About

Carl DuPont is an artist, innovator, and educator dedicated to Transformational Inclusion in the arts and Care of the Professional Voice. His work includes contributions to scholarly articles published in The Laryngoscope and the Voice and Speech Review. As a performer, his voice can be heard on the world premiere recordings of the Caldara Mass in A Major, The Death of Webern, and his solo album of art songs by Black composers entitled The Reaction. He has held center stage in performances at notable venues and festivals such as The Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Carolina, Opera Columbus, First Coast Opera, Toledo Opera, Opera Saratoga, Sarasota Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera, El Palacio de Bellas Artes, Opera Company of Brooklyn, the IN Series, Carnegie Hall, and Leipzig Opera. DuPont has been invited to present research and recitals internationally in Salzburg, Rome, Stockholm, New York, Portland, and Miami, and has toured as a soloist and ensemble member with the American Spiritual Ensemble, which is dedicated to the preservation of the Negro Spiritual.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Medicine
• Clinical psychology
• Internal medicine
• Cardiology
• Audiology
• Ophthalmology
• Nuclear medicine
• Neuroscience

Selected publications

• Stressor‐Evoked Brain Activity, Cardiovascular Reactivity, and Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Midlife Adults

  Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025-04-01 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular responses to psychological stressors have been separately associated with preclinical atherosclerosis and hemodynamic brain activity patterns across different studies and cohorts; however, what has not been established is whether cardiovascular stress responses reliably link indicators of stressor-evoked brain activity and preclinical atherosclerosis that have been measured in the same individuals. Accordingly, the present study used cross-validation and predictive modeling to test for the first time whether stressor-evoked systolic blood pressure responses statistically mediated the association between concurrently measured brain activity and a vascular marker of preclinical atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries. METHODS AND RESULTS: Six hundred twenty-four midlife adults (aged 28-56 years, 54.97% women) from 2 different cohorts underwent 2 information-conflict functional magnetic resonance imaging tasks, with concurrent systolic blood pressure measures collected. Carotid artery intima-media thickness was measured by ultrasonography. A mediation framework that included harmonization, cross-validation, and penalized principal component regression was then used. Brain areas where functional magnetic resonance imaging activity exhibited reliable direct and indirect effects were identified through bootstrapping. Sensitivity analysis further tested the robustness of findings after accounting for prevailing levels of cardiovascular disease risk and brain imaging data quality. Task-averaged patterns of functional magnetic resonance imaging activity across distributed brain areas exhibited a generalizable association with carotid artery intima-media thickness, which was reliably mediated by an area under the curve measure of aggregate systolic blood pressure reactivity. Importantly, this effect held in sensitivity analyses. Implicated brain areas in this mediation included the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and amygdala. CONCLUSIONS: These novel findings support a link between stressor-evoked brain activity and preclinical atherosclerosis, which is accounted for by individual differences in corresponding levels of stressor-evoked cardiovascular reactivity.

  PublisherDOI

• Psychedelics and substance use disorder treatment

  International review of neurobiology · 2025-01-01 · 5 citations

  review1st author
  PublisherDOI

• Fast Depressive Symptom Improvement in Bipolar Disorder Type 1 after Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy: A Two-Site Feasibility and Safety Open Label Trial

  Brain stimulation · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Background: Brain oscillations, which reflect the organized activity of neuronal assemblies, play a crucial role in brain function and are altered in conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, and stroke.While transcranial electric currents have shown therapeutic potential in modulating these oscillations, the direct effects on brain dynamics during stimulation remain elusive due to the inability to record oscillatory changes concurrently.Moreover, inability to assess brain oscillations during stimulation renders closed-loop paradigms unfeasible.Here, we introduce a promising approach to overcome this limitation and highlight the possibility of influencing brain activity and behavior beyond the motor system.Objectives/Hypothesis: In a series of experiments involving healthy volunteers, we used closed-loop amplitude-modulated transcranial alternating current stimulation (CLAM-tACS) to modulate brain oscillations in motor regions and beyond.Specifically, we investigated whether phaselocked, state-dependent stimulation can enhance or suppress oscillatory activity and related brain functions across different paradigms.Methods: In a series of studies, we employed CLAM-tACS that combines artifact attenuation with real-time phase-tracking and stimulation of brain rhythms.Oscillations across different frequency bands, such as theta, frontoparietal alpha or central mu, were targeted.Results: Across multiple experiments, phase-dependent enhancement and suppression of oscillations were observed.We found consistent effects on behavioral outcome measures that correlated with specific stimulation phase angles.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that CLAM-tACS can be effectively applied beyond the motor system to modulate brain function and behavior.However, limitations of the approach have to be further explored and application in clinical populations tested.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Dual-impedance cardiography for the assessment of arterial stiffness: associations with blood pressure, cardiometabolic risk factors, and preclinical atherosclerosis in midlife adults

  Blood Pressure · 2025-12-09 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st author

  PURPOSE: Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a measure of arterial stiffness that reflects vascular ageing and predicts risk for cardiovascular disease. We developed a PWV measurement method that uses dual-impedance cardiography (d-ICG) to address limitations of other common methods (e.g. ultrasound, tonometry, etc.), as well as to enable PWV assessments across a broader range of populations. This pre-registered, cross-sectional study tested for the first time the extent to which d-ICG PWV associates with cardiometabolic risk factors (i.e. blood pressure and other metabolic syndrome components) and vascular markers of preclinical atherosclerosis (i.e. carotid-artery intima-media thickness [C-IMT] and plaque). METHODS: = 179), estimates of d-ICG PWV were compared for the first time against carotid-femoral PWV (cfPWV) measured by a Complior device. RESULTS: 's = 0.042 to 0.097). CONCLUSION: d-ICG PWV may be a low-cost, reliable, and alternative method for obtaining estimates of arterial stiffness that track with cardiometabolic risk factors and preclinical atherosclerosis.

