4 year PhD in Neuroscience - Assessing and modelling the effects of antidepressant medication on the learning of emotional and non-emotional information (360G-Wellcome-092759_Z_10_Z)

This project will use behavioural and neuroimaging techniques to test two competing models of the time lag in clinical effects of antidepressant drugs. Both these accounts predict improvements in learning with antidepressant treatment but critically expect a different balance of effects on emotional versus non-emotional learning processes. A series of studies will use behavioural and neural markers of learning and plasticity in healthy volunteers to explore the effects of drug treatments relevant to depression and anxiety. Ultimately, the aim of the project is to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of action of antidepressant medication with a view to using this knowledge to inform the early-stage development of novel treatment regimes.