Affective Brain Lab

The Affective Brain Lab investigates how affect (the experience of emotion) affects human cognition and behaviour in normal brain function and in affective disorders (such as depression and anxiety).

The Lab studies how motivation and emotion (generated in response to an internal thought, external reward and punishment, or social interaction) determine our expectations of the future, our everyday decisions, our memories and our ability to learn. By understanding these basic processes we aim to identify ways to encourage behavioural change that enhance well-being.

The approach is multidisciplinary; We tackle questions traditionally studied by social psychologists and behavioural economists utilizing brain imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), pharmacological manipulations, neuropsychiatric methods, computational models, genetics techniques, and behavioural experiments. We collaborate with psychologists, neuroscientists, psychiatrists and behavioural economists worldwide (see our collaborators). Our aim is to offer new insight into brain function in both health and disease.

THE PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS are considerable, including policy formulation to correct for human biases as well as clinical applications in the treatment of brain dysfunction.