Dr. Kryza-Lacombe's research focuses on the intersection of affective and cognitive processes and examines brain-behavior relationships drawing on perspectives from neuroscience, neuropsychology, and clinical psychology. She has focused particularly on positive valence system constructs, including neural reward processing, positive affect, and well-being. Through clinical experiences with older adults during her neuropsychology training, she developed a strong interest in how mental and cognitive health interact in aging.

The role of positive valence system functions remains underexamined in aging research despite their importance for understanding resilience. Dr. Kryza-Lacombe is currently investigating how aging affects neural reward processing in depression and whether aberrant reward processes contribute to accelerated brain aging. Her impending work aims to comprehensively characterize neural positive valence system functions in late life depression using electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This work will integrate these complementary methods to study neural mechanisms at the intersection of depression and cognitive decline and may provide a foundation for novel treatment targets. The ultimate goal of this research is to inform intervention approaches that prevent or address mental health disorders and cognitive dysfunction in older adults.