Team Cognitive Control

Many mental disorders, as defined in the DSM, involve a lack of impulse control. Recent research has shown that insufficient cognitive control can be considered a transdiagnostic risk factor for several disorders. The Cognitive Control team aims to unravel the underlying mechanisms in this. We will look specifically at the interactions between cognitive control and cues of reward and punishment, as well as how these interactions either lead to resilience or to the development of mental disorder symptoms. We will also test the efficacy of various methods aimed at enhancing cognitive control. 

Having meaningful life goals may serve as a protective factor for self-destructive symptoms of mental disorders. Helping individuals to identify important life goals and to pursue these goals more effectively may therefore be a powerful alternative pathway to improving self-regulation and control. We will also directly target cognitive biases, since they are found to trigger a diverse range of mental disorder symptoms, such as biases in attention, memory and action tendencies. 

Through non-invasive forms of brain stimulation, such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), neuromodulation can be achieved. Therefore, the team also plans to experimentally investigate whether stimulating the brain regions involved in cognitive control affects patterns of symptom activation.