Basic cognitive processes (e.g., attention and executive functioning) regulate what information from the environment enters conscious processing and how well that information can be processed and utilized or discarded. When these processes go awry, particularly in the context of negatively-valenced information or stimuli, they may lead to negative mood states and factors associated with depression risk and depression severity. We were the first group to show that while identical twins discordant for depression show no differences in neuropsychological functioning, they exhibit attentional impairment relative to identical twins with no family history of depression.
Attention Bias Modification Treatment RCT.
In collaboration with colleagues at UCLA. Examining the relation between threat-sensitivity, reward-sensitvity, and executive functioning in developing adults.
Further details coming soon.
Project Abstract (from NIH RePORTER): Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide among adults. Cognitive models of depression, which have received strong empirical support, posit that individuals’ characteristic ways of attending to, interpreting, and remembering stimuli in their environment may contribute to the development and maintenance of the disorder. To understand the etiology of these biases, many genetic association studies have been completed. However, findings so far (including those from our own work) have been somewhat limited.
In collaboration with colleagues at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School.