The goals of the Psychiatric NeuroCognition lab are to investigate neural and behavioral markers of cognitive functioning in psychiatric disorders. Our research uses experimental paradigms of attention, decision-making, and sensory processing in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette's Disorder (TD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and healthy individuals. By combining measures of neural activity during task, functional connectivity, and structural connectivity using diffusion imaging, our work seeks to relate neural circuit mechanisms to behavioral dysfunction across disorders. The goals of this work are to identify neural mechanisms that can be targeted by novel treatments.
Click here for a list of publications from the lab
(note: publications that did not come from the lab but who have authors with the same name as the PI may be incorrectly listed on this page. Please double check all information).
Many of the studies described below are currently recruiting subjects.
If you are interested in finding out more about participating in our research studies, please visit the Current Studies page.
If you want a study team member to contact you to tell you more about our studies, fill out our Study Interest Form.
research projects
Behavioral and neural heterogeneity in OCD and major depression
OCD and major depressive disorder (MDD) are common and disabling psychiatric disorders, treatments for which have been hindered by their heterogeneity in clinical presentation and underlying mechanisms. This project investigates the heterogeneity of clinical symptoms, behavior, and brain function in OCD and MDD using hypothesis- and data-driven approaches. The overall goals of this work are to identify factors contributing to heterogeneity that can be developed as novel targets for personalized treatments. This project is supported by a grant from the National Institute of Health (NIMH) R01MH126981.
Neural Mechanisms of Active Avoidance in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
In obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), compulsions can be considered a form of active avoidance behaviors aimed at alleviating distress elicited by obsessions. Through a collaboration between the Psychiatric NeuroCognition Lab at NYU Langone and NKI and Dr. Mohammed Milad at University of Texas Health at Houston, this study aims to examine the neurobiology of active avoidance learning in OCD using fMRI. The overall goal of the study is to identify the neural mechanisms of active avoidance in OCD and explore how such avoidance learning is related to different OCD symptoms. This work is supported by a Breakthrough Award from the International Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Foundation.
Effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Brain Function in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
This pilot study investigates whether transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be used to modulate brain function and behavior in individuals with OCD. TMS is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique that is FDA-approved for treatment in major depression and OCD. In our prior work, we have used an urge-to-blink paradigm as an experimental model of the build- up of an urge prior to repetitive behaviors in OCD (sensory phenomena before compulsions). Building from our neuroimaging studies examining the build-up and suppression of urges in OCD, this TMS study targets brain regions that are related both to failures of urge suppression in our experimental paradigm and clinical severity of sensory phenomena in patients. The aim of this study is to use TMS to modulate the neurocircuit mechanisms of pathological urges in OCD in order to ultimately reduce the clinical severity of these symptoms. A portion of this work was supported by a Young Investigator Grant (awarded to Goi Khia Eng, Ph.D., Research Scientist) from the International Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Foundation.
Neural and computational mechanisms of sensory over-responsivity
In collaboration with Dr. Kate Collins and Dr. Russell Tobe, head of the autism spectrum research group at NKI, we have been running pilot studies investigating sensory over-responsivity (SOR), which is a heightened and aversive response to external sensory stimuli such as sounds, touch, sights, and smells. Prior research indicates that SOR is common in both obsessive-compulsive and autism spectrum disorders, and our projects are aimed at elucidating the underlying neurobiology of these experiences within a computational psychiatry framework. Models of perception propose that what an individual’s brain perceives is not an exact replication of what is in the environment. Instead, perceptions reflect a combination of the current sensory inputs (what is actually in front of you, e.g. the sound of a sound bang, the smell of something savory) with prior experiences and information (what you have previously experienced and what you know, e.g.,. that smells from the kitchen are usually food, that loud bangs from outside are likely to be construction). Our project seeks to understand how the weighing of these two pieces of information - current sensory inputs vs. prior information and knowledge - and the neural processes involved in that weighting contribute to SOR. The ultimate goal of this work is to identify behavioral and neural targets for treatment of SOR.
Here is a recent paper from our group looking at neural correlates of SOR in individuals with OCD!
Other research
Here you will find a recent write up from the Brain and Behavior Research foundation about results from a clinical trial we recently completed testing the use of the drug ondansetron for treatment of OCD! This work was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (R33MH107589).
The lab is proud to be a part of ENIGMA-OCD, which is an international consortium of neuroimaging researchers who share anonymized MRI data in order to better understand the neurobiology of OCD.