Sam Dicecco, PhD

Sam DiCecco is a postdoctoral fellow under the T32 Training Program in Genetic and Neurobehavioral Mechanisms of Addiction at the University of Minnesota. He holds a B.S in Psychology from The Ohio State University, and his M.S. and Ph.D in Psychology from Colorado State University. Sam’s graduate schoolwork focused on sensation seeking personality trait and its association with risky behavior, including creation of a novel behavioral measure of sensation seeking through self-directed emergent behavior captured in a virtual environment. He also has worked in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, using task-based fMRI to identify the neural correlates, specifically in the basal ganglia, related to reward-based attentional processes and learning. Further he has experience with acute use of cannabis and alcohol studies to understand the effects of impairment and craving, including with concurrent neuroimaging. His current work is investigating the distinct neural correlates related to sensation seeking and reward sensitivity through functional connectivity to better delineate the neurophysiological of these traits individually, as well as if the neurobiology is integral with each’s relationship to addiction. He is overall interested in understanding these aspects of reward-based decision-making through personality traits, behavioral assessment, and neuroimaging, to translate basic and behavioral findings to improve clinical outcomes concerning risky behaviors such as substance use. Sam is also a father, listens to quite a lot of music and podcasts, is a horror fan, and enjoys video and tabletop games in his downtime.