Ian Ramsay, PhD

I completed my undergraduate work at the University of California, Davis, where I also served as a post-baccalaureate research assistant in their Department of Psychiatry. I earned my Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota Department of Psychology where I was supported by both a NIMH T-32 Training Grant and a NIMH F31 National Research Service Award. I completed my pre-doctoral internship at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and UCSF before returning to the University of Minnesota Department of Psychiatry to complete a postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Sophia Vinogradov.

The broad goals of my laboratory are to identify neural mechanisms underlying cognitive and psycho-social deficits observed in serious mental illnesses. My research strategy seeks to combine clinical and translational neuroscience methodologies (e.g., fMRI, EEG, non-invasive neuromodulation) to identify neural pathophysiology and develop novel targeted treatments. My current work is funded by a NIMH K01 and examines combined cognitive training and noninvasive neuromodulation (transcranial direct current stimulation) in individuals with psychosis. I have over 20 publications and an h-index of 10.

I am also part of our department’s effort to implement ‘Precision Psychiatry’ and ‘Measurement-based Care’ in our outpatient clinics. In doing so I have been involved in the development and roll out of our clinical assessment and feedback reports to guide team-based care. I also co-lead our Young Adult Group in the Strengths First Episode Psychosis Program.

My work seeks to understand behavioral, neuropsychological, and biological factors that predict cognitive and functional improvements in people with schizophrenia. Previous work has examined cognitive training and outcome measures relying on fMRI, EEG, and behavioral assessment.

Ian S. Ramsay, Tasha Nienow, Angus W. MacDonald III. (In Press). Increases in Intrinsic Thalamocortical Connectivity and Overall Cognition Following Cognitive Remediation in Schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging

Ian S. Ramsay, Tasha Nienow, Matthew P. Marggraf, Angus W. MacDonald III. (In Press). Neuroplastic Changes in Schizophrenia Patients Undergoing Cognitive Remediation in a Triple-Blind Trial: A Replication Study. The British Journal of Psychiatry.

Ian S. Ramsay, Tasha Nienow, Angus W. MacDonald III. (2016). “Overview of Cognitive Remediation in Schizophrenia.” In Schizophrenia and Psychotic Spectrum Disorders, Ed. S. Charles Schulz, Michael F. Green, & Katharine S. Nelson, Oxford Press.

Ian S. Ramsay, Angus W. MacDonald III. (2015). Brain Correlates of Cognitive Remediation in Schizophrenia: Activation Likelihood Analysis Suggesting Preliminary Evidence of Neural Target Engagement Across Modalities. Schizophrenia Bulletin 41(6), 1276-1284.

Ian S. Ramsay, Marco Yzer, Monica Luciana, Kathleen Vohs, Angus W. MacDonald III. (2013). The involvement of socio-emotional and executive brain networks in the processing of persuasive anti-drug messages. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 25(7), 1136-1147.

Pedro M. Paz-Alonso, Simona Ghetti, Ian S. Ramsay, Marjorie Solomon, Jong Yoon, Cameron S. Carter, J. Daniel Ragland. (2013) Effect of implicit associative strength and explicit encoding instructions on true and false memory in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 147(2), 320-325.

John D. Ragland, Robert S. Blumenfeld, Ian S. Ramsay, Jong Yoon, Marjorie Solomon, Andrew Yonelinas, Cameron S. Carter, Charan Ranganath. (2012). Neural Correlates of Relational and Item-Specific Encoding During Working and Long-Term Memory in Schizophrenia. NeuroImage 59(7), 1719-1726.

Deborah E. Hannula, Charan Ranganath, Ian S. Ramsay, Marjorie Solomon, Jong Yoon, Michael S. Minzenberg, Stephan Ursu, Tara A. Niendam, Cameron S. Carter, J. Daniel Ragland. (2010). Use of Eye Movements to Dissociate Item-Specific and Relational Long-Term Memory in Schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry 68(7), 610-616.