research paper topics in neurobiology

Research Topics & Ideas: Neuroscience

50 Topic Ideas To Kickstart Your Research Project

If you’re just starting out exploring neuroscience-related topics for your dissertation, thesis or research project, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll help kickstart your research by providing a hearty list of neuroscience-related research ideas , including examples from recent studies.

PS – This is just the start…

We know it’s exciting to run through a list of research topics, but please keep in mind that this list is just a starting point . These topic ideas provided here are intentionally broad and generic , so keep in mind that you will need to develop them further. Nevertheless, they should inspire some ideas for your project.

To develop a suitable research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , and a viable plan to fill that gap. If this sounds foreign to you, check out our free research topic webinar that explores how to find and refine a high-quality research topic, from scratch. Alternatively, consider our 1-on-1 coaching service .

Neuroscience-Related Research Topics

Investigating the neural mechanisms underlying memory consolidation during sleep.
The role of neuroplasticity in recovery from traumatic brain injury.
Analyzing the impact of chronic stress on hippocampal function.
The neural correlates of anxiety disorders: A functional MRI study.
Investigating the effects of meditation on brain structure and function in mindfulness practitioners.
The role of the gut-brain axis in the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
Analyzing the neurobiological basis of addiction and its implications for treatment.
The impact of prenatal exposure to environmental toxins on neurodevelopment.
Investigating gender differences in brain aging and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
The neural mechanisms of pain perception and its modulation by psychological factors.
Analyzing the effects of bilingualism on cognitive flexibility and brain aging.
The role of the endocannabinoid system in regulating mood and emotional responses.
Investigating the neurobiological underpinnings of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The impact of virtual reality technology on cognitive rehabilitation in stroke patients.
Analyzing the neural basis of social cognition deficits in autism spectrum disorders.
The role of neuroinflammation in the progression of multiple sclerosis.
Investigating the effects of dietary interventions on brain health and cognitive function.
The neural substrates of decision-making under risk and uncertainty.
Analyzing the impact of early life stress on brain development and mental health outcomes.
The role of dopamine in motivation and reward processing in the human brain.
Investigating neural circuitry changes in depression and response to antidepressants.
The impact of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance and neural function.
Analyzing the brain mechanisms involved in empathy and moral reasoning.
The role of the prefrontal cortex in executive function and impulse control.
Investigating the neurophysiological basis of schizophrenia.

Neuroscience Research Ideas (Continued)

The impact of chronic pain on brain structure and connectivity.
Analyzing the effects of physical exercise on neurogenesis and cognitive aging.
The neural mechanisms underlying hallucinations in psychiatric and neurological disorders.
Investigating the impact of music therapy on brain recovery post-stroke.
The role of astrocytes in neural communication and brain homeostasis.
Analyzing the effect of hormone fluctuations on mood and cognition in women.
The impact of neurofeedback training on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Investigating the neural basis of resilience to stress and trauma.
The role of the cerebellum in non-motor cognitive and affective functions.
Analyzing the contribution of genetics to individual differences in brain structure and function.
The impact of air pollution on neurodevelopment and cognitive decline.
Investigating the neural mechanisms of visual perception and visual illusions.
The role of mirror neurons in empathy and social understanding.
Analyzing the neural correlates of language development and language disorders.
The impact of social isolation on neurocognitive health in the elderly.
Investigating the brain mechanisms involved in chronic fatigue syndrome.
The role of serotonin in mood regulation and its implications for antidepressant therapies.
Analyzing the neural basis of impulsivity and its relation to risky behaviors.
The impact of mobile technology usage on attention and brain function.
Investigating the neural substrates of fear and anxiety-related disorders.
The role of the olfactory system in memory and emotional processing.
Analyzing the impact of gut microbiome alterations on central nervous system diseases.
The neural mechanisms of placebo and nocebo effects.
Investigating cortical reorganization following limb amputation and phantom limb pain.
The role of epigenetics in neural development and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Recent Neuroscience Studies

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual studies in the neuroscience space to see how this all comes together in practice.

