Exploring the emergence of psychotic experiences using multimodal neuroimaging and mathematical modelling

The overall aim is to understand the computational and neurocognitive processes underlying the emergence of psychosis, and neurocognitive contributions to psychopathological risk. Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are among the most devastating mental health conditions and leading contributors to the global burden of disease. Psychotic symptoms involve a loss of contact with reality in the form delusions (false beliefs) and hallucinations (perceptual experiences in the absence of stimuli). Given the complexity of the processes underlying these symptoms, recent advances have often been driven by integrated, cross-disciplinary approaches using mathematical models, behavioural testing, and neuroimaging (1).