Mental Health
Our research uses brain technologies to understand, prevent and treat mental health problems.
Estimates suggest that 1 in 6 people have experienced a mental health problem in the past week1. Anxiety and depression are two of the most common mental health problems and are estimated to cost one fifth of days lost from work in the UK2.
Other common mental health conditions include schizophrenia, affecting just less than 1% of the population during their lifetime, and bipolar disorder, affecting around 2% of the population2.
Brain technologies can help us understand what is happening in the brain during mental health problems and test the opportunities for new treatments.
Our Research
Using brain technologies, our research aims to:
Investigate changes in brain processing
Using brain technologies to understand how brain processes are affected by mental health.
Identify at risk genes
Understanding what happens in the brains of people who have genes that put them at-risk of mental health problems.
Understand treatments
Using brain scans to explore the mechanisms and effects of mental health treatments.
Further Information
Videos
For more information, please watch our Mindfulness and Neuroscience video from our Neuroscience for Teachers series or learn about our research into Antidepressants for Young People with Depression and Anxiety.
External Links
For more information on the changes in the brain that occur during mental health problems, listen to this Podcast about Serotonin, featuring Prof Catherine Harmer.
For more information on wider mental health research, please visit this Blog on Mental Health Publications.
General information about mental health is available from:
1Statistics are from the from the Mental Health and Wellbeing in England Report (2014)
2Statistics from Mental Health First Aid England