Below, we’ve included a selection of recent studies to help refine your thinking. These are actual studies, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

The Neurodata Without Borders ecosystem for neurophysiological data science (Rübel et al., 2022)
Genetic regulation of central synapse formation and organization in Drosophila melanogaster (Duhart & Mosca, 2022)
Embracing brain and behaviour: Designing programs of complementary neurophysiological and behavioural studies (Kirwan et al., 2022).
Neuroscience and Education (Georgieva, 2022)
Why Wait? Neuroscience Is for Everyone! (Myslinski, 2022)
Neuroscience Knowledge and Endorsement of Neuromyths among Educators: What Is the Scenario in Brazil? (Simoes et al., 2022)
Design of Clinical Trials and Ethical Concerns in Neurosciences (Mehanna, 2022) Methodological Approaches and Considerations for Generating Evidence that Informs the Science of Learning (Anderson, 2022)
Exploring the research on neuroscience as a basis to understand work-based outcomes and to formulate new insights into the effective management of human resources in the workplace: A review study (Menon & Bhagat, 2022)
Neuroimaging Applications for Diagnosis and Therapy of Pathologies in the Central and Peripheral Nervous System (Middei, 2022)
The Role of Human Communicative Competence in Post-Industrial Society (Ilishova et al., 2022)
Gold nanostructures: synthesis, properties, and neurological applications (Zare et al., 2022)
Interpretable Graph Neural Networks for Connectome-Based Brain Disorder Analysis (Cui et al., 2022)

As you can see, these research topics are a lot more focused than the generic topic ideas we presented earlier. So, for you to develop a high-quality research topic, you’ll need to get specific and laser-focused on a specific context with specific variables of interest. In the video below, we explore some other important things you’ll need to consider when crafting your research topic.

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If you’re still unsure about how to find a quality research topic, check out our Research Topic Kickstarter service, which is the perfect starting point for developing a unique, well-justified research topic.

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Driving biomedical projects, collaborations, symbiont bacteria, molecular motors, neurons and synapses, bioenergetic membranes, nanosensors, mechanosensing, protein folding, integrative modeling, more topics, ongoing projects, all research projects, research topics - neurobiology.

Movement of higher biological organisms is the result of information processing in a complex hierarchy of motor centers within the nervous system. To date, there is still no general consensus about how biological neural networks actually generate voluntary movement. Neurophysiological studies, on one side, provide the essential data on which a top down modelling approach can be based.

All Spotlights

Noise-induced neuronal oscillations. Christian Kurrer and Klaus Schulten. Physical Review E , 51:6213-6218, 1995.

Models of orientation and ocular dominance columns in the visual cortex: A critical comparison. Edgar Erwin, Klaus Obermayer, and Klaus Schulten. Neural Computation , 7:425-468, 1995.

Topology representing network in robotics. Kakali Sarkar and Klaus Schulten. In J. Leo van Hemmen, Eytan Domany, and Klaus Schulten, editors, Models of Neural Networks , volume 3 of Physics of Neural Networks , pp. 281-302. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1996.

Topology representing networks. Thomas Martinetz and Klaus Schulten. Neural Networks , 7:507-522, 1994.

Neural network control of a pneumatic robot arm. Ted Hesselroth, Kakali Sarkar, P. Patrick van der Smagt, and Klaus Schulten. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics , 24:28-37, 1994.

Statistical-mechanical analysis of self-organization and pattern formation during the development of visual maps. Klaus Obermayer, Gary G. Blasdel, and Klaus Schulten. Physical Review A , 45:7568-7589, 1992.

Textbook: Neural Computation and Self-Organizing Maps: An Introduction . Helge Ritter, Thomas Martinetz, and Klaus Schulten. Addison-Wesley, New York, revised English edition, 1992.

"Neural gas" for vector quantization and its application to time-series prediction. Thomas M. Martinetz, Stanislav G. Berkovich, and Klaus Schulten. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks , 4:558-569, 1993.

A principle for the formation of the spatial structure of cortical feature maps. Klaus Obermayer, Helge Ritter, and Klaus Schulten. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA , 87:8345-8349, 1990.

Development of feature detectors by self-organization: A network model. Jeanne Rubner and Klaus Schulten. Biological Cybernetics , 62:193-199, 1990.

Three-dimensional neural net for learning visuo-motor coordination of a robot arm. Thomas Martinetz, Helge Ritter, and Klaus Schulten. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks , 1:131-136, 1990.

Topology-conserving maps for learning visuo-motor-coordination. Helge Ritter, Thomas Martinetz, and Klaus Schulten. Neural Networks , 2:159-168, 1989.

Associative memory with high information content. Joachim Buhmann, Robert Divko, and Klaus Schulten. Physical Review A , 39:2689-2692, 1989.

Convergence properties of Kohonen's topology conserving maps: Fluctuations, stability and dimension selection. Helge Ritter and Klaus Schulten. Biological Cybernetics , 60:59-71, 1988.

