†corresponding author; ‡equal author contribution, *Trainee, … additional authors pending
2025
Abbaraju, V., Lees, T., Cho, M.J., Emadi, R., Lin, D.J., Berkebile, J.A., Lee, N., Nawfel, J.L., Dougherty, R.M., Dunayev, R., Karker, M.A., Bonacci, L.M., Mathew, D., Mauk, T.D., Goodman, J.B., Wexler, A., Pedrelli, P., Pizzagalli, D.A., Dillon, D.G., Webb, A.K., Inan, O.T. (2025). Characterizing Central-Autonomic Dynamics during Episodic Memory Tasks using Multi-Modal Neural and Cardiomechanical Signals. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, (In Press).
Lees, T.‡, Woronko, S.E.‡, Li, M., Scott Jr, J.N., Kuhn, M., Esfand, S.M., Bogdanov, M., Boyle, B.W., Linton, S.R., Borchers, L.R., Zhukovsky, P., Miller, C., Bolton, P., Li, S., Meisner, R.C., and Pizzagalli, D.A.† 2025. Differences in high-frequency connectivity among large-scale functional networks linked to Major Depressive Disorder and Treatment-Resistant Depression. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, 5(6). 1-10.
Woronko, S.E.*, Li, M., Scott Jr, J.N., Kuhn, M., Esfand, S.M., Bogdanov, M., Boyle, B.W., Linton, S.R., Borchers, L.R., Zhukovsky, P., Miller, C., Bolton, P., Li, S., Meisner, R.C., Lees, T.‡, and Pizzagalli, D.A.‡,† 2025. Alterations in aperiodic neural activity associated with major depressive disorder. Nature Mental Health, 3, 1181–1190.
Chuang, L-C., Augustat, N., Bierwith, P., Lees, T., Endres, D., Pizzagalli, D.A., and Mueller, E.M. 2025. Individual differences in dopamine-related traits influence mood effects of dopamine D2-antagonist and antidepressant treatment expectations. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 28(11), 1-11.
Der-Avakian, A.‡, Barnes, S.A.‡, Lees, T.‡, Schroder, H.S., Kangas, B.D., Linton, S.R., Nickels, S., Robble, M.A., Breiger, M., Iturra-Mena, A.M., Lobien, R., Perlo, S., Cárdenas, E.F., Nowicki, G.P., Wu, Z., Pan, H., Dillon, D.G., Kesby, J.P., Carlezon Jr, W.A., Risbrough, V.B., Mukamel, E., Leutgeb, S., and Pizzagalli, D.A. (2025). Identification of conserved frontal neurophysiological markers of cognitive flexibility in humans and rats. Communications Biology, 8 (1268).
Bogdanov, M., Scott Jr, J.N., Esfand, S.M., Boyle, B.W., Lees, T., Li, M., Woronko, S.E., Linton, S.R., Miller, C., Li, S., Bolton, P., Meisner, R.C., and Pizzagalli, D.A.† 2025. Test-Retest Reliability of Behavioral and Electrophysiological Markers in an Eriksen Flanker Task. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 25, 1330-1358.
Lees, T., and Gatzke-Kopp, L.M.† 2025. Differences in Consummatory but not Anticipatory Reward Processing Predict Depressive Symptoms in Young Adult Women. Psychophysiology, 62(3), 1-17.
2024
Lees, T., Ram, N., Swingler, M.M., and Gatzke-Kopp, L.M.† 2024. The Effect of Hair Type and Texture on Electroencephalography and Event-Related Potential Data Quality. Psychophysiology, 61(3), 1-19.
Linton, S.‡, Lees, T.‡, Iturra-Mena, A., Kangas, B.D., Lobien, R., Nowicki, G., Vitaliano, G., Bergman, J., Carlezon Jr, W. A., and Pizzagalli D.A.† (2024). Behavioral and neurophysiological signatures of cognitive control in humans and rats. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 27(1).
