Ongoing Studies

 This study, funded by an R01 from the NIMH (PI: Sheffield), uses a randomized clinical trial (RCT) of cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis (CBTp) to investigate whether and how predictive processing changes following psychotherapy. Specifically, we are interested in whether over-estimation of environmental volatility and its neurobiological correlates are impacted by treatment targeting persecutory delusions in individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

Interoception, or the awareness and processing of internal bodily sensations, is a core aspect of the human experience that is modulated, in part, by the insula. This fMRI study is the first to examine insula functioning in schizophrenia during a cardiac interoception task and its relationship to interoceptive inference and clinical phenomenology.

This study, funded by a K23 from the NIMH, identifies individuals experiencing an acute exacerbation of delusions and follows them over the course of 6 months. During that time, we will collect clinical, cognitive and neuroimaging markers of delusions, to help determine their role in delusion severity and maintenance, in order to inform treatment and prevention.

Some people can feel things crawling in their bodies, have rashes, itches and other physical evidence of an infestation or parasite – but doctors say there is nothing wrong. This is a highly distressing experience and we are interested in learning more about it, in order to offer guidance to physicians and patients. This 1-2 hour paid study, conducted online with a member of the research team, involves a brief interview, self-report questionnaires, and a few computer games.