Gregory R. Samanez Larkin

Department of Psychology | Stanford University

CURRICULUM VITAE


EDUCATION / ACADEMIC POSITIONS


Stanford University
Ph.D. in Psychology
Dissertation: Incentive processing in the aging brain
Advisors: Brian Knutson & Laura Carstensen
2005 – present
Stanford University
M.A. in Psychology (Affective Science)
2005 – 2008
Stanford University
Post-Baccalaureate Research Assistant / Lab Manager
Life-span Development Lab, Department of Psychology
2002 – 2005
University of Michigan
B.A. in Psychology with Honors
Thesis: Investigating the physiological correlates of emotional maintenance
Advisors: Barbara Fredrickson & Patricia Reuter-Lorenz
1998 – 2002

AWARDS / HONORS


NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship

National Institute on Aging
2008
Department of Psychology Teaching Award

Stanford University
2008
NIA Top 10 Scientific Advances of 2007
(Samanez-Larkin, et al., 2007)
National Institute on Aging
2007
Graduate Research Fellowship
Honorable Mention
National Science Foundation
2006
Summer School in Neuroeconomics Fellowship

NSF / NIA
2006
W.B. Pillsbury Distinguished Thesis Award

University of Michigan
2002
University Honors

University of Michigan
2002
Psi Chi Psychology Honors Society Member

University of Michigan
2001
Branstrom Prize for Freshman Scholars
(Top 10% of class)
University of Michigan
1999

GRANTS


Incentive Learning and Decision Making in Younger and Older Adults
Center on the Demography and Economics of Health and Aging
NIA Center Seed Grant ($40,000)
Co-Investigator
2007 – 2009
Choosing Not to Choose: Ambiguity Aversion in Younger and Older Adults
Center on Advancing Decision Making for Aging
NIA Roybal Center Seed Grant ($30,000)
Co-Investigator
2006 – 2008
Risk-Taking and Decision-Making Over the Life Span
Center on Advancing Decision Making for Aging
NIA Roybal Center Seed Grant ($40,000)
Co-Investigator
2005 – 2007

PUBLICATIONS


Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Carstensen, L.L. (forthcoming) Socioemotional functioning and the aging brain. In J. Decety & J.T. Cacioppo (Eds.) The Handbook of Social Neuroscience. New York: Oxford University Press. pdf

Knutson, B., Samanez-Larkin, G.R. (forthcoming) Brain, decision, and debt. In R. Brubaker, R.M. Lawless & C. Tabb (Eds.) A Debtor World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on an Indebted Global Society. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kwon, Y., Scheibe, S., Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Tsai, J.L., Carstensen, L.L. (2009) Replicating the positivity effect in picture memory in Koreans: Evidence for cross-cultural generalizability. Psychology and Aging, 24(3), 748–754. pdf

Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Robertson, E.R., Mikels, J.A., Carstensen, L.L., Gotlib, I.H. (2009) Selective attention to emotion in the aging brain. Psychology and Aging, 24(3), 519–529. pdf

Ersner-Hershfield, H., Garton, M.T., Ballard, K., Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Knutson, K. (2009) Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow: Individual differences in future self-continuity account for saving. Judgment and Decision Making, 4(4), 280–286. pdf

Samanez-Larkin, G.R., D’Esposito, M. (2008) Group comparisons: Imaging the aging brain. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 3(3), 290–297. pdf

Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Hollon, N.G., Carstensen, L.L., Knutson, B. (2008) Individual differences in insular sensitivity during loss anticipation predict avoidance learning. Psychological Science, 19(4), 320–323. pdf

Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Gibbs, S.E.B., Khanna, K., Nielsen, L., Carstensen, L.L., Knutson, B. (2007) Anticipation of monetary gain but not loss in healthy older adults. Nature Neuroscience, 10(6), 787–791. pdf sup

