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Contact information


michael.browning@ndcn.ox.ac.uk

Michael Browning

Clinical Post Doctoral Researcher

My current research focuses on the role of learning abnormalities in the aetiology of anxiety.

Anxiety disorders are among the most common of the psychiatric illness. While there has been significant recent advances in understanding the neural systems involved in producing symptoms of anxiety in response to stressful circumstances, it is less clear why, when exposed to the same stress, some people will become anxious while others will not. The overall goal of my research is to better understand the mechanisms which lead to this vulnerability -- the importance of this research is that an understanding of these underlying mechanisms is an essential first step in the development of novel, evidence based treatments for anxiety. 

My work uses computational models of learning, developed to explain how people learn about rewards in their environment, and asks whether similar processes can explain the difficulties in learning seen in people with anxiety.

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