Motivation in depression

Motivation in depression: Can high-field MRI, neurofeedback and real-world digital phenotyping provide novel insights into psychiatric syndromes?  

Abstract: Motivational states are driven by environmental and internal reinforcers with their own reward values that can be perturbed in individuals with anhedonic depression. Although preclinical research implicates the dopamine system in modulating motivation/anhedonia, translation of these findings to humans remains limited by traditional neuroimaging and behavioural measures. This project will extend my prior work in developing ultra-high-field MRI sequences and novel cognitive/computational methods to not only measure but also directly modulate neural activity in dopaminergic circuits in individuals with depression.