Reward, Impulsive Sensation Seeking and Emotion Dysregulation: Neural Mechanisms Underlying Risk for Bipolar Disorder in Young Adults (Diamond 3)

This is a NIMH-funded renewal of our original Diamond study in which we aim to better identify bipolar spectrum disorders (BPSD) in at-risk young adults, and provide neural targets for novel (e.g., neuromodulation) interventions to delay or prevent, BPSD.

Linking OCD-like behaviors with abnormalities in the OCD neural network (ENCORE 2)

Dr. Phillips along with Co-Invesitigators Amelia Versace, MD, Henry Chase, PhD and Robert Hodak, MD seeks to to characterize, in OCD, white matter (WM) bundle and functional neural abnormalities among regions in a putative OCD neural network that are associated with persistent avoidance, a characteristic feature of OCD, using the Center framework to closely collaborate with basic neuroscience and clinical intervention projects, and cores.

Caregiving Effects on the Early Development of Infant Brain-Behavior Relationships (BABES)

Along with Alison Hipwell, PhD, Dr. Phillips aims to examine prospective relationships among neural circuitry structure and intrinsic functional connectivity at 3 and 9 months, and change between 3 to 9 months, and 3-18 month changes in emotional reactivity and regulation.

Elucidating Neural Mechanisms of Hypo/mania Using Theta Burst Stimulation (TREAT-BD)

As part of this study, we attempt to determine the impact of TBS on the vlPFC and related brain circuitry activity and functional connectivity during reward anticipation. 

BBRF Distinguished Investigator Award 

Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Reward And Dopamine In Bipolar Disorder: A Novel Approach Using Mitochondrial Complex I Imaging

Dr. Phillips will examine mitochondrial Complex I (MC-I) in the brain in individuals with bipolar disorder (BD), and determine relationships among MC-I and indices of neural activity and neurotransmission known to be aberrant in BD. The study will guide future, larger-scale studies examining MC-I in BD to aid BD risk detection and the development of new, mitochondrial dysfunction-informed treatments.

Elucidating Neurobiological Mechanisms Underlying the Therapeutic Effect of the Ketogenic Diet in Bipolar Disorder (CENTRIM BD)

Dr. Phillips seeks to find out how a ketogenic diet influences brain structure and function in adults with Bipolar Disorder.

Project 3:  Linking Persistent Avoidance with Abnormalities in the OCD Neural Network (ENCORE)

The goal of Project 3 is to characterize, in OCD, white matter (WM) bundle and functional neural abnormalities among regions in a putative OCD neural network that are associated with persistent avoidance, a characteristic feature of OCD, using the Center framework to closely collaborate with basic neuroscience and clinical intervention projects, and cores.

Moving beyond the pain-suicidality link: An investigation of
fluctuations in social threat and neural response to social threat in
momentary pain and proximal risk for suicidal ideation in
adolescence (PEAR)

Dr. Phillips’ and Dr. Caroline Oppenheimer’s findings will advance understanding beyond the pain–suicidality link by pinpointing (a) proximal factors predicting when suicidal ideation (SI) occurs (i.e., in moments of social threat or physical pain), (b) neural vulnerability markers identifying who develops SI, and (c) how SI may develop through interactions between negative social environments and altered function in the pain system. Findings will inform novel targets for justin-time interventions that deliver skills through electronic devices in critical moments of risk.

Development of Anhedonia in High-Risk Adolescents

Erika Forbes, PhD, is PI on this study that seeks to examine developmental changes in subjective, neural, and behavioral aspects of anhedonia in adolescents, who are either typically developing or have a first-degree relative with a history of depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia-spectrum.

Emotion Regulation Circuitries in Youth with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Amelia Versace, MD, and Anthony Kontos, PhD, are MPIs on this study which uses multimodal neuroimaging techniques to characterize the brain structure and functioning of emotional regulation circuitries in 200 youth 1 week after injury.

Transdiagnostic Neural Mechanisms Underlying Dimensions of Negative Affectivity in Depression and Anxiety

Jay Fournier, PhD tests a novel model of neural dysfunction during emotion regulation associated with excessive self-consciousness and to examine the real-world consequences of that dysfunction.

The Contribution of Aberrant Anticipatory Processing to Spectrum Depression and Mania, and Cognitive and Emotional Dysfunction in Major Depressive and Bipolar Disorders

Anna Manelis, PhD proposes that aberrant anticipatory processing preceding performance on episodic and working memory tasks may be an important factor that mediates the relationship between mood symptoms and functioning in individuals with MDD and BD.

Theta Burst Stimulation of Frontostriatal Reward Circuitry in Young Adults with Depression

Erika Forbes, PhD, leads this study, which seeks to manipulate positive valence systems at the neural level to understand their function, and potentially reveal a source of heterogeneity relevant to future research in experimental.

Using fMRI of Autobiographical Memory Recall to Determine Risk and Resilience Endophenotypes in Familial Major Depressive

Kymberly Young, PhD seeks to examine whether this correctable mechanism also convers vulnerability or resilience to developing MDD in a longitudinal design following young adults at high risk for developing MDD.

From Manic Symptoms to Bipolar Disorder: Neural-behavioral Markers Using Two Analytic Models

Michele Bertocci, PhD, and Rasim Diler, MD, investigate brain-behavior relations in the most severely ill youth during inpatient stays and aim to build a predictive model of bipolar disorder.