MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences UnitIn the media
Transdiagnostic approaches to trauma
In this invited keynote talk, Professor Tim Dalgleish outlines the importance of a transdiagnositc approach to treating distress. This talk is for The 21st Australasian Conference on Traumatic Stress
Shaping the mind
Clinical Psychologist Tim Dalgleish joins Claudia Hammond again to discuss everything from the ethical implications of self driving cars, whether we can predict risky behaviour from neuroimaging and how to shape a healthy mind through transdiagnostic therapeutics.
Mindfulness therapy as effective as anti-depressants
The largest meta-analysis so far of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for recurrent depression has found that MBCT is an effective treatment option that can help prevent the recurrence of major depression in those who are currently in remission. The paper was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA): Psychiatry co-authored by Tim Dalgleish and Susanne Schweizer of the CBU and reported in The Indepedent and Forbes. Click here for the full text and accompanying editorial by Dr. Richard Davidson.
Depression and Memory
In this interview Chartered Psychologist Professor Tim Dalgleish discusses clinical depression and memory. Tim talks about his research into how people with depression tend to remember memories in a negative way and how they also have difficulty generating specific memories. Tim also explains how, systematically practicing coming up with specific memories from the past helps alleviate the symptoms of depression.
Tim was awarded the 2013 Presidents’ Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychological Knowledge.You can read more about Tim’s award in The Psychologist.
Mindfulness in Schools
A major Wellcome Trust study will be carried out by teams at the University of Oxford, University of Exeter, UCL and the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit over seven years to assess whether mindfulness training for teenagers can improve their mental health. The three-part study includes the first large randomised control trial of mindfulness training compared with ‘teaching as usual’ in 76 schools, which will involve nearly six thousand students aged 11 to 14. Full article
Method of Loci
An ancient memory training technique is being used to help people with depression. When someone is depressed they can find it hard to remember happier times. Dr Tim Dalgleish’s study used the method of loci, associating familiar places with positive memories.
Dalgleish, T., Navrady, L., Bird, E., Hill, E., Dunn, B.D., Golden, A. (2013). Method-of-Loci as a mnemonic device to facilitate access to self-affirming personal memories for individuals with depression. Clinical Psychological Science, 1, 156-162.
Training emotion
Emotional regulation — the ability to take negative feelings and recognize, accept and channel them properly — is an Achilles’ heel for many people, but especially for those with anxiety-related disorders, eating disorders and some personality disorders. It can take years of psychotherapy to strengthen one’s powers of emotional regulation. Or, says a new study, it might take a few weeks of brain training aimed at strengthening one’s short-term memory. Full article
Schweizer, S., Grahn, J., Hampshire, A. & Dalgleish, T. (2013). Training the emotional brain: Improving affective control through emotional working memory training. Journal of Neuroscience, 33, 5301-5311.
Mindfulness therapy
A mindfulness-based therapy could offer a “new choice for millions of people” with recurrent depression, a Lancet report suggests.Scientists tested it against anti-depressant pills for people at risk of relapse and found it worked just as well. Full article
Kuyken, W.,Hayes, R., Barrett, B.,Byng, R.,Dalgleish, T., Kessler, D., Lewis, G., Watkins, E.,Brejcha, C., Cardy, J., Causley, A., Cowderoy, S., Evans, E., Gradinger, F., Kaur, S., Lanham, P., Morant, N.,Richards, J., Shah, P., Harry Sutton, H., Vicary, R., Weaver, A., Wilks, J., Williams, M., Taylor, R., & Byford, S. (2015). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy compared with maintenance anti-depressant treatment in the prevention of depressive relapse/recurrence: results of the PREVENT randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, epub
