Steven M. Silverstein, Ph.D.

Director

silvers1@ubhc.rutgers.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Steven Silverstein is Director of Research, and Director of the Division of Schizophrenia Research at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC), and Professor of Psychiatry and Ophthalmology at Rutgers - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He is also the Co-Director of the Rutgers-Princeton Center for Computational Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. Dr. Silverstein is the former Chair of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Serious Mental Illness, and an Executive Board member and President-Elect of the Society for Research in Psychopathology. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1989, and completed his internship and fellowship at Cornell Medical College from 1988-1990.

He has over 25 years of experience in treating people with schizophrenia, and has directed inpatient units and outpatient programs for this population. This includes work with both chronic and first episode patients. Dr. Silverstein’s research interests are in the development of schizophrenia, perceptual and cognitive changes found in schizophrenia, and prediction of treatment response and relapse. He has over 195 publications related to schizophrenia, and is currently Principal Investigator (PI) on 7 NIMH, state (NJ), foundation, or industry-sponsored grants involving assessment and treatment.

Dr. Silverstein is the recipient of many awards, including the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association’s Armin Loeb Award for Research in Psychiatric Rehabilitation in 2008, the New Jersey Psychological Association’s Distinguished Researcher Award in 2009, and the American Psychological Foundation’s Alexander Gralnick Research Investigator Prize in 2010.

Representative publications, by topic

Cognitive Neuroscience of Schizophrenia

Sheffield, J.M., Repovs, G., Harms, M.P., Carter, C.S., Gold, J., MacDonald III, A.W., Ragland, J.D., Silverstein, S., Godwin, D., Barch, D.M. (in press). Evidence for accelerated decline of functional network efficiency in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Phillips, W.A., Larkum, M.E., Harley, C.W., & Silverstein, S.M. (in press). The effects of arousal on apical amplification and conscious-state. Neuroscience of Consciousness.

Nguyen, J., Majmudar, U., Papathomas, T.V., Silverstein, S.M., & Torres, E.B. (2016). Schizophrenia: The micro-movements perspective. Neuropsychologia. 2016, 85, 310-326.

Phillips, W. A., & Silverstein, S. M. (2013). The organized complexity of mental life depends on mechanisms for context-sensitive gain control that are impaired in schizophrenia. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 307. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00307.

Silverstein, S. M. (2014). Jung’s views on causes and treatments of schizophrenia in light of current trends in cognitive neuroscience and psychotherapy research: I. Etiology and phenomenology. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 59, 98-129. [reprinted as La visione di Jung sulle cause e il trattamento della schizophrenia alla luce delle actuali conoscenze delle neuroscienze cognitive e della ricerca in psicoterapia. I. Eziologia e fenomenologia. Studi Junghiani, 20, 41-75.]

Phillips, W. A., Clark, A., & Silverstein, S. M. (2015). On the functions, mechanisms, and malfunctions of intracortical contextual modulation. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 52,1-20.

Sheffield, J., Repovs, G., Harms, M., Carter, C., Gold, J., MacDonald, A., Ragland, J., Silverstein, S., Godwin, D., & Barch, D. (2015). Fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular network integrity and global cognition in health and schizophrenia. Neuropsychologia, 73, 82-93.

Ragland, J. D., Ranganath, C., Harms M. P., Barch, D. B., Gold, J. M., Layher, E., Lesh, T. A., MacDonald, A. III, Niendam, T. A., Phillips, J., Silverstein, S. M., Yolinas, A. P., & Carter, C. S. (2015). Functional and neuroanatomical specificity of episodic memory dysfunction in schizophrenia: An fMRI study of the Relational and Item-Specific Encoding Task. JAMA Psychiatry, 72, 909-916.

Sheffield, J.M., Repovs, G., Harms, M.P., Carter, C.S., Gold, J., MacDonald III, A.W., Ragland, J.D., Silverstein, S., Godwin, D., Barch, D.M. (In press). Evidence for accelerated decline of functional network efficiency in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin..

Lopez-Garcia, P., Lesh, T. A., Salo, T., Barch, D. M., MacDonald, A. W. III, Gold, J. M., Ragland, J. D., Strauss, M., Silverstein, S. M., & Carter, C. S. (In press). Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience.

Visual processing in schizophrenia:

Silverstein, S. M. (2016). Visual perception disturbances in schizophrenia: Toward a unified model. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. 63, 77-132.

