Tammy L. Smith
· Assistant Professor (Clinical)University of Utah · Neurology
Active 1931–2024
About
Tammy L. Smith is a board-certified neurologist with fellowship training in autoimmune neurology. She treats patients with a broad range of neurologic diseases and her research focuses on immune-mediated neurologic disorders, with a special interest in paraneoplastic neurologic diseases and aging. Her teaching emphasizes laboratory testing in immune-mediated neurologic disorders, including neural autoantibody testing strategies, assay idiosyncrasies, and interpretation of results for patient care. Dr. Smith holds academic positions as an Assistant Professor (Clinical) in Neurology and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Pathology at the University of Utah. Her educational background includes a B.S. in Biology from Northeastern University, and an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Utah School of Medicine. She completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Rush University Medical Center, a residency in Neurology at Rush University Medical Center, and a fellowship in Autoimmune Neurology at the University of Utah.
Research topics
- Psychology
- Clinical psychology
- Psychotherapist
- Internal medicine
- Medicine
- Computer Science
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroscience
- Endocrinology
- Developmental psychology
- Psychiatry
- Social psychology
Selected publications
Current Cardiology Reports · 2022 · 36 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Medicine
- Clinical psychology
- Psychiatry
Cardiovascular and cortisol responses to experimentally-induced minority stress.
Health Psychology · 2021 · 38 citations
Senior authorCorresponding- Psychology
- Clinical psychology
- Medicine
OBJECTIVE: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals who report greater minority stress (e.g., discrimination) are at an elevated risk for multiple health problems. However, few studies have examined physiological mechanisms that might link minority stress to health. This study tested how cardiovascular and cortisol responses to a laboratory-induced social stressor differed when that stressor contained an additional minority stress component. METHOD: LGB adults (n = 141; 51% male, 49% female) participated in a social stress task in which they were interviewed by a prerecorded confederate. Participants were randomized to receive information that their interviewer held either antigay or progay social/political beliefs. Cardiovascular reactivity and salivary cortisol were assessed at baseline, during the task, and during recovery. RESULTS: All participants experienced significant task-related increases in heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). However, participants in the antigay condition had greater increases in HR and SBP during the task and smaller decreases in SBP during recovery. Salivary cortisol increased significantly only in the antigay condition. High frequency heart rate variability (hfHRV) was constant throughout the stress task for participants in the progay condition but decreased significantly during the task for participants in the antigay condition. CONCLUSIONS: Minority stress has the potential to affect LGB individuals' health through cardiovascular and endocrine mechanisms. Moreover, its physiological signature may differ from other social stress in ways that have implications for health and emotion regulation more broadly. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Social and Personality Psychology Compass · 2020 · 85 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Social psychology
Abstract Theory and research on self‐regulation, emotional adjustment, and interpersonal processes focus increasingly on parasympathetic functioning, using measures of vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) or respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). This review describes models of vmHRV in these areas, and issues in measurement and analysis. We propose a framework organizing theory and research as examining (a) vmHRV as an individual difference or a situational response, and (b) resting, reactive, or recovery levels. Evidence supports interpretation of individual differences in resting vmHRV as a broad biomarker for adaptive functioning, but its specificity and underlying mechanisms require elaboration. Individual differences in vagal reactivity (i.e., trait‐like differences in vmHRV decreases during challenge or stress) are less commonly studied in adults and results are mixed. Many stressors and challenges evoke temporary decreases in vmHRV, and in some research self‐regulatory effort evokes increases. In a smaller literature, positive interpersonal experiences and some restorative processes increase resting vmHRV, whereas depletion of self‐regulatory capacity through related effort decreases it. Greater attention to conceptual distinctions regarding vmHRV constructs and several methodological issues will strengthen future research. Importantly, researchers should exercise caution in equating vmHRV with specific psychosocial constructs, especially in the absence of converging assessments and precise experimental manipulations.
Incorporating physiology into the study of psychotherapy process.
Journal of Counseling Psychology · 2020 · 28 citations
- Computer Science
- Psychology
- Psychotherapist
Increasing evidence indicates that psychological factors important to therapy effectiveness are associated with physiological activity. Knowledge of the physiological correlates of therapy process variables has the potential to provide unique insights into how and why therapy works, but little is currently known about the physiological underpinnings of specific therapy processes that facilitate client growth and change. The goal of this article is to introduce therapy process researchers to the use of physiological methods for studying therapy process variables. We do this by (a) presenting a conceptual framework for the study of therapy process variables, (b) providing an introductory overview of physiological systems with particular promise for the study of therapy process variables, (c) introducing the primary methods and methodological decisions involved in physiological research, and (d) demonstrating these principles and methods in a case of therapeutic presence during couple therapy. We close with a discussion of the promise and challenges in the study of physiological correlates of therapy process variables and consideration of future challenges and open questions in this line of research. Online supplemental materials include additional resources for therapy process researchers interested in getting started with physiological research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Recent grants
NIH · $1.8M · 2006
NIH · $1.3M · 2007
Frequent coauthors
- 469 shared
Susan A. Everson‐Rose
University of Minnesota
- 469 shared
Kimberly M. Henderson
Mayo Clinic
- 465 shared
Laura Rodriguez‐Murillo
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
- 453 shared
Yori Gidron
University of Haifa
- 453 shared
Cari J. Clark
Emory University
- 443 shared
Peter Allebeck
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
- 441 shared
Rany M. Salem
University of California, San Diego
- 347 shared
Siqin Ye
Education
- 1983
Post-doctoral Fellowship in Behavioral Medicine, Psychiatry
Brown University Program in Medicine
- 1982
Clinical Psychology Intern, Psychiatry
Brown University Program in Medicine
- 1982
PhD in Clinical Psychology, Psychology
University of Kansas
- 1977
BS in Psychology, Psychology
Gettysburg College
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