Conference Abstract (Symposium) – 10.1111/psyp.14690
Lees, T.†, and Lutz-Landesbergen, M.C. 2024. Lessons learned: Navigating developmental psychophysiology from infancy to adulthood. Psychophysiology, 61(S1), S28
Conference Abstract (Symposium Talk) – 10.1111/psyp.14690
Lees, T.†, and Gatzke-Kopp, L.M. 2024. The need to examine potential measurement bias in EEG and ERP research. Psychophysiology, 61(S1), S84.
Conference Abstract (Poster) – 10.1111/psyp.14692
Lees, T.†, Der-Avakian, A., Barnes, S.A., Linton, S.R., Iturra-Mena, A., Kangas, B.D., Nowicki, G., Lobien, R., Vitaliano, G., Bergman, J., Carlezon Jr, W.A., and Pizzagalli, D.A. 2024. Neurophysiological and behavioral signatures of reward learning are conserved across humans and rats. Psychophysiology, 61(S1), S119.
2023
Lees, T.,‡ Chalmers, T.,‡ Burton, D., Zilberg, E., Penzel, T., and Lal, S.† 2023. Psychophysiology of Monotonous Driving, Fatigue and Sleepiness in Train & Non-professional Drivers: Driver Safety Implications. Behavioral Sciences, 13(10), 788.
Conference Abstract (Poster) – 10.1111/psyp.14416
Lees, T.,† Ram, N., Swingler, M.M., and Gatzke-Kopp, L.M., 2023. Simple procedures to help mitigate the influence of Hair Type and Texture on ERP Data Quality. Psychophysiology, 60 (S1).
Conference Abstract (Poster) – 10.1111/psyp.14416
Lees, T.,† and Gatzke-Kopp, L.M., 2023. Interaction of Anticipatory and Consummatory Reward Processing in Predicting Depressive Symptomatology. Psychophysiology, 60 (S1)
2022
Lees, T.,† White, R., Zhang, X., Ram, N., and Gatzke-Kopp, L.M.† 2022. Skin conductance moderates the association between deliberation time and willingness to take risk in uncertain contexts. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 177, 220 – 229.
Chalmers T., Eaves, S., Lees, T., Lin, C.T., Newton, P.J., Clifton-Bligh, R., McLachlan, C.S., Gustin, S.M., and Lal, S.† 2022. The relationship between neurocognitive performance and HRV parameters in nurses and non-healthcare participants. Brain and Behavior, 12(3), 1 – 9.
Conference Abstract (Poster) – 10.1111/psyp.14141
Lees, T.,† Fisher, Z.F., and Gatzke-Kopp, L.M., 2022. Performance monitoring and its development – A cognitive systems approach. Psychophysiology; 58 (S1).
2021
Lees, T.,† Fry, C.M., Terrell, S., Jetha, M.K., Segalowitz, S.J., Gatzke-Kopp, L.M., 2021. Developmental changes in external and internal performance monitoring across middle childhood: an ERP study. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 169, 20 – 33.
Lees, T.,‡,† Fry, C.M.,‡ Jetha, M.K., Segalowitz, S.J., and Gatzke-Kopp, L.M., 2021. Association between EEG Asymmetry and the Error-related Negativity across Middle Childhood. Biological Psychology, 163, 1-13.
Akella, A., Singh A.K., Leong, D., Lal, S., Newton, P.J., Clifton-Bligh, R., McLachlan, C.S., Gustin, S.M., Maharaj, S., Lees, T., Cao, Z., and Lin C.T.† 2021. Classifying multi-level stress responses from brain cortical EEG in Nurses and Non-health professionals using Machine Learning Auto Encoder. IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health & Medicine, 9, 1 – 9.
Jarman, L., Elliott, J.L., Lees, T., Clifton-Bligh, R., Simpson, A.M., Nassif, N., and Lal, S.† 2021. Heart rate variability as a potential non-invasive marker of blood glucose level. Human Physiology, 47 (2), 209 – 219.
