Allyson J. Bennett
Credentials: (she/her)
Position title: Department Chair, Mark and Ilene Laufman Family Professor of Psychology
Email: allyson.j.bennett@wisc.edu
Address:
232 Psychology
Research Area(s)
Biology of Brain and Behavior
Research Interests
My research centers on how the interplay between early environments, experiences, and genes contribute to individual variation in psychological and physical health across the lifespan. A longitudinal and multidisciplinary research approach with nonhuman primates provides a controlled experimental avenue for better understanding the long-term consequences of early experiences and environments, as well as areas of plasticity and potential for recovery. A central question in my work is how aspects of physical and social environments affect biobehavioral development. Thus, part of my research takes a comparative approach to evaluate specific features of the environments and experiences of laboratory animals. In turn, the work provides empirical evidence to inform evolving standards for animal welfare, particularly those that also affect scientific outcomes. The quality and progress of both science and animal welfare depend on policies and practices that are evidence-based. My expertise in psychological science, coupled with a commitment to science education allow me to contribute to public dialogue and collaboration with diverse stakeholders in evolving standards for humane and responsible research to promote health for people and nonhuman animals.
Representative Publications
Bennett, A. J., Pierre, P. J., Wesley, M. J., Latzman, R., Schapiro, S. J., Mareno, M. C., Bradley, B. J., Sherwood, C. C., Mullholland, M. M., & Hopkins, W. D. (2021). Predicting their past: Machine language learning can discriminate the brains of chimpanzees with different early-life social rearing experiences. Developmental Science, e13114. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13114
Dettmer, A.M., & Bennett, A.J. (2021). 100 years of comparative psychology advancing practice, policy, and the public-And what the future requires. Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983), 135(4), 450–465. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000299
Bennett, A.J., Hopkins, W.D., Feldman, R., Gazzola, V., Giedd, J., Lamb, M.E., Scheele, D., Sheridan, M.A., Suomi, S.J., Tomoda, A., & Tottenham, N. (2017). Neural Foundations of Variability in Attachment. In Contextualizing Attachment: The Cultural Nature of Attachment, Heidi Keller and Kim Bard (Eds). MIT Press. https://www.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.7551/mitpress/9780262036900.001.0001/upso-9780262036900-chapter-010
Bennett, A.J., Perkins, C.M., Tenpas, P.D., Reinebach, A., & Pierre, P.J. (2016). Moving evidence into practice: Cost analysis and assessment of macaques’ sustained behavioral engagement with videogames and foraging devices. Am J Primatology, 78(12), 1250-1264. PMID 27404766. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22579
Bennett, A.J. & Panicker, S. (2016). Broader impacts: International implications and integrative ethical consideration of policy decisions about US chimpanzee research. Am J Primatology, 78(12), 1282-1303. PMID 27434183. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22582
Provencal, N., Suderman, M.J., Cuillemin, C., Wang, D., Ruggiero, A., Bennett, A.J., Pierre, P.J., Hallett, M., Tremblay, R.E., Suomi, S.J., & Szyf, M. (2012). Signature of maternal rearing in the methylome in rhesus macaque prefrontal cortex and T cells. Journal of Neuroscience, 32(44), 15626-42. PMID: 2311597. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1470-12.2012
Corcoran, C.A., Pierre, P.J., Haddad, T., Bice, C.J., Suomi, S.J., Grant, K.A., Friedman, D.P., & Bennett, A.J. (2011). Long-term effects of differential early rearing in rhesus macaques: Behavioral reactivity in adulthood. Developmental Psychobiology, 54(5), 546-55. PMID: 22072233. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20613
Bennett, A.J., Lesch, K.P., Heils, A., Long, J.C., Lorenz, J.G., Shoaf, S.E., Champoux, M., Suomi, S.J., & Higley, J.D. (2002). Early experience and serotonin transporter gene variation interact to influence primate CNS function. Molecular Psychiatry, 7, 118-122. PMID: 11803458. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000949