Neurocomputational mechanisms of self-referencing in social anxiety

社交焦虑是最常见、最令人衰弱且代价高昂的心理健康疾病之一。社交焦虑症患者可能存在自我参照偏见(即在社交场合中倾向于更多地关注自己)。这种偏见与学习障碍有关。然而，人们对社交焦虑症患者产生自我参照偏向的机制、大脑中发生了什么，以及我们如何通过干预来改变这种偏向知之甚少。这个跨学科的项目将结合认知神经科学(伯明翰大学、诺丁汉大学)和基于移动应用的干预(行业合作伙伴：Alena、Aya Technologies London)的专业知识。成功的学生将有机会进行大规模的在线研究、基于实验室的功能磁共振研究和干预研究。我们将测量行为反应，开发学习的计算模型，并将它们与大脑成像数据联系起来。这名学生将受益于研究访问和在Alena的实习，后者提供基于神经科学的评估并实施循证治疗。因此，该学生将在伯明翰大学和诺丁汉大学的高度支持的科学家团队中发展一系列尖端认知神经科学技能和工业经验。

Social anxiety is one of the most common, debilitating, and costly mental-health conditions. Individuals with social anxiety may suffer from a self-referencing bias (i.e., a strong bias to focus more on themselves when in social situations). This bias has been linked to impaired learning. However, little is known about the mechanisms behind why those with social anxiety have a self-referencing bias, what happens in the brain, or how we can change it through interventions. This interdisciplinary project will combine expertise from cognitive neuroscience (University of Birmingham, University of Nottingham) and mobile-app-based interventions (Industry partner: Alena, AYA Technologies London). The successful student will have the opportunity to conduct a large-scale online study, a lab-based fMRI study, and an intervention study. We will measure behavioural responses, develop computational models of learning, and link them to brain-imaging data. The student will benefit from research visits and an internship at Alena, that provides neuroscience-based assessments and implements evidence-based therapy. The student will therefore develop a range of cutting-edge cognitive neuroscience skills and industrial experience with a highly supportive team of scientists across University of Birmingham and University of Nottingham.