Lees. T.,‡ Chalmers, T.,‡ Burton, D., Zilberg, E., Penzel, T., Lal, S., and Lal S., 2021.† Electrophysiological brain-cardiac coupling in train drivers during monotonous driving. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 3741, 1 – 14.
2020
Lees, T., Maharaj, S., Kalatzis, G., Nassif, N., Newton, P.J., and Lal, S.† 2020. Electroencephalographic prediction of global and domain specific cognitive performance of clinically active Australian Nurses. Physiological Measurement, 41 (9), 1 – 17.
Chalmers, T.,‡ Maharaj, S.,‡ Lees, T., Lin, C.T., Newton, P.J., Clifton-Bligh, R., McLachlan, C.S., Gustin, S.M., and Lal, S.† 2020. Impact of acute stress on cognitive-cardiac coupling in Australian Nurses. Journal of Integrative Neuroscience,19 (2), 239 – 248.
Conference Abstract (Poster) – 10.1111/psyp.13670
Lees, T.,† Fry, C.M., Terrell, S., Jetha, M.K., Segalowitz, S.J., and Gatzke-Kopp, L.M., 2020. Developmental changes in ERP measures of external and internal performance monitoring across middle childhood. Psychophysiology, 57 (S1).
2019
Lees, T., Elliott, J.L., Gunning, S., Newton, P.J., Rai, T., and Lal, S.† 2019. A systematic review of the current evidence regarding interventions for anxiety, PTSD, sleepiness and fatigue in the law enforcement workplace. Industrial Health, 57 (6), 655 – 667.
Maharaj, S., Lees, T., and Lal, S.† 2019. Prevalence and risk factors of depression, anxiety, and stress in a cohort of Australian nurses. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16 (1), 1 – 10.
Conference Abstract – 10.1016/j.ibror.2019.07.190
Shad, K.F.,† Lees T., Lal, S., Aghazadeh, Y., and Kress, B., 2019. Auditory pathway and Alzheimer’s disease. IBRO Reports, 6 (1).
Abstract: Humans and other animals have special organs to receive and to recognize sound in their environment; the ears are the main organ for sound reception, and the auditory cortex translates the auditory waves into meaningful perceptions according to the subject’s cognition. Literature indicates that the neural tracts and nuclei of the brain stem and mid brain not only connects the ear to the auditory cortex but also plays an important part in the translation of sound waves into auditory perception. Thus, it is possible that tracking aural pathway function may allow us to identify individuals who are at the risk of developing dementia’s such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in future. Our pilot studies using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) demonstrates that the inferior colliculi displays degeneration earlier than the noticeable landmark structural changes [as detected via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] in the brains of patients with AD. Furthermore, we observed not only biochemical, but also electrical and functional deviations prior to these structural changes, and found that inexpensive technology such as electroencephalography (EEG) can possibly be used for the diagnosis of cognitive decline. What would be necessary is to further explore the association between biochemical, electrical and functional activities in the brain by using MRS, EEG and cognitive tools such as the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). This approach may help us to appreciate the link between N-acetyl acetate (NAA) and creatinine ratio in the inferior colliculi, with modified cortex activities e.g. P50 gating, and cognitive test results.
2018
Lees, T., Chalmers, T., Burton, D., Zilberg, E., Penzel, T., Lal, S., and Lal, S.† 2018. Electroencephalography as a predictor of self-report fatigue/sleepiness during monotonous driving in train drivers. Physiological Measurement, 39 (10), 1 – 12.
Maharaj, S., Lees, T., and Lal, S.† 2018. Negative mental states and their association to the cognitive function of nurses. Journal of Psychophysiology, 33 (3), 207 – 218.
Lees, T., Shad-Kaneez, F., Simpson, A.M., Nassif, N., Lin, Y., and Lal, S.† 2018. Heart rate variability as a biomarker for predicting stroke, post-stroke complications and functionality. Biomarker Insights, 13, 1 – 13.
