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Thu 08 May 12:30: Towards Precision in the Diagnostic Profiling of Patients: Leveraging Symptom Dynamics in the Assessment and Treatment of Mental Disorders

Psychology Talks - Wed, 16/04/2025 - 15:39
Towards Precision in the Diagnostic Profiling of Patients: Leveraging Symptom Dynamics in the Assessment and Treatment of Mental Disorders

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a heterogeneous mental disorder. International guidelines present overall symptom severity as the key dimension for clinical characterisation. However, additional layers of heterogeneity may reside within severity levels related to how symptoms interact with one-another in a patient, called symptom dynamics. We investigate these individual differences by estimating the proportion of patients that display differences in their symptom dynamics while sharing the same diagnosis and overall symptom severity. We show that examining symptom dynamics provides information about the person-specific psychopathological expression of patients beyond severity levels by revealing how symptoms aggravate each other over time. These results suggest that symptom dynamics may serve as a promising new dimension for clinical characterisation. Areas of opportunity are outlined for the field of precision psychiatry in uncovering disorder evolution patterns (e.g., spontaneous recovery; critical worsening) and the identification of granular treatment effects by moving toward investigations that leverage symptom dynamics as their foundation. Future work aimed at investigating the cascading dynamics underlying depression onset and maintenance using the large-scale (N > 5.5 million) CIPA Study are outlined.

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Thu 12 Jun 12:30: Brain Boost: Healthy Habits for a Happier Life

Psychology Talks - Wed, 16/04/2025 - 15:34
Brain Boost: Healthy Habits for a Happier Life

Our mental health is just as important as our physical health. In times of stress, enhanced cognition and reserves of resilience are vital in maintaining our wellbeing. This talk will draw on evidence-based ways to improve our brain health, cognition, and overall wellbeing based on Brain Boost: Healthy Habits for a Happier Life. We will explore the benefits of exercise, diet, sleep, social interactions, kindness, mindfulness and learning and how adopting these healthy habits will lead to a longer, happier life and a flourishing society.

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Thu 01 May 12:30: History repeating: A critical perspective on psychedelic science

Psychology Talks - Wed, 16/04/2025 - 15:29
History repeating: A critical perspective on psychedelic science

Despite considerable optimism regarding the mind-transforming potential of psychedelic substances, recently challengs have been raised regarding the validity of core findings in the field. In this talk I will provide a critical perspective on psychedelic science, questioning the efficacy and safety of psychedelic therapy and its presumed underlying mechanisms. I will argue that these problems are not new and that important lessons can be learned from history. I will conclude by highlighting examples and suggestions for the improvement of the quality of the science in this field.

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Mon 14 Apr 12:30: Analysing electrophysiology data with osl-ephys

Psychology Talks - Mon, 07/04/2025 - 15:56
Analysing electrophysiology data with osl-ephys

Speaker: Dr Mats van Es, University of Oxford, UK

Title: Analysing electrophysiology data with osl-ephys.

Abstract: Most M/EEG labs have traditionally relied on MATLAB for their analyses, and many are now transitioning to Python because it’s free and the number of tools available is growing fast. I will present the osl-ephys toolbox, a package built on top of the widely adopted MNE -Python. This package provides unique analysis tools for magneto−/electro-encephalography (M/EEG) sensor and source space analysis, which can be used modularly. In particular, it facilitates processing large amounts of data using batch parallel processing, with high standards for reproducibility through a config API and log keeping, and efficient quality assurance by producing HTML processing reports. We further designed the toolbox to be easy to use for researchers new to electrophysiology or those transitioning into Python.

Bio: Mats is a postdoctoral researcher at the Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity (OHBA) at the University of Oxford. Here, he works with Prof. Mark Woolrich on M/EEG methods, large scale networks, and MEG biomarkers for dementia. Before moving to Oxford, Mats obtained a BSc in Biophysics at Radboud University, and a MSc and PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Donders Institute.

