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News
Welcome to our News and Publications hub, where we share the latest updates from our lab, groundbreaking research findings, and key publications. Stay connected with our discoveries, collaborations, and contributions to the field of neuroscience and mental health.
Publications
New Publiciation in Scientific Reports: Reliable, rapid, and remote measurement of metacognitive bias
We are pleased to share our latest research published in Scientific Reports, titled "Reliable, rapid, and remote measurement of metacognitive bias." Led by Celine Fox, this study introduces a gamified smartphone task that measures visuo-perceptual metacognitive bias, exploring its connection to psychiatric dimensions such as anxious-depression and compulsivity. With data from over 3,400 participants, the task demonstrated high reliability and validity, even with a reduced number of trials. This innovative method provides a scalable way to assess metacognition remotely, advancing our understanding of decision-making biases in mental health.
Read the full article here.
New Publication in Communications Psychology: Using smartphones to optimise and scale-up the assessment of model-based planning
The Neureka team is excited to announce the publication of a new paper in Communications Psychology, titled "Using smartphones to optimise and scale-up the assessment of model-based planning." Led by Kelly Donegan, this study introduces a novel smartphone game designed to measure model-based planning in an at-home setting. By tweaking game structure and trial design, we were able to improve the sensitivity of the assessment, particularly in relation to compulsivity. These findings highlight the potential of smartphone-based tools to optimise large-scale assessments of cognitive processes in the general population.
Read the full article here, and click here to see more on the Cannon Blast gamification.
New Publication in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions: Confidence Biases in Problem Gambling
We are excited to announce the publication of our latest research in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, titled "Confidence biases in problem gambling." Led by Maja Friedmann, this study explores how problem gamblers exhibit heightened confidence in their decisions, even when their performance does not warrant it. Using our smartphone-based metacognition task, we found that problem gamblers showed elevated confidence both during decision-making and when evaluating overall task performance, independent of their anxiety, depression, or compulsive symptoms. These findings offer new insights into the role of metacognitive processes in problem gambling and suggest potential areas for therapeutic intervention.
Read the full article here.
New Publication in PNAS: Elevated emotion network connectivity is associated with fluctuations in depression
We are excited to share our latest publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), titled "Elevated emotion network connectivity is associated with fluctuations in depression." Through data collected via the Neureka app over eight weeks, we found that individuals with higher emotion network connectivity experience greater variability in their depression symptoms, rather than increased severity. These findings provide new insights into how emotional dynamics influence mental health and could inform future therapeutic approaches.
Read the full article here.
In Preparation:
Teckentrup, V., Rosická, A. M., Donegan, K. R., Gallagher, E., Hanlon, A., & Gillan, C. (2024, March 14). Digital questionnaire response time (DQRT): a ubiquitous and low-cost digital assay of cognitive status. [url]
Rosická, A. M., Teckentrup, V., Fittipaldi, S., Ibanez, A., Pringle, A., Gallagher, E., … Gillan, C. (2023, November 10). Modifiable Dementia Risk Factors Associated with Objective and Subjective Cognition (in press) [url]
In recent news...
Well done to Neureka Researchers Sol Fittipaldi and Anna Rosická who both presented their research at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia. Anna presented a poster on her PhD research “APOE e4 associations with smartphone based cognitive markers”, and Sol delivered an oral presentation on her research “The relationship between loneliness, depression and cognition: Evidence from smartphone-based cross-sectional and ecological momentary assessment”. #AAIC2024 (July, 2024)