About

Dr. Bryan Denny is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Rice University and serves as the Associate Director of the Institute of Health Resilience and Innovation. He is also the Director of the Translational Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (T-SCAN) Lab. His research focuses on understanding how emotion regulation influences mental and physical health, employing a translational social cognitive neuroscience approach that integrates neuroimaging, psychophysiology, and behavioral analysis. Dr. Denny's work aims to elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying successful and unsuccessful emotion regulation across healthy and clinical populations, with the goal of designing interventions to improve real-world emotion regulation outcomes. He received his BA in psychology from Stanford University in 2005 and his PhD in psychology from Columbia University in 2012. His postdoctoral training was conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he specialized in clinical applications of social cognitive neuroscience. Since joining Rice University in 2016, Dr. Denny has been dedicated to advancing research in cognitive and affective neuroscience, health psychology, and behavioral medicine. In addition to his research, he oversees initiatives to mentor early-career scientists, provide training on grant development and research methodology, and foster cross-disciplinary collaborations through his role at the Institute of Health Resilience and Innovation.

Research topics

• Clinical psychology
• Psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Medicine
• Applied psychology
• Cognitive psychology
• Psychotherapist
• Social psychology
• Psychiatry
• Gerontology

Selected publications

• Neural Mechanisms of Enhancing Emotion Regulation in Bereaved Spouses

  Open MIND · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Emotion polyregulation and daily negative affect: predictors of use and strategy-level effectiveness

  Anxiety Stress & Coping · 2026-03-10

  articleSenior author

  BACKGROUND: Emotion polyregulation is an essential aspect of responding to stressful events by employing multiple strategies to influence one's emotions. The patterns of emotion polyregulation that effectively mitigate negative affect remain largely unknown. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the current study is to examine the relationship between adaptive real-world usage of daily emotion polyregulation and daily negative affect, considering differences in emotional intensity and momentary synergistic strategy selection. METHODS: During March-June 2023, 106 university students completed a 7-day ecological momentary assessment procedure reporting on emotion polyregulation usage and negative affect between two in-person lab sessions, with supplementary measurement of heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive control ability. RESULTS: Higher event intensity and lower emotion dysregulation predicted greater strategy use during an emotional event. Additionally, greater event intensity and emotion dysregulation predicted greater daily negative affect. Within instances of polyregulation, greater use of situation selection and reinterpretation predicted lower daily negative affect. CONCLUSIONS: These findings shed light on which individual differences and situational factors predict emotion polyregulation use. Practically, these findings can inform the development of targeted emotion polyregulation interventions that train individuals to deploy adaptive strategies (i.e., situation selection and reinterpretation) particularly in high-intensity contexts where regulation is most needed.

  PublisherDOI

• Longitudinal psychological distancing training in bereaved spouses reduces self-reported negative affect, stress, grief rumination, and whole-brain negative affect pattern expression

  PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · 2026-02-28

  preprintOpen access

  Spousal bereavement is a significant life stressor associated with subsequent health problems. Cognitive reappraisal interventions may reduce grief burden when implemented early in the grief trajectory. In this preregistered randomized controlled trial, bereaved spouses received five sessions of reappraisal training (i.e., using either psychological distancing or reinterpretation) over two weeks. Data collection occurred from February 2022 through March 2024. Compared to reinterpretation, distancing training yielded more consistent and robust decreases in self-reported negative affect, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and grief rumination post-intervention, including maintenance at long-term follow-up two months post-intervention. Distancing training further reduced similarity to a whole-brain negative affect pattern over time, whereas reinterpretation training promoted increased similarity to this negative affect pattern. Findings support predictions that distancing is more effective than reinterpretation in reducing psychological distress. These results support a theoretical model whereby distancing may be well-suited for intense, highly recurrent negative situations and motivate further investigation of the clinical utility of distancing training in bereaved individuals.