Venue: MRC CBU West Wing Seminar Room and Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385113580?pwd=RmxIUmphQW9Ud1JBby9nTDQzR0NRdz09 (Meeting ID: 823 8511 3580; Passcode: 299077)

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Thu 19 Jun 12:30: Title to be confirmed

Psychology Talks - Thu, 27/03/2025 - 11:43
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Thu 12 Jun 12:30: Title to be confirmed

Psychology Talks - Thu, 27/03/2025 - 11:37
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Abstract not available

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Thu 05 Jun 12:30: Title to be confirmed

Psychology Talks - Thu, 27/03/2025 - 11:34
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Thu 22 May 12:30: Title to be confirmed

Psychology Talks - Thu, 27/03/2025 - 11:27
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Thu 01 May 12:30: Title to be confirmed

Psychology Talks - Thu, 27/03/2025 - 11:24
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Abstract not available

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Thu 08 May 12:30: Title to be confirmed

Psychology Talks - Thu, 27/03/2025 - 11:23
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Thu 15 May 12:30: Title to be confirmed

Psychology Talks - Thu, 27/03/2025 - 11:17
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Mon 31 Mar 12:30: Artefacts in MEG data

Psychology Talks - Tue, 25/03/2025 - 20:28
Artefacts in MEG data

Abstract: Olaf will provide an overview of artefacts in MEG recordings and introduce the Signal Space Separation (SSS) method (“Maxfilter”). Golan will then describe his current approach to dealing with a specific narrow-band artefact in recent recordings from our Triux MEG system.

Venue: MRC CBU West Wing Seminar Room and Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385113580?pwd=RmxIUmphQW9Ud1JBby9nTDQzR0NRdz09 (Meeting ID: 823 8511 3580; Passcode: 299077)

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Mon 31 Mar 12:30: Artefacts in MEG data

Psychology Talks - Fri, 21/03/2025 - 11:39
Artefacts in MEG data

Abstract: TBC

Venue: MRC CBU West Wing Seminar Room and Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385113580?pwd=RmxIUmphQW9Ud1JBby9nTDQzR0NRdz09 (Meeting ID: 823 8511 3580; Passcode: 299077)

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Mon 24 Mar 12:30: Principles of intensive human neuroimaging

Psychology Talks - Thu, 20/03/2025 - 21:49
Principles of intensive human neuroimaging

Speaker: Dr. Eline Kupers, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, United States.

Title: Principles of intensive functional MRI .

Abstract: Human neuroscience is experiencing a growing interest in the acquisition and openly sharing of large-scale functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets. Initial large-scale fMRI data sets have focused on either ‘wide’ sampling: acquiring a few hours of brain data from many participants (n ≥ 100; e.g., the UK BioBank (Miller et al., 2016), or ‘deep’ sampling: acquiring many hours of brain data from a few participants (n ≤ 20; e.g., the Midnight Scan Club (Gordon et al., 2017)). By collecting many hours of data from a small group of participants, these deep datasets have enabled detailed investigation of brain structure and function. In this talk, I will highlight an emerging deep sampling approach in fMRI, which we term ‘intensive’ fMRI, that aims to extensively sample cognitive phenomena within a small group of individuals to support within-subject computational modeling at the voxel level. I will discuss the key characteristics of intensive fMRI: to create datasets with well-designed experiments that enable a rich hypothesis space, that maximize both data quantity and quality, and that serve as a valuable community resource. Informed by efforts creating the Natural Scenes Dataset (Allen et al., 2022) and the upcoming Visual Cognition Dataset, I will address practical considerations and challenges of intensive fMRI, including optimizing trial and experimental design and screening and selecting participants to maximize data quality. When done well, intensive fMRI datasets enable better models of human cognition and bridge multiple neuroscience communities.

Bio: Dr. Eline Kupers is currently a postdoc working with Dr. Kendrick Kay at the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her research focuses on understanding the underlying organization and neural computations that support and limit human visual perception, combining computational tools, psychophysics, and neuroimaging techniques (functional MRI , EEG and MEG ). She received her PhD from New York University, working with Dr. Jonathan Winawer and Dr. Marisa Carrasco, and did her first postdoc working with Dr. Kalanit Grill-Spector at Stanford University. In the Fall of 2025, Eline will start her own lab as tenure-track faculty at York University in Toronto, Canada.

