Dr. Chiou received her Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University in 2013 after finishing a pre-doctoral clinical internship with an emphasis in neuropsychology at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Kessler Foundation in West Orange, NJ, and continued her work there as a research scientist before joining the UNL Psychology faculty in 2016. Given the neurocognitive nature of her research, Dr. Chiou is also a faculty affiliate of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior (CB3).
Dr. Chiou’s program of research is aimed at understanding cognitive functioning associated with the brain’s response to and recovery from moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Her research is guided by translational themes that range from the investigation of basic mechanisms that underlie performance/behavior to the development of tools, protocols, and interventions for clinical application. In particular, Dr. Chiou is interested in how processes of self-awareness and metacognition (the online ability to “think about thinking”) are affected by brain injury. Goals of current and ongoing research projects in this area involve: 1) identifying the neural mechanisms contributing to metacognitive deficits after TBI, and 2) determining the capacity for neurobehavioral rehabilitation in this domain. Another arm of Dr. Chiou's research focuses on studying TBI in vulnerable, at-risk, and/or underserved populations. Projects in this area aim to: 1) understand brain injury as it occurs in complex, intersecting contexts of culture, mental, and behavioral health, and 2) identify and address disparities in outcomes and access to care after injury. These research questions (and others) are investigated in the lab using a combination of methodologies including traditional cognitive assessment, as well as structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Please feel free to visit the lab website for more information, or to contact Dr. Chiou regarding research opportunities if you have an interest in metacognition, TBI, and/or neuroimaging!
Representative Publications:
Chiou, K.S., Klecha, H., Jones, M., & Dobryakova, E. (in press). Modulation of metacognitive confidence judgments through provision of performance feedback in moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation.
Rajaram, S.S., Reisher, P., Higgins, K.D., Garlinghouse, M., Chiou, K.S., New-Aron, M., Ojha, T., & Smith, L.M. (2020). Intimate partner violence and brain injury screening. Violence Against Women.
Chiou, K.S., Genova, H.M., Lengenfelder, J., & Chiaravalloti, N.D. (2020). Post-decisional processing delays in metacognitive monitoring after traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 35(2), 152-159.
Chiou, K.S., Jiang, T. Chiaravalloti, N., Hoptman, M.J., DeLuca, J., & Genova, H. (2019). Longitudinal examination of the relationship between changes in white matter organization and cognitive outcome in chronic TBI. Brain Injury, 33(7), 846-853.
Chiou, K.S., Genova, H.M., & Chiaravalloti, N.D. (2016). Structural white matter differences underlying heterogeneous learning abilities after TBI. Brain Imaging & Behavior, 10(4), 1274-1279.
Chiou, K.S., Chiaravalloti, N.D., Wylie, G., DeLuca, J., & Genova, H. (2016). Awareness of subjective fatigue after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 31(3), E60-E68.
Sandry, J., Chiou, K.S., DeLuca, J., Chiaravalloti, N.D. (2016). Individual differences in working memory capacity predicts responsiveness to memory rehabilitation after TBI. Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 97, 1026-1029.
Chiou, K.S., Sandry, J., & Chiaravalloti, N.D. (2015). Cognitive contributions to learning after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 37(10), 1074-1085.
Chiou, K.S. & Hillary, F.G. (2012). Benefits of Order: The influence of item sequencing on metacognition in traumatic brain injury. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 18(2), 379-383.
Chiou, K.S., Carlson, R.A., Arnett, P.A., Cosentino, S.A., & Hillary, F.G. (2011). Metacognitive monitoring in moderate and severe traumatic brain injury. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17, 720-731.
Medaglia, J.D., Chiou, K.S., Slocomb, J., Fitzpatrick, N.M., Wardecker, B.M., Ramanathan, D., Vesek, J., Good, D.C., & Hillary, F.G. (2011). The less BOLD, the wiser: support for latent resource hypothesis after neurotrauma. Human Brain Mapping, 33(4), 979-993.