Mental health was commonplace throughout modern society even before the pandemic, however the recent periods of lockdown as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak significantly increased the prevalence and attention towards mental health conditions such as depression, loneliness and anxiety. One factor influencing this increase is that issues with mental health affect all walks of life, regardless of socio-economic status, age, wealth or ethnicity. Hence why it is important to understand the different biological and psychological influences upon developing mental health disorders, how these conditions manifest behaviourally and neurally, and to subsequently implement the best possible treatment once identified.
Work at CINN aims to understand mental health conditions on multiple fronts. Primarily, we investigate the neural and computational components of these disorders, for example by investigating the brain activity of adolescents in response to rewards, and the subsequent impact of pharmacological treatment through antidepressants. CINN also looks at social learning in depression, and the impact depression has with engaging in social behaviour.