Cognition

Blue translucent chess figures on board (stock photo)

Many mental disorders are associated with disrupted cognitive function including dysfunctions of attention, concentration and memory. Disorders of cognitive development in children and young people are problematic by themselves. We measure cognition using laboratory-based tests that can help us understand how it may be disrupted by mental disorders, as well as tell us something about the brain systems that might be involved. We also measure cognitive function in combination with direct measures of electromagnetic brain activity and with brain imaging methods, such as MRI. The study of cognition can help us understand, which brain mechanisms are involved in the symptoms and the possible treatment of illness. Some of our models are often analogous to computational programmes, specifying the computations that allow the brain to support functions including attention, memory, producing and understanding language, problem solving, and decision-making.

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We investigate why people experience hallucinations and delusions, and use that knowledge to develop truly effective treatments for these problems. The Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP) research group, set up in 2011 by Prof Daniel Freeman, is one of the largest clinical psychology research teams in the world. Notable achievements include the development of a new, powerful psychological treatment for persecutory delusions (the Feeling Safe Programme) and the pioneering of automated psychological treatment delivered in virtual reality (VR).

Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis

OHBA is a research facility providing state-of-the-art techniques to measure or stimulate activity in the living human brain. Groups at OHBA investigate brain function in healthy volunteers, and in individuals affected by psychiatric and neurological conditions.

Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity

Our mission is to prevent depression and enhance human potential across the lifespan through the therapeutic use of mindfulness.

University of Oxford Mindfulness Research Centre

Our research aims to understand how individual genes contribute to the complex brain functions that are impaired in people with psychiatric disorders. By understanding these links we hope to improve treatments for these disorders.

Neural Correlates of Gene Function

We are dedicated to testing and developing new ways of improving treatments for psychiatric disorders, and maintaining brain health during aging. A significant proportion of people suffering from disturbances of mood and memory, do not respond to the available medication, and so there is an urgency to supplement or provide an alternative to current therapies.

Neurobiology and Experimental Therapeutics

Neuroimaging provides a window into the living brain, and is an increasingly vital experimental medicine tool for neuro-psychiatric disease. With a particular focus on early and pre-clinical disease, we explore how the brain changes before symptoms take hold.

Translational Neuroimaging

Cognition

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Publications