Contact information
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.
Key publications
-
Effects of 7 days of treatment with the cannabinoid type 1 receptor antagonist, rimonabant, on emotional processing.
Journal article
Horder J. et al, (2012), J Psychopharmacol, 26, 125 - 132
-
Effects of low dose tryptophan depletion on emotional processing in dieters.
Journal article
Pringle A. et al, (2012), Eat Behav, 13, 154 - 157
-
Social inference and social anxiety: evidence of a fear-congruent self-referential learning bias.
Journal article
Button KS. et al, (2012), J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry, 43, 1082 - 1087
-
Expectancy and surprise predict neural and behavioral measures of attention to threatening stimuli.
Journal article
Browning M. and Harmer CJ., (2012), Neuroimage, 59, 1942 - 1948
-
The use of cognitive bias modification and imagery in the understanding and treatment of depression.
Journal article
Browning M. et al, (2013), Curr Top Behav Neurosci, 14, 243 - 260
Recent publications
-
Fifty years on: Serotonin and depression
Journal article
Jauhar S. et al, (2023), Journal of Psychopharmacology
-
Stimulating human prefrontal cortex increases reward learning.
Journal article
Overman MJ. et al, (2023), Neuroimage
-
Brain activity measured by functional brain imaging predicts breathlessness improvement during pulmonary rehabilitation.
Journal article
Finnegan SL. et al, (2022), Thorax
-
Setting national research priorities for Difficult-to-Treat Depression in the UK between 2021-2026
Journal article
Chapman N. et al, (2022), Journal of Global Health
-
Using a generative model of affect to characterize affective variability and its response to treatment in bipolar disorder.
Journal article
Pulcu E. et al, (2022), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 119