We are a research lab directed by Dr Camilla Nord and based at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge. Our lab's goal is to discover how neuroscience can be translated into better treatment of mental health conditions. We think understanding brain-body interactions has particular potential to transform mental health treatment, so we also work discover how the gut, immune, and metabolic systems interact with the brain to create our sense of mental and physical health.
1. Discovery Science - Bold, 'blue-sky' research to discover new mechanisms driving poor mental health. We think the body could be one important, neglected source of information about mental health, including the sense of the internal condition of the body (interoception: see our paper in The American Journal of Psychiatry ), circadian rhythm (see our new paper in eLife), and metabolism (see our exciting new preprint).
2. Experimental Medicine - Experiments to test the causal role of potential mechanisms (i.e. does something merely correlate with worse mental health, or does it actually cause worse mental health - meaning it could be a treatment target?). We use methods like pharmacology to manipulate chemicals in the brain or body (by targeting the stomach with a a drug, our study in Current Biology discovered that the state of the gut is one cause of disgust avoidance), brain stimulation to change brain activity (our current work focussed on transcranial ultrasound), and psychological interventions to modulate cognitive targets (e.g., we showed that a common psychological therapy technique changes learning from negative outcomes in this study in Psychological Medicine).
3. Translational Neuroscience - Clinical trials to test new, neuroscience-based interventions. We are especially excited about 'acute augmentations' of psychological therapy, or ways that neuroscience can be used to boost the efficacy of psychological therapy (see this trial combing brain stimulation and psychological therapy in Neuropsychopharmacology, and paper in Nature Mental Health.
Lab and friends presenting at the British Assocition of Psychopharmacology Summer Meeting in Manchester (2025)
Lab and friends presenting at the British Assocition of Psychopharmacology Summer Meeting in Birmingham (2024)