  Publisher

• Attachment Insecurity and Well-Being in Dementia Spousal Caregivers: The Moderating Role of Marital Satisfaction

  Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine · 2026-01-28

  article

  OBJECTIVE: Caregivers for spouses with Alzheimer disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) who exhibit insecure attachment orientations-specifically, greater attachment anxiety and/or avoidance-are at risk for poorer physical and mental well-being. Marital satisfaction, or caregivers' general evaluations of their relationship with their spouses, may buffer this risk. We tested marital satisfaction as a potential buffer of the associations between attachment orientation and psychological and physiological indices of well-being. METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of 264 AD/ADRD spousal caregivers completed self-report measures of attachment orientation, marital satisfaction, and depressive symptoms and provided blood samples. We conducted multiple regression models to test study hypotheses. RESULTS: Greater attachment avoidance was associated with more depressive symptoms ( P = .002) and higher lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cytokine production ( P = .001). The associations between attachment avoidance and depressive symptoms ( P = .045) or LPS-stimulated cytokine production ( P = .028) were weaker at higher levels of marital satisfaction. Greater attachment anxiety was associated with more depressive symptoms ( P < .001), and, unexpectedly, this association was stronger as caregivers reported higher levels of marital satisfaction ( P = .028). Marital satisfaction did not moderate the association between attachment anxiety and LPS-stimulated cytokine production ( P = .20). CONCLUSIONS: Our work contributes to the body of research examining psychosocial factors that shape well-being among caregivers. Our findings may inform future interventions focusing on the marital relationship to improve caregiver well-being; although these interventions may benefit avoidantly attached caregivers, anxiously attached caregivers may benefit most from intervention approaches tailored to their specific attachment orientation.

  PublisherDOI

• Longitudinal psychological distancing training in bereaved spouses reduces self-reported negative affect, stress, grief rumination, and whole-brain negative affect pattern expression

  2026-03-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Spousal bereavement is a significant life stressor associated with subsequent health problems. Cognitive reappraisal interventions may reduce grief burden when implemented early in the grief trajectory. In this preregistered randomized controlled trial, bereaved spouses received five sessions of reappraisal training (i.e., using either psychological distancing or reinterpretation) over two weeks. Data collection occurred from February 2022 through March 2024. Compared to reinterpretation, distancing training yielded more consistent and robust decreases in self-reported negative affect, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and grief rumination post-intervention, including maintenance at long-term follow-up two months post-intervention. Distancing training further reduced similarity to a whole-brain negative affect pattern over time, whereas reinterpretation training promoted increased similarity to this negative affect pattern. Findings support predictions that distancing is more effective than reinterpretation in reducing psychological distress. These results support a theoretical model whereby distancing may be well-suited for intense, highly recurrent negative situations and motivate further investigation of the clinical utility of distancing training in bereaved individuals.

  PublisherDOI

• Preliminary Evidence of Higher Production of LPS-induced Proinflammatory Cytokines in Retired Versus Employed Dementia Caregivers

  Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine · 2025-04-01

  article

  OBJECTIVE: Nearly half of all informal (unpaid) family caregivers for patients with Alzheimer disease or related dementias (ADRD) are employed. We test competing hypotheses on the role of employment for ADRD spousal caregivers, as some evidence suggests that stress from work and caregiving will have an additive effect. Other evidence suggests that psychological resources generated at work may buffer stress at home. Psychological stress is associated with immune dysregulation; we examined the role of employment status on proinflammatory cytokine production. METHODS: We tested competing hypotheses cross-sectionally in a sample of 113 ADRD spousal caregivers, including 26 employed caregivers (working full-time or part-time) and 87 retired caregivers. We examined the effect of employment status on a composite of monocyte-stimulated interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-1 beta in unadjusted models and in models adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: Employed ADRD spousal caregivers had lower composite proinflammatory cytokine production than retired ADRD spousal caregivers. In exploratory follow-up analyses, neither caregiver depressive symptoms, anticipatory grief, nor negative affect explained the impact of employment status on proinflammatory cytokine production. CONCLUSIONS: Employed ADRD caregivers had lower proinflammatory cytokine production than retired ADRD caregivers. There may be many reasons for this finding; employed ADRD caregivers have another domain to fulfill their psychological needs, may benefit financially, and may exhibit better coping than their retired counterparts. Future investigations should examine psychological mechanisms for protecting caregivers' health through positive work experiences to employ such experiences in retired caregivers.