Silverstein, S.M., Demmin, D., & Škodlar, B. (in press). Space and Objects: On the phenomenology and cognitive neuroscience of anomalous perception in schizophrenia. Psychopathology

Keane, B. P., Paterno, D., Kastner, S., & Silverstein, S.M. (2015). Is 20/20 vision good enough? Visual acuity differences within the normal range predict contour element detection and integration. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 22(1), 121–127. doi: 10.3758/s13423-014-0647-9

Silverstein, S.M., & Rosen, R. (2015). Schizophrenia and the eye. Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, 2, 46-55.

Silverstein, S. M., & Thompson, J. T. (2015). A vision science perspective on schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, 2, 39-41.

Silverstein, S. M., Elliott, C. M., Feusner, J. D., Keane, B. P., Mikkilineni, D., Hansen, N., Hartmann, A., & Wilhelm, S. (2015). Comparison of visual perceptual organization in schizophrenia and body dysmorphic disorder. Psychiatry Research, 229, 426-433.

Silverstein, S. M., Harms, M. P., Carter, C. S., Gold, J. M., Keane, B. P., MacDonald, A., Ragland, J. D., & Barch, D. M. (2015). Cortical contributions to impaired contour integration in schizophrenia. Neuropsychologia, 75, 469-480.

Mittal, V., Gupta, T., Keane, B. P., & Silverstein, S. M. (2015). Visual context processing dysfunction in youth at high-risk for psychosis: Resistance to the Ebbinghaus illusion, symptoms, and social-role functioning. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 124, 953-960.

Farkas, A., Papathomas, T. V., Silverstein, S. M., Kourtev, H., & Papayanapoulos, J. F. (In press). Dynamic 3-D computer graphics for designing a diagnostic tool for patients with schizophrenia. The Visual Computer.

Silverstein, S. M. (In press). Visual perception disturbances in schizophrenia: Toward a unified model. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation.

Silverstein, S.M., Keane, B.P., Blake, R., Giersch, A., Green, M., & Kéri, S. (2015). Vision in schizophrenia: Why it matters. Frontiers in Psychology.6: 41. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00041

Feigenson, K. A., Gara, M. A., Roche, M. W., & Silverstein S.M. (2014). Is disorganization a feature of schizophrenia or a modifying influence: Evidence of covariation of perceptual and cognitive disorganization in a non-patient sample. Psychiatry Research, 30, 1-8.

Keane, B. P., Joseph, J., & Silverstein, S. M. (2014). Late, not early, stages of Kanizsa shape perception are compromised in schizophrenia. Neuropsychologia, 56C:302-311.

Feigenson, K., Roché, M., Keane, B. P., & Silverstein, S. M. (2014). Contour integration impairment in schizophrenia: State or trait? Schizophrenia Research, 159, 515-20. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.09.028

Keane, B. P., Erlikhman, G., Kastner, S., Paterno, D., & Silverstein, S.M. (2014). Multiple forms of contour grouping deficits in schizophrenia: What is the role of spatial frequency? Neuropsychologia, 65, 221-33

Silverstein, S.M., Keane, B. P., Papathomas, T. V., Lathrop, K. L., Kourtev, H., Feigenson, K., Roché, M. W., Wang, Y., Mikkilineni, D., & Paterno, D. (2014). Processing of spatial-frequency altered faces in schizophrenia: Effects of illness phase and duration. PLoS One, 9(12):e114642. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114642

Silverstein, S. M., Keane, B. P., & Wang, Y. (2013). Cognitive and neuroplasticity mechanisms by which congenital or early blindness may confer a protective effect against schizophrenia. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 624. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00624

Silverstein, S. M., Wang, Y, & Roché, M. W. (2013). Base rates, blindness, and schizophrenia. Frontiers in Psychology, 4,157. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00157.

Joseph, J., Bae, G., & Silverstein, S. M. (2013). Gender, symptom and developmental factors associated with perceptual organization impairments in schizophrenia. Frontiers in Psychology, 4:547. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00547.

Silverstein, S. M., Keane, B. P., Barch, D. M., Carter, C. S., Gold, J., Kovacs, I., MacDonald, A. W. III, Ragland, J. D., & Strauss, M. E. (2012). Optimization and validation of a visual integration test for schizophrenia research. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 38, 125-134.

Silverstein, S. M., & Keane, B. P. (2011). Vision science and schizophrenia research: towards a re-view of the disorder. Editors' introduction to special section. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 37, 681-689.

Silverstein, S. M., & Keane, B. P. (2011). Perceptual organization impairment in schizophrenia and associated brain mechanisms; review of research from 2005-2010. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 37, 690-699.

