John Allen

Distinguished Professor, Clinical and Cognition & Neural Systems
Director, Psychophysiology Laboratory
Director, Depression Risk Laboratory
Allen Headshot

Psychology 440

520-621-4992 (Office)
520-621-7086 (Lab)
520-626-5401 (SEMA at Babcock)
jallen@arizona.edu
Pronouns:
He, Him, His

Research Interests: 

  • Etiology and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders.
  • Risk factors for depression and anxiety disorders using measures of central and autonomic nervous system function -  especially EEG, resting state fMRI connectivity, and cardiac vagal control.
  • Development of novel and neurally-informed treatments for mood and anxiety disorders - including transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) and psilocybin to address repetitive negative thinking.
  • The most recent work has focused specifically on two lines of work:
    • Investigating transcranial focused ultrasound as a neuromodulation approach to alter emotional well-being, with the ultimate aim to provide a novel treatment for depression and anxiety disorders.
    • Assessing the potential utility of guided psilocybin experience to alter brain network activity, and to improve symptoms and function in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
  • Joint appointments with Cognitive Science and Neuroscience 

Updated: 10/02/25

 

Selected Publications: 

  • Stewart, J.L., Bismark, A.W., Towers, D.N., Coan, J.A., & Allen, J.J.B. (2010). Resting frontal EEG asymmetry as an endophenotype for depression risk: Sex-specific patterns of frontal brain asymmetry. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119, 502-512. PMCID: PMC2916182
  • Cavanagh, J.F., Zambrano-Vazquez, L., & Allen, J.J.B. (2012). Theta Lingua Franca: A common mediofrontal substrate for action monitoring processes. Psychophysiology, 49, 220-238. PMCID: PMC3262926
  • Schafer, S.M., Wager, T.D., Mercado, R.A. Jr., Thayer, J.F., Allen, J.J.B., & Lane, R.D. (2015) Medial visceromotor network dysfunction in Major Depression is partially ameliorated by sertraline. Psychosomatic Medicine.77, 752-761.
  • Sanguinetti, J. L., Smith, E., Allen, J. J. B., Hameroff, S. (2014). Human brain stimulation with transcranial ultrasound (TUS); Potential applications for mental health. In Bioelectromagnetic Medicine. (pp. 355-361), New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
  • Smith, E.E., Cavanagh, J.F., & Allen, J.J.B. (2018). Intracranial source activity (eLORETA) related to scalp-level asymmetry scores and depression status. Psychophysiology. 2018;55:e13019. DOI:10.1111/psyp.13019
  • Zambrano-Vazquez, L., Szabo, Y.Z., Santerre, C.L., & Allen, J.J.B. (2019).  Suppress or Accept? A pilot study to evaluate the effect of coping strategies on ERN amplitude among individuals with obsessive-compulsive traits.  Acta Neuropsychologica, 17, 283-301.
  • Smith, E.E., Schüller, T., Huys, D., Baldermann, J.C., Ullsperger, M., Allen, J.J.B., Visser-Vandewalle, V., Kuhn, J. & Gruendler, T.O.J. (2020).  Prefrontal delta oscillations during deep brain stimulation predict treatment success in patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.  Brain Stimulation, 13, 259-261. DOI:10.1016/j.brs.2019.09.008
  • Sanguinetti, J.L., Hameroff, S., Smith, E.E., Sato, T., Daft, C.M.W., Tyler, W.J., & Allen, J.J.B. (2020). Transcranial focused ultrasound of the right prefrontal cortex improves mood and alters functional connectivity in humans.  Frontiers in Human Neuroscience – Brain Imaging and Stimulation. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00052
  • Reznik, S. J.,  Sanguinetti, J.L., Tyler, W.J., Daft, C., & Allen, J.J.B. (2020). A double-blind pilot study of transcranial ultrasound (TUS) as a five-day intervention: TUS mitigates worry among depressed participants. Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research, 37, 60-66.  DOI: 10.1016/j.npbr.2020.06.004
  • Lord, B.L., Sanguinetti, J.L., Ruiz, L., Miskovic, V., Segre, J, Young, S., Fini, M.E., & Allen, J.J.B.  (2024) Transcranial focused ultrasound to the posterior cingulate cortex modulates default mode network and subjective experience: an fMRI pilot study. Frontiers In Human Neuroscience, 18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1392199
  • Bawiec, C.R., Hollender, P.J., Ornellas, S.B., Schachtner, J.N., Dahill-Fuchel, J.F., Konecky, S.D., & Allen, J.J.B. (2025). A wearable, steerable, transcranial Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (LIFU) system. Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, 44, 239-261. http://doi.org/10.1002/jum.16600
  • Lord, B, Allen, J.J.B., Young, S., & Sanguinetti, J. (in press). Enhancing equanimity with non-invasive brain stimulation: A novel framework for mindfulness interventions. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.12.005
  • Schachtner, J.N., Dahill-Fuchel, J.F., Allen, K.E., Bawiec, C.R., Hollender, P.J., Ornellas, S.B., Konecky, S.D., Achrol, A.S., & Allen, J.J.B. (2025). An open-label trial of stereotactic, non-invasive transcranial focused ultrasound targeting the default mode network for the treatment of depression.  Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1451828

Courses Taught:

  • PSY 101 - Introduction to Psychology (2014)
  • PSY 401A/501A - Principles of Psychophysiology (2025)
  • PSY 401B/501B - Psychophysiology Laboratory (2025)
  • PSY 516 - Analyzing Neural Time-series Data (2024)
  • PSY 602A - Concepts & Methods in Clinical Psychological Science I: Assessment (2025)
  • PSY 694A -Clinical Assessment Practicum (2024)

*Year listed indicates when this individual last taught the specified course.

Updated: 10/03/25

Degrees

  • B.A. University of Wisconsin Madison
  • Ph.D. University of Minnesota