Since 2001 this group has received substantial
research support from several of the Research Councils as well as from a range
of other sources, including industrial sponsorship and the Thames Valley
Police. They have published 139 journal articles (28 book chapters and/or policy
documents for government and external organizations, and 4 books).
Berry’s group, supported by the Wellcome Trust, EU and the RETF, has informed EU and UK policy and practice on how best to present information on medication side effects on patient information leaflets. The group has also demonstrated, in both analogue and clinical studies, the importance of including written information on medication benefits. A further strand of work (with Butler) has demonstrated the importance of achieving consistency between the content of verbal messages and accompanying emotional expressions in animated agents. Hall, supported by an ESRC studentship, has clarified the mechanism by which generating multiple categories can reduce intergroup bias; and she has demonstrated that commitment to an ‘ingroup’ influences the automatic behaviour elicited by exposure to an 'outgroup'.
Harvey,
supported by the Department of Health and the Royal College of General
Practitioners (and in collaboration with psychiatry and general practitioner
colleagues in Oxford and London), has shown that access to primary care
services is poor for people with mental health problems. Reliable and valid
outcome measures of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at patient and
carer support have been identified (supported by the NHS Service Delivery and
Organisation Research and Development Programme).
Johnstone’s
group, funded by the NIMH, has elucidated the interaction between cognitive and
affective processes using fMRI in conjunction with cognitive experimental
techniques, especially in relation to the interaction between subcortical,
prefrontal and sensory cortices in the perception
and production of expressive behaviour. Using longitudinal studies of the
neural changes associated with treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder and
Depression, they are currently investigating cortical regulation of subcortical
neural circuits, and the consequences of regulatory failure in terms of
autonomic, behavioural and subjective outcomes.
McKenna's group, supported by the Road Safety Partnership and Thames Valley Police, have (in collaboration with road safety officers, engineers and the police) evaluated the effectiveness of road safety interventions such as Vehicle Activated Signs, Speed Indication Devices and Speed Cameras. By tracking vehicles’ speeds they are currently examining the effectiveness of deterrence theory.
Shafran,
supported by the Wellcome Trust (and in collaboration with psychiatry
colleagues in Oxford and clinical psychology colleagues in Canada), has
developed novel cognitive behavioural theories and treatments of
psychopathology, especially in relation to eating disorders. She has tested a
new ‘transdiagnostic’ theory of eating disorders and demonstrated therapeutic
efficacy in a randomized controlled trial. She has also developed and evaluated
a new theory and treatment for clinical perfectionism, of utility across a range
of disorders.
Steel
(in collaboration with psychiatry colleagues from UCL and the Institute of
Psychiatry, and clinical psychology colleagues from Oxford and East Anglia) has
demonstrated the impact of stressful and traumatic events on psychosis-prone
individuals, and developed a cognitive-behavioural model of 'traumatic'
psychosis. He has conducted a meta-analysis of cognitive-behavioural
interventions for psychosis, and investigated the measurement of the
schizophrenic symptoms within clinical research.
Van
Reekum, supported by the NIMH and NIA, has demonstrated how individual
variability in the engagement of frontal and subcortical brain areas when
regulating emotion is related to well-being in daily life. She is currently
elucidating how ageing changes central
and peripheral profiles of emotion reactivity and regulation, and how these
changes relate to well-being.
Williams,
supported by the BBSRC, UFAW and the RETF (and in collaboration with
pharmacists from Reading) has clarified the role of endocannabinoids in the
regulation of behaviour, specifically in relation to appetite, body weight and
reward processing. Using animal models, she has shown that the hyperphagic
effects of both phytocannabinoids and endocannabinoids are specifically
mediated by central CB1 cannabinoid receptors, and that changes in nutritional
status can activate endocannabinoid release in specific, feeding-related brain
regions.