Silverstein, S. M., Berten, S., Essex, B., All, S. D., Kasi, R., & Little, D. M. (2010). Perceptual organization and visual search processes during target detection task performance in schizophrenia, as revealed by fMRI. Neuropsychologia, 48, 2886-2893.

Silverstein, S. M., & Keane, B. P. (2009). Perceptual organization in schizophrenia: plasticity and state-related change. Learning and Perception, 1, 229-261.

Silverstein S. M., Berten, S., Essex, B., Kovacs, I, Susmaras, T., & Little, D. M. (2009). An fMRI examination of visual integration in schizophrenia. Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, 8, 175-202.

Treatment of schizophrenia

Butler, P.D., Thompson, J.L., Seitz, A.R., Deveau, J., & Silverstein, S.M. (in press). Visual perceptual remediation for schizophrenia: Rationale, method, and three case studies. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal.

Fiszdon, J.M., Choi, K-H., Bell, M.D., Choi, J., Silverstein, S.M. (in press). Cognitive remediation for individuals with psychosis: Efficacy and mechanisms of treatment effects. Psychological Medicine.

Kremen, L.C., Fiszdon, J.M., Kurtz, M.M., Silverstein, S.M., & Choi, J. (2016). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and learning in schizophrenia. Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports, 3,144-153.

Silverstein, S.M., Moghaddam, B., & Wykes, T. (2014). Research strategies and priorities to improve the lives of people with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 40, 259-265.

Silverstein, S.M., Roché, M. W., Khan, Z., Carson, S. J., Malinovsky, I., & Newbill, W. A. (2014). Enhancing and promoting recovery In attentionally impaired people diagnosed with schizophrenia: Results from a randomized clinical trial of attention shaping in a partial hospital program. American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 17, 272-305.

Mueser, K. T., Gottlieb, J. D., Hie, H., Lu, W., Yanos, P. T., Rosenberg, S. D., Silverstein, S.M., Duva, S.M., Minsky, S. M., Wolfe, R. S., & McHugo, G. J. (In press). What does cognitive restructuring add to education and breathing retraining for PTSD in severe mental illness? British Journal of Psychiatry.

Lu, W., Yanos, P. T., Silverstein, S.M., Mueser, K.T., Rosenberg, S.D., Gottlieb, J. D., Duva, S. D., Kularatne, T., Dove-Williams, S., Paterno, D., Hawthorne, D., & Giacobbe, G. (2013). Public mental health clients with severe mental illness and probable posttraumatic stress disorder: Trauma exposure and correlates of symptom severity. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26, 266-273.

Lysaker, P.H., Glynn, S.M., Wilkniss, S.M., & Silverstein, S. M. (2010). Psychotherapy and recovery from severe mental illness: A review of potential applications and need for future study. Psychological Services. 7, 75-91.

Silverstein, S. M., & Lysaker, P. H. (2009). Progress towards a resurgence and remodeling of psychotherapy for schizophrenia. Clinical Case Studies, 8, 407-416.

Lysaker, P. H., & Silverstein, S. M. (2009). Psychotherapy of schizophrenia: A brief history and the potential to promote recovery. Clinical Case Studies, 8, 417-423.

Kopelowicz, A., Liberman, R. P., & Silverstein, S. M. (2009). Psychiatric rehabilitation. In BJ Sadock & VA Sadock (Eds.) Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 9th Ed (pp. 4329-4370). Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Silverstein, S. M., Spaulding, W. D., Menditto, A. A., Savitz, A., Liberman, R. P., Berten, S., & Starobin, H. (2009). Attention shaping: a reward-based learning method to enhance skills training outcomes in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 35, 222-232.

Silverstein, S. M., & Bellack, A. S. (2008). A Scientific agenda for the concept of recovery as it applies to schizophrenia. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1108-1124.

Hunter, R. Wilkniss, S. M., Gardner, W., & Silverstein, S. M. (2008). The Multimodal Functional Model--Advancing case formulation beyond the "diagnose and treat" paradigm: improving outcomes and reducing aggression and the use of control procedures in psychiatric care. Psychological Services, 5, 11-25.

Silverstein, S. M. (2007). Integrating Jungian and self-psychological perspectives within cognitive-behavior therapy for a young man with a fixed religious delusion. Clinical Case Studies, 6, 263-276.

Ziedonis, D., Yanos, P., & Silverstein, S. M. (2007). Relapse prevention for schizophrenia. In K. Witkiewitz & G. A. Marlatt (Eds.), Evidence Based Relapse Prevention (pp. 117-140).

Silverstein, S. M., Spaulding, W. D., & Menditto, A. A. (2006). Schizophrenia: Advances in Evidence-based practice. Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe & Huber.

