Cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms underlying memory control.

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There is international recognition of the need for a new approach to mental health research that focuses on the mechanistic foundations of symptoms that cut across psychiatric diagnoses rather than diagnostic categories. This programme is uniquely poised to deliver on the promise of this approach. We seek to identify the origins of a crucial trans-diagnostic symptom: perseverative thoughts, in the form of intrusive memories, images, ruminations, pathological worries or obsessive thoughts. Disordered control over thought is amongst the most distressing symptoms of major mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder Specifically, we will investigate the ability to stop retrieval of intrusive thoughts via inhibitory control and we seek to understand this fundamental process deeply at the cognitive, systems, and circuit levels. Our ultimate objective is to develop validated treatment targets and practical interventions motivated by high level cognitive theory and innovative neuroscience, which main include interventions based on training, pharmacology, and brain stimulation.