Venue: MRC CBU West Wing Seminar Room and Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385113580?pwd=RmxIUmphQW9Ud1JBby9nTDQzR0NRdz09 (Meeting ID: 823 8511 3580; Passcode: 299077)

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Thu 20 Mar 12:30: Neuromodulation therapy for psychiatric disorders

Psychology Talks - Thu, 20/03/2025 - 10:02
Neuromodulation therapy for psychiatric disorders

Neuromodulation therapy involves the use of brain stimulation to treat psychiatric disorders. Stimulation can involve electrical, magnetic or ultrasound including both invasive and non-invasive methods resulting in changes in brain networks, neurophysiology and plasticity. This talk is a broad overview of the latest in neuromodulation therapies for psychiatry including deep brain stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial electrical stimulation. The talk is clinically relevant and covers cutting-edge mechanistic insights from recent studies on intracranial recordings and brain-computer interfaces for psychiatry.

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Mon 02 Jun 12:30: Brain Digital Twins for Neurological Disorders

Psychology Talks - Mon, 17/03/2025 - 17:31
Brain Digital Twins for Neurological Disorders

Speaker: Dr. Nitin Williams, Department of Neuroscience & Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Finland

Title: Brain Digital Twins for Neurological Disorders

Abstract: Each of us knows someone whose life has been devastated by a neurological disorder such as Stroke, Epilepsy, or Alzheimer’s Disease. These disorders could be diagnosed earlier or treated more effectively by combining brain digital twins, i.e., neurophysiology-based computational models, with brain imaging modalities like Electroencephalography (EEG) and Magnetoencephalography (MEG). However, current brain digital twins are based on incomplete neurophysiological knowledge, rendering them overly simplified and limiting their clinical utility. In my talk, I will describe pioneering methodological work by my group, on building improved brain digital twins by combining advanced machine learning methods with MEG data. I will then briefly outline my future research programme based on recursively applying this framework to build increasingly representative brain digital twins, which I will deploy in collaboration with neurologists to improve the clinical management of specific neurological disorders. In the long-term, these brain digital twins would significantly improve patient outcomes and reduce patient suffering, raising their ability to lead healthy, productive lives.

Keywords: Brain Digital Twins; Neurological disorders; Personalised medicine; Early diagnosis; Stroke; Epilepsy; Alzheimer’s Disease.

Bio: Dr. Nitin Williams is based in Dept. of Neuroscience & Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Finland, where his research encompasses Neuroinformatics, Computational Neuroscience and Biomedical Signal Processing. He has made many contributions to these fields (h-index=17, citations=2014), in recognition of which he was awarded the title of Adjunct Professor by Dept. of Computer Science, Helsinki University, Finland. He has raised more than €100,000 in independent research funding, and has further earned more than €100,000 through data science consultancy for medical technology companies in Finland. He serves on the Editorial Board of Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, and has research experience from Aalto University and Helsinki University in Finland, and Cambridge University and Reading University in UK.

Venue: MRC CBU West Wing Seminar Room and Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385113580?pwd=RmxIUmphQW9Ud1JBby9nTDQzR0NRdz09 (Meeting ID: 823 8511 3580; Passcode: 299077)

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Tue 18 Mar 16:00: Development and plasticity of control and control beliefs In-person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Building, Free School Lane / Teams Meeting ID: 359 964 811 470, Passcode: F6gXFU

Psychology Talks - Thu, 13/03/2025 - 10:41
Development and plasticity of control and control beliefs

Abstract

My research focusses on understanding processes that regulate our thoughts and actions and their mechanistic role in driving healthy psychological development. I will present recent and ongoing experimental work on two such processes, namely cognitive control and control beliefs.

In the first part I will present data from a recently completed randomized control trial aiming to improve cognitive control in 235 6-11 year old children showing no effects across a host of behavioural and neural outcomes. In the second half I will present more recent work on the relationship between control beliefs and stress. I will show data on (i) the buffering effects of heightened sense of control against later stress and (ii) that control beliefs shape adaptive responding to stress.

I will discuss these findings in line with recent frameworks characterising control as a highly rational and dynamic process and outline implications for interventions.

Biography:

I did my thesis at the Max-Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences on the neuroscience of music and was awarded my PhD in 2008. I then moved to the University of Zurich for a postdoc in developmental social neuroscience at the Institute for Empirical Economics. I then returned to the Max-Planck Institute as Senior Researcher and Group Leader.

