开源

The field of psychiatry faces the dual challenges of heterogeneity and co-morbidity, in terms of mental disorder manifestation and pathological mechanisms. Currently, our understanding of the neural mechanisms of mental disorders is very limited, and both diagnosis and treatment basically remain at the level of relying on the subjective symptom reports of the DSM-5. It is widely recognized that the field has not yet established objective and effective diagnostic criteria and intervention and treatment programs. To address these challenges, we aim to integrate interdisciplinary approaches, using brain imaging, psychophysics, physiological signal recording, advanced statistical and computational modeling, and machine learning to explore in-depth the cognitive neural mechanisms, developmental patterns, and innovative treatments of depression and anxiety disorders.

Cognition, emotion, and social processes closely intertwine, and dysregulated functioning of corresponding neural networks associates with mental disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). My research examines the order, disorder, and interconnections of cognitive, emotional, and social processing throughout the lifespan from childhood to older adulthood in healthy and diseased brains, with the goal of developing improved diagnostic and prognostic tests to be used in community mental health settings. My current works are examining (1) the relationship between threat- and reward-related neural circuitries and symptom dimensions of anxiety and depression during the critical developmental transition from adolescence to adulthood, and (2) developing PTSD treatments through computational neuroimaging methods.