Silverstein, S. M., Wong, M-H., Wilkniss, S. M., Bloch, A., Smith, T. E., Savitz, A., McCarthy, R., & Terkelsen, K. (2006). Behavioral rehabilitation of the "treatment-refractory" schizophrenia patient: Conceptual foundations, interventions, interpersonal techniques, and outcome data. Psychological Services, 3, 145-169.

Landa, Y., Silverstein, S. M., Schwartz, F. & Savitz, A. (2006). Group CBT for delusions: helping patients improve reality testing. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 36, 9-17.

Silverstein, S. M., Wong, M-H., Solak, B. A., Smith, T. E., Wilkniss, S. M., Landa, Y., Goicochea, C., Carpiniello, K., Uhlhaas, P., Schenkel, L., & Savitz, A. (2005). Effectiveness of a two-phase cognitive rehabilitation intervention for severely impaired schizophrenia patients. Psychological Medicine, 35, 825-837.

Silverstein, S. M., & Wilkniss, S. (2004). The future of cognitive rehabilitation of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 30, 679-692.

Wilkniss, S. M., Silverstein, S. M., & Hunter, R. (2004). Nonpharmacological Treatment of Aggression and Violence in Individuals with Psychosis. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 3, 1-8.

Wong, M-H., & Silverstein, S. M. (2003). Coping with voices: Attention training for persistent auditory hallucinations in treatment refractory schizophrenia. Psychiatry, 66, 255-261.

Silverstein, S. M. (2000). Psychiatric rehabilitation of Schizophrenia: unresolved issues, current trends and future directions. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 9, 227-248.

Assessment and Psychometric Issues

Butler, P. D., Chen, Y., Ford, J., Mathalon, D., Silverstein, S. M., & Green, M. F. (2012). Perceptual measurement in schizophrenia: promising electrophysiology and neuroimaging paradigms from CNTRICS. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 38, 81-91.

Silverstein, S. M., All, S. D., & Jaeger, J. (2011). Cognition-UPSA score relationships: A further analysis of Silverstein et al. (2010) data and some caveats. Psychiatry Research, 181, 424-431.

Silverstein, S. M., Jaeger, J., Donovan-Lepore, A. M., Wilkniss, S. M., Savitz, A., Malinovsky, I., Hawthorne, D., Raines, S., Carson, S., Marcello, S., Zukin, S. R., Furlong, S., & Dent, G. (2010). A comparative study of the MATRICS and IntegNeuro cognitive assessment batteries. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 32, 937-952.

Green, M. F., Butler, P. D., Chen, Y., Geyer, M. A., Silverstein, S., Wynn, J. K., Yoon, J. H., & Zemon, V. (2009). Perception measurement in clinical trials of schizophrenia: promising paradigms from CNTRICS. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 35, 163-181.

Barch, D. M., Carter, C. S., & the CNTRICS Executive Committee (Arnsten, A., Buchanan, R. W., Cohen, J. D., Geyer, M., Green, M. F., Krystal, J., Nuechterlein, K., Robbins, T., Silverstein, S., Smith, E., Strauss, M., Wykes, T., & Heinssen, R.). (2008). Measurement issues in the use of cognitive neuroscience tasks in drug development for impaired cognition in schizophrenia. A report of the second consensus building conference of the CNTRICS initiative. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 34, 613-618.

Silverstein, S. M. (2008). Measuring specific, rather than generalized, cognitive deficits, and maximizing between-group effect size in studies of cognition and cognitive change. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 34, 645-655.

Silverstein, S. M., Berten, S., Olson, P., Paul, R., Williams, L., Cooper, N., & Gordon, E. (2007). Development and validation of a world wide web-based neurocognitive assessment battery: WebNeuro. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 940-949.

Kozma-Wiebe, P., Silverstein S., Feher A., Kovacs I., Uhlhaas, P., & Wilkniss, S. (2006). Development of a World-Wide Web based contour integration test: Reliability and validity. Computers in Human Behavior, 22, 971-980.

Silverstein, S. M., Wallace, C. J., & Schenkel, L. S. (2005). The Micro-Module Learning Tests: Work sample assessments of responsiveness to skills training. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 31, 73-83.

Silverstein, S. M., Jewell, T., & Corry, R. (2002). The generation and use of intraclass correlation in interactive staff training research. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Skills, 6, 383-409.

Knight, R. A., & Silverstein, S. M. (2001). A process-oriented strategy for averting confounds resulting from general performance deficiencies in schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 15-40.

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Steven M. Silverstein, Ph.D.

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