Eric Rawls
Assistant Professor
Eric Rawls is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at UNCW. He directs the Brain, Data, and Causality Lab, which focuses on computational analysis of human brain signals and their relationship with mental health conditions. His research has been continuously funded since he began graduate school in 2014 and he has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles in that time. The driving mission behind this research effort is to reduce human suffering using the tools afforded by mathematics and neuroscience.
Education
Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota Twin Cities Medical School
Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology (Neuroscience Concentration), University of Arkansas
M.S. in Applied Biopsychology, University of New Orleans
B.S. in Mathematics and Psychology, Tulane University
Specialization in Teaching
Eric Rawls teaches courses both formally at UNCW and informally through workshops and summer schools. At the undergraduate level, Eric teaches courses including:
statistics (PSY225)
motivation & emotion (PSY356)
Eric also teaches a yearly summer course in causal discovery machine learning, a specialized topic within mathematics. This summer course has previously been grant funded by the Association for Psychological Sciences.
Eric's teaching is primarily concerned with making mathematics and statistics engaging and understandable to students, and in the use of mathematical and statistical logic to solve problems and engage in critical thinking.
Research Interests
Neuroscience, executive function, value-based decision making, motivation, dynamical systems, EEG, neuromodulation, computational modeling
Cognitive control - the ability to guide thoughts and actions toward our goals - relies on continuous assessments of the costs and benefits of exerting mental effort. Disruptions in these valuation processes are central to substance use disorders (SUDs), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). My research aims to pinpoint how maladaptive valuation intersects with compromised cognitive control to give rise to these disorders, particularly when trauma and addiction co-occur. We translate these findings into neuromodulation-based interventions, with a strong emphasis on addressing the health disparities faced by underserved groups, including military service members and veterans.
Grounded in computational psychiatry, my research incorporates EEG and fMRI with computational modeling and causal discovery machine learning, linking neural mechanisms to real-world outcomes. By integrating data from large, representative cohorts (e.g., VA populations, twin-family studies), I map how valuation and control processes become perturbed and how targeted interventions might restore them. My overarching aim is to reduce the personal and societal toll of mental illness, especially among populations that have historically been overlooked in clinical research.
Professional Service
Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR) - Education and Training Committee
Causal Learning and Reasoning (CLeAR) - Program Committee
American Statistical Association (ASA) - Session Chair
Causal Analysis Workshop Series (CAWS) - Organizer, Program Committee
Ad hoc reviewer for many academic journals
Community Engagement
Breck Preparatory School, Minneapolis, MN - advise and mentor students in the senior math research experience program.
Medard H. Nelson School, New Orleans, LA - tutored math to underperforming students in preparation for standardized testing, taught science and math lectures.
Sophie B. Wright School, New Orleans LA - tutored math, science, and English to undersupported students.
BWAC (Boundary Waters Advisory Committee) Community Leader. BWAC is an all-volunteer MN non-profit organization with a mission of advocating for and preserving hiking trails in the BWCAW of the Superior National Forest.
Honors & Awards
National Institutes of Health (NIH) P50 Conte Center Award (co-Investigator)
VA Health Care System, Clinical Science Research and Development VA Merit Award (co-Investigator)
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Translational Research and Career Training (TRACT) Program Awardee
National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) Computational Neuroscience Training Program Awardee
Association for Psychological Science (APS) / Psychonomics Society William K. and Katherine W. Estes Fund Advanced Training Program Award (Principal Investigator)
Arkansas Biosciences Institute (ABI) Tobacco Settlement Award (Principal Investigator)
National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative Training Award: Models and Neurobiology (Trainee)
Society for Psychophysiological Research Research Training Award