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Rebecca J. Lepping, Ph.D.

Rebecca Lepping portrait
Research Assistant Professor, Neurology
rlepping@kumc.edu

Professional Background

I am a cognitive neuroscientist (Ph.D.), music psychologist (M.A.), and musician (M.A.) with more than 15 years of experience in magnetic resonance imaging research, specializing in MRI and functional MRI methodology. I have expertise in many imaging and cognitive neuroscience techniques including Functional MRI (fMRI), Functional Connectivity MRI (fcMRI), Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), Arterial Spin Labeling Perfusion (ASL), MR Spectroscopy (MRS), Amyloid and 19-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and Event Related Potential (ERP) Electroencephalography (EEG), along with cognitive, behavioral, and psychophysiological measures.

I am Assistant Professor of Neurology, Director of the PROMUS Lab in the 3T Human Magnetic Resonance Imaging Core at the Hoglund Biomedical Imaging Center, and Assistant Director for the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Neuroimaging Core. I am Imaging Data Manager for the Kansas Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Research and Translation Core Center Biomarkers Core, and previously, I served as the Data Manager for the Kansas Intellectual andamp; Developmental Disabilities Research Center (KIDDRC) Clinical Outcomes/Biobehavioral Technology Core, the CTSA Translational Technology and Resources Core. My specific role in these cores has been in developing, implementing, and facilitating neuroimaging research studies.

Education and Training
  • BA, Psychology, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS
  • MA, Psychology of Music, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, N/A
  • MA, Piano Performance, University of Missouri - Kansas City, Kansas City, MO
  • PhD, Cognitive Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Research

Overview

My primary research interest is in affective neuroscience, specifically the intersection of music, emotion-processing, and decision-making. To understand how those processes interact, I study emotion and reward processing in various forms across a range of health issues, including how emotion in music is represented in the brains of individuals with mood disorders, fibromyalgia, and other chronic conditions. As Director of the PROMUS (PoweR Of MUSic) lab, my program of research aims to study why individuals choose to engage with music, and how they use music as to regulate their mood states, experience of pain, and other psychological and physiological symptoms. By combining scientific methodology, including imaging techniques, with music theory, my research investigates how information is transmitted through the musical medium, how listeners parse that information in a meaningful way, and how music impacts the central nervous system in humans.

Current Research and Grants
  • Music-Based Interventions for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD), Frontiers KL2
  • Pilot Study to Support Development and Biomarker Engagement of a Singing Intervention for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), KUMC Pulmonology Division
  • ADRC Consortium for Clarity in ADRD Research Through Imaging (CLARITi), NIH
  • Alzheimer Biomarker Consortium - Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) - KUMC Field Site Supplement, NIH
  • The Neighborhoods Study: Contextual Disadvantage and Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD), NIH