WP2 was designed to find an optimal match for the work in animals and human tasks that would permit a translational approach to the mechanisms underlying reinforcement-related psychopathology. Behavioural tasks in humans were selected based on the following criteria (a) they assess behaviourally relevant constructs that have been shown to be associated to psychopathology and specifically addiction; (b) they have on some level been shown to be associated with genetic variations relevant for psychopathology, (c) they are easy to operationalise and use in imaging studies, and (d) they have matching counterparts in the animal work outlined in WP1. These constructs include: (a) Sensitivity to reward and punishment and risk taking behaviour, (b) impulsivity, (c) novelty seeking , (d) conditionability to appetitive and aversive reinforcers, and (e) attentional control of emotional processes.
The objectives of WP2 are as follows:•
- Development, implementation and evaluation of behavioral tasks for functional magnetic resonance imaging as well as additional behavioral tasks and neuropsychological tests that capture the key constructs that will be addressed in the project.
- Sensitivity to reward and punishment, impulsivity, novelty seeking, attentional capture, risk taking, reversal learning and pavlovian conditioning.•
WP leader is Professor Dr. Herta Flor. Herta Flor is laboratory head and chairperson of the Department of Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Heidelberg situated at the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) in Mannheim. She studied psychology, received her PhD from the University of Tübingen, Germany and held pre- and postdoctoral positions at Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh. Her main research interests are the psychobiology and interdisciplinary treatment of chronic pain, cortical plasticity in humans, learning and plasticity in anxiety disorders, depression, tinnitus and substance abuse.
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