Blythe Corbett, Ph.D.

Blythe Corbett's translational research program, the Social Emotional NeuroScience Endocrinology (SENSE) lab, aims to evaluate the socioemotional responsivity of children with autism by using several methods of analysis, including: sophisticated behavioral observational techniques; functional neuroimaging; and the assessment of biological markers of emotional arousal or stress, such as cortisol. Corbett examines the biobehavioral profiles of autism to better understand factors that enhance or diminish the response to social and nonsocial stress. The ultimate goal of these interwoven studies of peer interaction, play, and psychosocial stress is to directly translate into novel, efficacious treatments. In 2009, Corbett founded a non-profit, community-based intervention program, SENSE Theatre, which is a unique intervention research program that uses well established behavioral approaches alongside creative theatrical techniques designed to improve the social and emotional abilities of children with autism. Her current research projects include examining the regulation and responsivity of cortisol, behavioral and neural mechanisms of play in children with autism, and peer-mediated intervention.