Nandita Raman OTD, OTR/L (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy
CHP 123
(408) 876-2803
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Dr. Nandita Raman received her Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy from D Y Patil University, India, and her post-professional Master of Arts and Doctorate of Occupational Therapy degree from the University of Southern California. Dr. Raman completed her doctoral residency with the USC Center for the Neuroscience of Embodied Cognition (CeNEC) research lab, during which she was involved in the planning and execution of studies related to otherness and belonging, embodied semantics, and empathy and affect recognition in autistic children. She has a keen interest in neurological rehabilitation and research and a passion for academia.
Education
Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD)
2023 | University of Southern California
Master of Arts (MA)
in Occupational Therapy
2022 | University of Southern California
Bachelor of Occupational Therapy
2021 | D Y Patil University
Selected Publications
Raman, N., Ringold, S. M., Jayashankar, A., Butera, C. D., Kilroy, E., Harrison, L., Cermak, S. A., & Aziz-Zadeh, L. (2023). Relationships between affect recognition, empathy, alexithymia, and co-occurring conditions in autism. Brain Sciences, 13(8), 1161. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13081161 Show abstract
Prior studies show differences in empathy and affect-recognition ability between those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) individuals. Autistic individuals also exhibit increased behavioral, gastrointestinal, and sleep issues. In the current study, we explored the differences in empathy and affect recognition between the ASD and TD groups; and we investigated their associations with conditions co-occurring in ASD. A total of 54 TD and 56 ASD children (8–17 years) were included. As compared to the TD group, the ASD group showed lower scores for affect recognition and perspective taking (PT) and higher scores for personal distress (PD). Interestingly, results from hierarchical linear regressions suggested that disparities in the PD and PT between the groups were primarily attributable to attenuated levels of alexithymia, rather than being mediated by the presence of an autism diagnosis. Differences in affect-recognition ability, however, were mediated by both an autism diagnosis and alexithymia. We also found significant correlations between empathy and affect recognition and measures of related conditions common in ASD. Alexithymia, hence, contributes to difficulties in empathy while both alexithymia and autism are associated with affect-recognition ability in ASD. Additionally, the association between affect recognition and empathic ability with co-occurring conditions in ASD needs to be considered during assessments and interventions.
Keywords. autism; alexithymia; empathy; affect recognition; anxiety; sleep; gastrointestinal issues
Awards
USC Margaret S. Rood Award for Professional Promise | 2023
USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