Conference Abstract (Poster) – 10.1111/psyp.13264
Lees, T.,† Maharaj, S., Kalatzis, G., Nassif, N., Newton, P., and Lal, S. 2018. The neurocognitive relationship between stress and anxiety, and memory and decision-making performance of Australian nurses. Psychophysiology, 55 (S1)
2017
Lees, T., and Lal, S.† 2017. Stress and its impact on the cognitive performance of Australian nurses. Stress and Health, 33 (1), 45 – 54.
Lees, T., Nassif, N., Simpson, A.M., Shad-Kaneez, F., Martiniello-Wilks, R., Lin, Y., Jones, A., Qu, X., and Lal, S.† 2017. Recent advances in molecular biomarkers for diabetes mellitus: a systematic review. Biomarkers, 22 (7), 604 – 617.
2016
Lees, T., Khushaba, R., and Lal, S.† 2016. Electroencephalogram Associations to Cognitive Performance in Clinically Active Nurses. Physiological Measurement, 37 (7), 968 – 980.
Rothberg, L.J., Lees, T., Clifton-Bligh, R., and Lal, S.† 2016. Associations between heart rate variability and blood glucose levels: implications for non-invasive glucose monitoring. Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, 18 (6), 366 – 376.
2015
Conference Abstract (Poster) – 10.1111/psyp.12495
Lees, T.,† Kalatzis, G., and Lal, S. 2015. Examining negative mental states and their association to psychometric and electroencephalographic measures of cognitive performance in Australian Nurses. Psychophysiology, 52 (S1)
Conference Abstract – 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.219.00057
Lees, T.,† Maharaj, S., and Lal, S., 2015. Electroencephalographic markers of subjective cognitive performance: Implications towards electrophysiological prediction of early cognitive decline. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
Background: Our cognitive skills are the means through which we perceive and interact with our environment and everything it contains. As such adequate cognitive performance is vital to our everyday functioning and life. Because of this, declines in cognitive performance or cognitive impairment can have repercussions that can affect both our occupational and personal lives. Currently, identifying cognitive impairment is mostly limited to retrospective medical audits using subjective tools; however the dynamic nature of brain activity and electroencephalography may prove to be a more effective alternative.
Methods: Data recorded from 21 nurses (14 Females, aged 32.67 ± 8.58 years) and 21 healthy adult controls (14 females, aged 34.76 ± 9.15 years) was analysed in the current study. Brain activity was recorded with a 32-lead electroencephalogram which was measured for both a resting baseline phase and during an active phase involving cognitive processing using the neuropsychological Stroop test. The cognitive performance of each participant was also assessed using the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) and the Cognistat assessment tools.
Results: Numerous electroencephalographic variables (both baseline and changes from baseline to active phase) such as delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma activity were significantly associated to both global and domain specific cognitive performance derived from the MMSE and Cognistat (p<0.05). Subsequent multiple regression analysis yielded initial predictive models identifying individual EEG variables that were the strongest predictors of the different cognitive variable such as global cognition, memory and spatial construction.
Conclusions: The study tentatively demonstrates that the dynamic nature of brain activity may allow prediction of not only global cognitive performance, but also domain specific performance in cognitive domains such as memory and spatial construction. The current predictor models can be further developed using hybridisation, and/or more advanced analysis such as Support Vector Machines and Neural Network that may enhance predictive capabilities.