Mikels, J.A., Larkin, G.R., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A., Carstensen, L.L. (2005) Divergent trajectories in the aging mind: Changes in working memory for affective versus visual information with age. Psychology and Aging, 20(4), 542–553. pdf

Mikels, J.A., Fredrickson, B.L., Larkin, G.R., Lindberg, C.M., Maglio, S.J., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A. (2005). Emotional category data on images from the International Affective Picture System. Behavior Research Methods, 37(4), 626–630. pdf

Fredrickson, B.L., Tugade, M.M., Waugh, C.E., Larkin, G.R. (2003) What good are positive emotions in crises?: A prospective study of resilience and emotions following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 365–376. pdf

TALKS


Samanez-Larkin, G.R. (2009, November) Mechanisms underlying age differences in financial decision making: Evidence from functional neuroimaging and behavioral task manipulations. Paper presented in J. Mikels (Chair) "Age-Related Changes in Decision Making" Symposium at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Atlanta, GA.

Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Knutson, B. (2008, November) Financial risk-taking over the adult life span. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC.

Samanez-Larkin, G.R.
, Kuhnen, C., Knutson, B. (2008, September) Financial decision-making across the adult life span. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroeconomics, Park City, UT.

Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Yoo, D., Knutson, B. (2007, November) Incentive-based decision-making in older adults. Paper in G. Samanez-Larkin, T. Sims, E. Peters (Chairs) "The Influence of Age-related Changes in Emotion and Cognition on Decision Making" Symposium at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, San Francisco, CA.

Larkin, G.R., Gibbs, S., Khanna, K., Carstensen, L.L., Knutson, B. (2006, November) Incentive processing in the aging brain: Neural responsiveness to anticipated gain and loss. Paper in G. Larkin, J. Mikels, L. Carstensen (Chairs) "The Affective Neuroscience of Aging" Symposium at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Dallas, TX.

Mikels, J.A., Larkin, G.R., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A., Carstensen, L.L. (2006, November) Age differences in affective working memory: Prefrontal contributions to the positivity effect in older adults. Paper in G. Larkin, J. Mikels, L. Carstensen (Chairs) "The Affective Neuroscience of Aging" Symposium at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Dallas, TX.

Kwon, Y., Larkin, G.R., Tsai, J.L., Carstensen, L.L. (2006, November). Memory for emotional pictures among Korean younger and older adults. Paper in H. Fung, D. Isaacowitz (Chairs) "Socioemotional Selectivity Across Cultures" Symposium at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Dallas, TX.

Mikels, J.A., Larkin, G.R., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A., Carstensen, L.L. (2004, November). Divergent trajectories in the aging mind: Cognitive decline relative to affective preservation in working memory. Paper presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Washington, D.C.

Fredrickson, B.L., Tugade, M.M., Waugh, C.E., Larkin, G.R. (2002, October). What good are positive emotions in crises?: A prospective study of resilience and emotions following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001. Paper in S. Goodwin (Chair) "Social, Political, and Emotional Reactions to the September 11th Attacks" Symposium at the annual meeting of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, Columbus, OH.

CHAIRED SYMPOSIA

Samanez-Larkin, G.R. (2008, November) The Affective Neuroscience of Aging. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Washington, DC.

Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Sims, T., Peters, E. (2007, November) The Influence of Age-related Changes in Emotion and Cognition on Decision Making. Symposium at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, San Francisco, CA.

Larkin, G.R., Mikels, J.A., Carstensen, L.L. (2006, November) The Affective Neuroscience of Aging. Symposium at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Dallas, TX.

POSTERS


Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Knutson, B. (2009, October) Manipulating decision making in the aging brain. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL.

Samanez-Larkin, G.R.
, Carstensen, L.L., Knutson, B. (2009, September) Seeking rewards and avoiding punishments over the adult life span. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroeconomics, Evanston, IL.