  PublisherDOI

• Stressor-evoked brain activity, cardiovascular reactivity, and subclinical atherosclerosis in midlife adults

  medRxiv · 2024-02-06 · 3 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Background: Cardiovascular responses to psychological stressors have been separately associated with preclinical atherosclerosis and hemodynamic brain activity patterns across different studies and cohorts; however, what has not been established is whether cardiovascular stress responses reliably link indicators of stressor-evoked brain activity and preclinical atherosclerosis that have been measured in the same individuals. Accordingly, the present study used cross-validation and predictive modeling to test for the first time whether stressor-evoked systolic blood pressure (SBP) responses statistically mediated the association between concurrently measured brain activity and a vascular marker of preclinical atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries. Methods: 624 midlife adults (aged 28-56 years, 54.97% female) from two different cohorts underwent two information-conflict fMRI tasks, with concurrent SBP measures collected. Carotid artery intima-media thickness (CA-IMT) was measured by ultrasonography. A mediation framework that included harmonization, cross-validation, and penalized principal component regression was then employed, while significant areas in possible direct and indirect effects were identified through bootstrapping. Sensitivity analysis further tested the robustness of findings after accounting for prevailing levels of cardiovascular disease risk and brain imaging data quality control. Results: Task-averaged patterns of hemodynamic brain responses exhibited a generalizable association with CA-IMT, which was mediated by an area-under-the-curve measure of aggregate SBP reactivity. Importantly, this effect held in sensitivity analyses. Implicated brain areas in this mediation included the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula and amygdala. Conclusions: These novel findings support a link between stressor-evoked brain activity and preclinical atherosclerosis accounted for by individual differences in corresponding levels of stressor-evoked cardiovascular reactivity.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sleep Disruption Moderates the Daily Dynamics of Affect and Pain in Sickle Cell Disease

  Journal of Pain · 2024-01-21 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Fast depressive symptoms improvement in bipolar I disorder after Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT): A two-site feasibility and safety open-label trial

  Journal of Affective Disorders · 2024-08-16 · 12 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 133. Changes in Functional Connectivity Following the Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT) in Bipolar I Depression: A Pilot Study

  Biological Psychiatry · 2024-04-29

  article
  PublisherDOI

• A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded mechanistic clinical trial using endotoxin to evaluate the relationship between insomnia, inflammation, and affective disturbance on pain in older adults: A protocol for the sleep and Healthy Aging Research for pain (SHARE-P) study

  Brain Behavior & Immunity - Health · 2023-05-19

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Chronic pain is prevalent in older adults. Treatment, especially with opioids, is often ineffective and poses considerable negative consequences in this population. To improve treatment, it is important to understand why older adults are at a heightened risk for developing chronic pain. Insomnia is a major modifiable risk factor for chronic pain that is ubiquitous among older adults. Insomnia can also lead to heightened systemic inflammation and affective disturbance, both of which may further exacerbate pain conditions in older adults. Endotoxin exposure can be used as an experimental model of systemic inflammation and affective disturbance. The current study aims to understand how insomnia status and endotoxin-induced changes in inflammation and affect (increased negative affect and decreased positive affect) may interact to impact pain facilitatory and inhibitory processes in older adults. Longitudinal data will also assess how pain processing, affective, and inflammatory responses to endotoxin may predict the development of pain and/or depressive symptoms. The current study is a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, mechanistic clinical trial in men and women, with and without insomnia, aged 50 years and older. Participants were randomized to either 0.8ng/kg endotoxin injection or saline placebo injection. Daily diaries were used to collect variables related to sleep, mood, and pain at two-week intervals during baseline and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-months post-injection. Primary outcomes during the experimental phase include conditioned pain modulation, temporal summation, and affective pain modulation ∼5.5 hours after injection. Primary outcomes for longitudinal assessments are self-reported pain intensity and depressive symptoms. The current study uses endotoxin as an experimental model for pain. In doing so, it aims to extend the current literature by: (1) including older adults, (2) investigating insomnia as a potential risk factor for chronic pain, (3) evaluating the role of endotoxin-induced affective disturbances on pain sensitivity, and (4) assessing sex differences in endotoxin-induced hyperalgesia. Clinicaltrialsgov: NCT03256760. Trial sponsor: NIH R01AG057750-01.

  PublisherDOI

• Does A Savoring Meditation Reduce Unpleasant Bodily Sensations Or Increase Pleasant Bodily Sensations In Individuals With Rheumatoid Arthritis Relative To A Sham Meditation?

  Journal of Pain · 2023-04-01 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Peter J. Gianaros

  12 shared

• Stephen B. Manuck

  University of Pittsburgh

  8 shared

• Anna L. Marsland

  University of Pittsburgh

  6 shared

• Aidan G.C. Wright

  5 shared

• Claudia M. Campbell

  5 shared

• Kevin Li

  McGill University

  5 shared

• A. Comfort

  5 shared

• Irving M. Reti

  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  5 shared