Under Review & In Revision
Lees, T., Scott Jr, J.N., Esfand, S.M., Li, M., Woronko, S.E., Linton, S.R., Dunayev, R., Bogdanov, M., Boyle, B.W., Miller, C., Bolton, P., Li, S., Meisner, R.C., and Pizzagalli, D.A.† (2025). Modulatory effects of ketamine on EEG source-based resting state functional connectivity in the Frontoparietal and Default-Mode Networks of patients with treatment resistant depression. Translational Psychiatry (Revision Under Review)
Woronko, S.E., Qian, A., Carlton, C.N., Lees, T., Kujawa, A. (2025). Age-related changes in aperiodic neural activity and associations with internalizing symptoms in adolescents. Psychophysiology (Revision Under Review)
Bogdanov, M., Scott Jr, J.N., Esfand, S.M., Boyle, B.W., Lees, T., Li, M., Woronko, S.E., Linton, S.R., Jenkins, A.R., Miller, C., Li, S., Bolton, P., Meisner, R.C., Kangas, B.D.‡, and Pizzagalli, D.A.‡ (2025). Ketamine improves anhedonic phenotypes across species: Translational evidence from the Probabilistic Reward Task. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science (Revision under Review).
Karker, M.A, Nawfel, J.L., Lee, N., Bonacci L.M., Lees, T., Dougherty, R.M., Mathew, D., Dunayev, R., Mauk, T.D., Goodman, J.B., Cho, M.J., Lin, D.J., Abbaraju, V., Emadi, R., Wexler, A., Pedrelli, P., Inan, O.T., Pizzagalli, D.A., Dillon, D.G., and Webb, A.K. (2025). Inferring subjective truth judgments from neurophysiology: A multimodal deep learning approach. Knowledge Based Systems (Under Review).
In Preparation
Lees, T.‡, Barnes, S.A.‡, Der-Avakian, A., Linton, S.R., Iturra-Mena, A., Kangas, B.D., Nowicki, G., Lobien, R., Vitaliano, G., Bergman, J., Carlezon Jr, W.A., and Pizzagalli, D.A.† (2025). Reward learning and responsiveness across species – Neurophysiological and behavioral signatures in humans and rats. Nature Human Behavior (In Prep).
Lees, T, Cataldo, A.M., Dunayev, R., Bogdanov, M., Karker, M.A., Nawfel, J.A., Lee, N., Bonacci, L.M., Dougherty, R.M., Mathew, D., Mauk, T.D., Goodman, J.B., Cho, M.J., Lin, D.J., Abbaraju, V., Emadi, R., Wexler, A., Pedrelli, P., Inan, O.T., Pizzagalli, D.A., Webb, A.K., Dillon, D.G. (2025). Neurocognitive Mechanisms Underlying the Positive Memory Advantage in Healthy Adults. Affective Science (In Prep)
Dunayev, R.‡, Lees, T.‡, Bogdanov, M., Karker, M.A., Nawfel, J.L., Lee, N., Bonacci, L.M., Dougherty, R.M., Mathew, D., Mauk, T.D., Goodman, J.B., Cho, M.J., Lin, D.J., Abbaraju, V., Emadi, R., Wexler, A., Pedrelli, P., Inan, O.T., Webb, A.K., Dillon, D.G., Pizzagalli, D.A. (2025). Expanding the behavioral and electrophysiological indices of the Autobiographical Implicit Association task. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (In Prep).
Witmer, K.M., Lees, T., Gatzke-Kopp, L.M. (2025). Developmental trajectories of aperiodic neural activity across middle childhood. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (In Prep)
Abbaraju, V., Cho, M.J., Emadi, R., Lin D.J., Lee, N., Nawfel, J.L., Dougherty, R.M., Lees, T, Dunayev, R., Karker, M.A., Bonacci, L.M., Mathew, D., Maul, T.D., Goodman, J.B., Wexler, A., Pedrelli, P., Pizzagalli, D.A., Dillon, D.G., Webb, A., Inan, O.T. (2025). Characterizing transient cardiovascular responses to autobiographical memory probing in healthy adults using nonlinear system identification. IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (In Prep).
Chuang, L-C., Bierwith, P., Lees, T., Augustat, N., Endres, D., Pizzagalli, D.A., and Mueller, E.M. (2025). Individual differences in positive affectivity moderate the effects of dopaminergic D2-antagonist on mood and event-related potentials. (In Prep).
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