Thamrongrattanarit, A., Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Carstensen, L.L., McClure, S.M. (2009, May) The influence of time perspective on exploration and exploitation. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

Samanez-Larkin, G.R.
, Hollon, N.G., Carstensen, L.L., Knutson, B. (2007, November) Individual differences in insular sensitivity during loss anticipation predict avoidance learning. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.

Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Carstensen, L.L., Knutson, B. (2007, March) Deactivation of frontal and striatal regions in response to loss outcomes in younger and older adults. Poster presented at the NYAS Affect to Action conference, New York, NY.

Hollon, N.G., Samanez-Larkin, G.R., Knutson, B. (2007, March) Activation during anticipation of monetary loss predicts subsequent loss avoidance learning in younger and older adults. Poster presented at the NYAS Affect to Action conference, New York, NY.

Larkin, G.R., Robertson, E.R., Mikels, J.A., Maglio, S.J., Carstensen, L.L., Gotlib, I.H. (2006, November) Selective attention to emotional stimuli in younger and older adults. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Dallas, TX.

Gibbs, S.E., Larkin, G.R., Khanna, K., Wimmer, G.E., Carstensen, L.L., Knutson, B. (2006, June) Neural responsiveness to incentives in younger and older adults. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Florence, Italy.

Larkin, G.R., Khanna, K., Kuhnen, C., Knutson, B. (2006, April). Risk taking and financial decision making in younger and older adults. Poster presented at the biennial Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Larkin, G.R., Gibbs, S.E., Nielsen, L., Khanna, K., Carstensen, L.L., Knutson, B. (2006, April). Neural responsiveness to anticipated gain and loss in younger and older adults. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.

Mikels, J.A., Larkin, G.R., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A., Carstensen, L.L. (2006, April) Age differences in affective working memory: Prefrontal contributions to the positivity effect in older adults. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.

Nielsen, H.L., Knutson, B., Larkin, G.R., Carstensen, L.L. (2005, September). Affect dynamics: Tracking trajectories through affective space. Poster presented at the annual Society for Neuroeconomics conference, Kiawah Island, SC.

Mikels, J.A., Larkin, G.R., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A., Carstensen, L.L. (2004, July). Preservation of online emotional processing capacity in the aging mind. Poster presented at the annual APA Convention, Honolulu, HI.

Larkin, G.R., Mikels, J.A., Lindberg, C., Fredrickson, B.L., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A. (2002, November). Finding categories in dimensions: Behavioral and psychophysiological insights for an integrative account of emotional structure. Poster presented at the NYAS Emotions Inside Out: 130 Years After Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals conference, New York City, NY.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND ACTIVITIES

NIA Workshop on Opportunities for Advancing Research on Aging, Chicago, IL
Invited Participant
2008
Mind the Gap! Behavioral Perspectives on Medicare Part D, Berkeley, CA
Invited Participant
2006
NIA Workshop on Neuroeconomics and Aging, Palo Alto, CA
Invited Participant
2006
Gerontological Society of America
Member

Society for Neuroscience
Member

Cognitive Neuroscience Society
Member

Association for Psychological Science
Member


AD-HOC REVIEWER


Cognition and Emotion
Cognitive Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience
Emotion
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Neurobiology of Aging
Neuropsychologia
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

REFERENCES


Brian Knutson
Associate Professor, Psychology & Neuroscience
Stanford University
(650) 724-2965
Laura L. Carstensen
Professor, Psychology
Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor, Public Policy
Founding Director, Stanford Center on Longevity
Stanford University
(650) 723-3102
Ian H. Gotlib
Professor, Psychology
Senior Associate Dean, Social Sciences
Stanford University
(650) 723-3102
Samuel M. McClure
Assistant Professor, Psychology & Neuroscience
Stanford University
(650) 209-4833
Barbara L. Fredrickson
Kenan Distinguished Professor, Psychology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(919) 843-0091
Joseph A. Mikels
Assistant Professor, Human Development
Cornell University
(607) 255-0839