  PublisherDOI

• Stimulated cytokine production, attachment, and emotional well-being in dementia spousal caregivers.

  Health Psychology · 2025-07-17 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Proinflammatory cytokine production may be related to poor emotional adjustment in dementia spousal caregivers. People who display attachment insecurity may be at increased risk for adverse caregiving experiences and poor psychosocial outcomes. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to understand whether proinflammatory cytokine production was associated with anticipatory grief, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms and whether those relationships were stronger for caregivers higher on attachment anxiety or avoidance. METHOD: A sample of 103 dementia spousal caregivers provided self-report data on demographics, health information, and psychosocial outcomes. We also determined lipopolysaccharide-induced whole-blood interleukin-6, interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-10 production and combined these cytokines into a composite score. RESULTS: Higher cytokine production was associated with increased anticipatory grief and depressive symptoms. Proinflammatory cytokine production was only associated with anticipatory grief, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms for those high on attachment anxiety or avoidance. DISCUSSION: Targeting individuals who display a proinflammatory phenotype and report attachment insecurity may be a key first step in preventing poor caregiving adjustment in dementia spousal caregivers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Emotion regulation strategy use in response to daily stressors among college students: An experience sampling study.

  Translational Issues in Psychological Science · 2025-09-04

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Need Satisfaction Indirectly Associated With Lower Caregiver Burden &amp; Cytokine Production in Dementia Caregivers

  Innovation in Aging · 2025-12-01

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Spousal dementia caregiving is a chronic stressor linked to systemic inflammation and poor health. Self-determination theory (SDT) may provide a useful framework for identifying which caregivers are at the greatest risk. SDT posits that psychological needs satisfaction (PNS) may increase the relative autonomy caregivers perceive within their relationship, contributing to increased well-being overall. We tested a causal association hypothesized in SDT: higher PNS should be indirectly associated with greater well-being through more autonomous motivation. We examined the indirect effect of PNS on self-reported caregiver burden and cytokine production through autonomous motivation for caregiving in cross-sectional analyses of 108 caregivers (M = 72.18, SD = 7.69; 72.22% women; 53.70% advanced degree holders). Participants reported demographics and health information, caregiver burden (ZBI), autonomous motivation for caregiving (modified Self-Regulation Questionnaire; α = .84), and relationship-oriented PNS (modified Needs Satisfaction Scale; α = .86). LPS-stimulated cytokines (IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and IL-1β) from whole blood were combined in a linear composite (α = .85) before we ran mediation analyses in lavaan. We found that higher PNS was associated with lower cytokine production through higher relative autonomy (indirect effect = ˗0.15, 95% CI [˗0.28, ˗0.013]). We also found that higher PNS was associated with lower caregiver burden through higher relative autonomy (indirect effect = ˗0.11, 95% CI [˗0.21, ˗0.023]). Dementia is degenerative and requires caregivers to adapt regularly to meet changing demands; longitudinal or time-lagged research is needed to capture the role of PNS as a possible causal factor in caregiver resilience.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cortical thickness and low-grade inflammation moderate the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive function in early widowhood: A preliminary study

  Brain Behavior and Immunity · 2025-06-18 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Predicting Long-term Clinical Outcomes in Borderline Patients

  NIH · $59k · 2015–2016

Frequent coauthors

• Harold W. Koenigsberg

  Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

  33 shared

• Jin Fan

  31 shared

• Christopher P. Fagundes

  University of Houston

  28 shared

• Antonia S. New

  Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

  22 shared

• Larry J. Siever

  Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

  19 shared

• Liza Rimsky

  18 shared

• Xun Liu

  17 shared

• Sarah Jo Mayson

  New York University

  15 shared

Labs

• T-SCAN Translational Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience LabPI