After fellowships at the Weill Cornell Medical School and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute I joined the Department of Developmental Psychology at the University of Leiden as an Assistant Professor in 2015. In 2017 I moved to UCL ’s Division of Psychology and Language Sciences as an Associate Professor and became Full Professor of Developmental Neuroscience there in 2021.

I have received various accolades and fellowships (i.e. Jacobs Research Fellowship, Humboldt Fellowship, German-Israeli Foundation Fellowship) and my work has been funded by the Jacobs Foundation, the German Research Foundation, the European Research Council, and the Economic and Social Research Council.

Teams link

Teams Meeting ID: 359 964 811 470, Passcode: F6gXFU

(Or in person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Labs, Rayleigh Wing, New Museums Site – opposite Student Services).

In-person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Building, Free School Lane / Teams Meeting ID: 359 964 811 470, Passcode: F6gXFU

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Mon 17 Mar 15:00: The place to be? At the nexus of psychology and geography

Psychology Talks - Tue, 11/03/2025 - 18:46
The place to be? At the nexus of psychology and geography

Nobody lives in a vacuum. Whoever we are and wherever we go, every second of our existence is spent in a physical and sociocultural environment that we inevitably interact with. Building on this simple fact of life, in the present talk I argue that geography is foundational to psychology and that to understand who we are we need to understand where we are. To support this claim, I introduce a new conceptual framework to systematise and guide research at the intersection of psychology and geography. I then present original empirical findings that speak to three broad questions: 1) how do places differ psychologically? 2) why do places differ psychologically? and 3) what do these differences mean for individuals and the places in which they live? To address these questions, in my lab I combine large-scale geo-tagged personality datasets with diverse real-world behavioral outcomes and ecological indicators (e.g., housing prices, personal financial records, patent production rates) across multiple countries (e.g., India, Japan, USA ) and spatial levels (e.g., states, cities). Among other results, this work 1) demonstrates systematic regional variation in Big Five personality traits, cultural tightness, courage, and loneliness, 2) identifies various ecological, sociocultural, and economic factors that may contribute to geographical psychological differences, and 3) shows how regional psychological differences may contribute to outcomes as diverse as divorce rates, political conservatism, and individual spending. In the current talk, I present a whistle-stop tour of this program of research that highlights some of its most compelling and vexing results. I conclude with personal reflections on doing research at the nexus of psychology and geography and a list of resources for interested researchers and practitioners.

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Tue 11 Mar 15:00: Title to be confirmed

Psychology Talks - Tue, 11/03/2025 - 16:00
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Fri 14 Mar 12:00: : Scratching Beneath the Surface of Pan Communication: Intentions, Representations and Joint Attention The host for this talk is Mirjana Bozic

Psychology Talks - Tue, 11/03/2025 - 15:18
: Scratching Beneath the Surface of Pan Communication: Intentions, Representations and Joint Attention

Despite important similarities having been found between human and animal communication systems, surprisingly little research effort has focussed on whether the cognitive mechanisms underpinning these behaviours are also similar. If comparative research is going to help elucidate the evolutionary origins of human language we need to consider whether seemingly homologous traits are underpinned by similar mechanisms. In terms of vocal production, it is highly debated whether signal production in non-human primates is the result of reflexive processes, or under intentional control. I will present data from a snake presentation experiment with wild chimpanzees that shows that two types of alarm calls meet several behavioural markers for intentional production. In terms of reception of vocal signals, there is some evidence that conspecific alarm calls evoke mental representations in listeners, however the nature of any representations (object or affect based) remains difficult to determine. I will present recent work with Kanzi, the language competent bonobo, that shows he reliably matched bonobo alarm calls to lexigrams (arbitrary symbols) denoting both ‘snake’ as an object-based representation and ‘scare’ as an affect-based representation, indicating that these conspecific calls evoke both object-based and affect-based representations in this bonobo. Finally, I will ask whether joint attention, which is so important for language acquisition and communication in humans is unique to our species. I will present data from stimulus presentation experiments with human infants, wild chimpanzees and wild crested macaques to show that joint attention does occur in our closest living relatives, albeit at a much lower rate than in humans.

The host for this talk is Mirjana Bozic

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Adaptive Brain Lab Department of Psychology Downing Site Cambridge CB2 3EB

Contact: abg@psychol.cam.ac.uk

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