook
of science and technology (pp. 326-328).
Gao, Y., Raine, A.,
Updated on May 18, 2010