Aliona Tsypes, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

I am an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and a licensed psychologist. In my research, I combine electroencephalography, computational modeling, and ecological momentary assessment to improve the understanding and treatment of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. I am particularly interested in uncovering how alterations in value-based decision-making contribute to suicide risk and how protective factors may buffer against this risk.

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Representative Publications

Exploration-exploitation and suicidal behavior in borderline personality disorder and depression

Tsypes, A., Hallquist, M.N., Ianni, A., Kaurin, A., Wright, A.G.C., & Dombrovski, A.Y.

JAMA Psychiatry. 2024;81(10):1010-1019

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This study used behavioral experiments and reinforcement learning (RL) modeling to explore decision-making in people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and late-life depression. We found that serious suicidal behavior is linked with the inability to shift away from unrewarded choices, resulting in under-exploration. This inflexible behavior predicted daily suicidal ideation. Conversely, low-lethality suicidal behavior was associated with excessive shifts after both rewarded and unrewarded actions. These patterns were not explained by confounding factors like medication exposure or depressive symptoms.

Protective effects of reasons for living against suicidal ideation in daily life

Tsypes A, Kaurin A, Wright AGC, Hallquist MN, Dombrovski AY.

J Psychiatr Res. 2022 Apr;148:174–180

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This study examined the daily link between Reasons for Living (RFL) and suicidal ideation in people with borderline personality disorder (BPD), focusing on the moderating effects of the Big Five personality traits. Daily endorsements of RFL were negatively associated with suicidal ideation, meaning on days when people thought more about their RFL, they were less likely to think of suicide. The study also found that extraversion influenced RFL. Those high in extraversion thought about their RFL more frequently, though this weakened the protective effect against daily suicidal ideation.

Delay discounting in suicidal behavior: Myopic preference or inconsistent valuation?

Tsypes A, Szanto K, Bridge JA, Brown VM, Keilp JG, Dombrovski AY.

J Psychopathol Clin Sci. 2022 Jan;131(1):34–44

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Across three samples, high-lethality suicide attempters were the least sensitive to the overall values of prospects. This link between inconsistent valuation and the severity of suicidal behavior, robust against cognitive confounds and comorbidities, suggests a specific role for this deficit in suicidal behavior. Our study highlights the importance of considering both consistency and discount rates in delay discounting. Clinically, interventions during moments of suicidal ambivalence can be effective.

Reward Responsiveness in Suicide Attempters: An Electroencephalography/Event-Related Potential Study

Tsypes A, Owens M, Gibb BE.

Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2021 Jan;6(1):99–106

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This study investigated reward-related abnormalities in suicide attempters using the RDoC framework. We found significant differences in the cue-P3 amplitude between suicide attempters and non-attempters, indicating that attempters have trouble distinguishing between reward-predicting and non-reward-predicting stimuli. This deficit in reward anticipation aligns with previous findings and suggests that suicide attempters have specific deficits in attention allocation towards reward-predicting stimuli.