I lead the Mental Health Neuroscience programme of research at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge. We work to answer questions like: what changes in our brain during periods of mental ill-health? How does the way our brains process the world, including the physical body, make us susceptible to developing a mental health disorder? And finally, how can we capitalise on the tools of neuroscience - brain imaging, brain stimulation, computational modelling, among others - to improve our ability to treat mental health disorders?

To answer these questions, I conduct three types of experiments in mental health neuroscience:

• Discovery neuroscience experiments investigating cognitive and physiological mechanisms important for maintaining mental health (e.g., this MR imaging study in adolescents, or this behavioural study). We have a particular interest in body-brain interactions, including metabolic and gastric mechanisms (like this study showing a role for the stomach's rhythm in disgust avoidance)

•  Clinical experiments in patient populations, such as people suffering from major depressive disorder, to investigate brain and behavioural differences that occur as a result of a mental health condition (e.g., this fMRI study, or this behavioural study). We are keen to use transdiagnostic approaches to reveal brain differences in sensing the physical body across psychiatric disorders

• Translational studies testing out new ways of treating mental health disorders (such as this trial of a new treatment for depression or this experimental study of a new type of brain stimulation - I am especially interested in "acute augmentations" of psychological therapy); or using reverse translation to understand the mechanisms of existing treatments (such as this imaging study here, or computational psychiatry approaches to understand how psychological therapy works). 

I also have an interest in methodological issues affecting neuroscience and psychiatry - see my work on statistical power and imaging reliability (here and here), and in science communication - see my book for a general audience, The Balanced Brain.

Do visit the Mental Health Neuroscience Lab website to find out more about our work in Cambridge: www.nordlab.co.uk