Amanda R. Arulpragasam, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is a licensed clinical psychologist treating Veterans at VA Providence and an Investigator at the VA RR&D Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology.
Dr. Arulpragasam received her B.S. in Neuroscience and B.A. in Linguistics from Duke University. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Emory University and completed her Clinical Psychology Internship at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth/ Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. She then completed her postdoctoral research fellowship in Neuroimaging and Neuromodulation at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University and VA Providence.
Dr. Arulpragasam’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying motivated behavior and decision-making. This work has emphasized a translational approach that integrates neuroimaging, non-invasive brain stimulation, and computational modeling to characterize motivational and decision-making processes in mood disorders. Her research has been featured in prestigious psychiatry and neuroscience journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Biological Psychiatry, Neuropsychopharmacology, JAMA Psychiatry, and Nature Human Behavior. She is currently conducting several studies exploring the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and low intensity focused ultrasound on clinical symptoms as well as behavioral and neural measures of anhedonia in patients with depression.
Dr. Arulpragasam has received awards and recognition from the American Psychological Association (APA), American Psychological Foundation/Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (APF/COGDOP), Society of Biological Psychiatry, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Society for Neuroeconomics, among others. She has been funded through grants from the VA (VISN1 CDA), Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD Young Investigator Grant), National Science Foundation, and through internal funding mechanisms. She is active in several national organizations including the Society of Biological Psychiatry and Society for Affective Science. She is involved in several Anti-Racism steering and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging committees at Brown University and national organizations. She is committed to action to improve representation of and opportunities for minoritized individuals in academia and the sciences more broadly.