Research Projects

The SoftArm Robot System
General Purpose Simulator for Robot Manipulator Kinematics and Visualization
Biological Visuo-Motor Control
Vision-Based Path Planning
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Morphogenesis of the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus

Research Topics

Our brain supports a large number of different functions. For example, we are able to perceive the world around us, we can remember past events, we can control movements of our body, we can decide what actions to take, etc. A comprehensive understanding of each of these functions ranges from what computations the brain has to perform to achieve these functions and how they are implemented in the biological hardware down to what contributions are made by individual cells and how a function is impacted when a particular component of the system fails, which allows targeted treatment of disorders. Researchers at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience study a variety of different functions that are supported by the nervous system, typically spanning different levels of analysis (see Research Levels ) to obtain a comprehensive understanding of how a particular function is provided.

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Neuroscience Dissertation Topics – Based on Recent Academic Research

Published by Ellie Cross at December 29th, 2022 , Revised On August 16, 2023

Are you looking for the best neuroscience dissertation topics? Here we go! Here are some intriguing neuroscience study topic suggestions that you may find helpful.

Neuroscience is a scientific field that studies the structure and function of the nervous system. On a broad scale, the topic covers numerous behavioural, computational, cellular, evolutionary, functional, molecular, and therapeutic facets of the nervous system.

Many students have trouble coming up with fascinating neuroscience research project topics. Choosing a topic for the dissertation is a crucial step in the dissertation writing process . Using brainstorming techniques, you can narrow down a large concept into a specific study area. Spend an hour brainstorming and reflecting on ideas that might make for a good project.

If you don’t have the time to brainstorm because you have been procrastinating for too long, choose one of the neuroscience topics suggested below.

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You can create an impactful thesis paper using any of the suggestions in our list of neuroscience dissertation and thesis topics. You can also modify the preceding topics according to your academic level and country of study. Get in touch with our team if you are looking for customised neuroscience dissertation topics .

Moreover, if you have trouble completing your neuroscience study, use our dissertation writing service to achieve your desired grade. Neuroscientists on our team of experienced academic writers are experts at composing and delivering research dissertations on any neuroscience topic without plagiarism .

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How to find neuroscience dissertation topics.

To find neuroscience dissertation topics:

Research recent advancements.
Explore unanswered questions.
Review neuroscience journals.
Consider interdisciplinary angles.
Consult professors and experts.
Select a topic aligning with your passion and skills.

121 Original Neuroscience Research Topics

Now, wouldn’t it be great if you had a list of awesome neuroscience research topics to choose from? Our PhD dissertation help would definitely make writing a thesis or dissertation a lot easier. Well, the good news is that we have a long list of neuroscience paper topics for you right here.

The list of topics is updated periodically, so you will surely be able to find a unique topic; something that nobody has though of yet. And yes, you can use any of our topics for free.

Writing a Neuroscience Dissertation

To write a good dissertation, you need more than just our interesting neuroscience topics. Your supervisor expects you to make some progress pretty quickly, so you really need all the help you can get. You can get all the assistance you need to get started quickly from our dissertation experts and you’ll also find the following guide useful:

Set up your project and conduct the necessary research and data analysis. Don’t forget to think about an interesting, captivating thesis statement. Start by writing the first chapter of the dissertation, the introduction. This will provide your readers with comprehensive background information about your study. Write the Literature Review chapter. This will take some time, especially if you are dealing with a popular subject. Write the Methodology chapter. This is basically an iteration and in-depth description of each and every method you have used to collect the data. Write the Results chapter. In this chapter, you will present your readers the results of your research. You don’t need to provide your own take on the data yet. Next comes the Discussion (or Analysis) chapter. This is where you are free to discuss your results and show your readers how they support your thesis. Finally, the Conclusion chapter wraps everything up. You can summarize your methods, results and analysis and make it clear that your paper has answered all the relevant research questions. Write the References section and the Appendices section. Edit and proofread your work thoroughly to make sure you don’t lose points over some minor mistakes – or have our expert proofreaders and editors do it for you.

This step-by-step guide applies to any thesis or dissertation. However, before you even get this far, you need a great topic to start with. Fortunately, we have 121 brand new topics for you right here on this page.

Interesting Neuroscience Topics

If you are looking for some of the most interesting neuroscience topics, you have definitely arrived at the right place. Our experts have put together the best list of ideas for you:

Research the occurrence of cerebrovascular disease in the United States
What causes a headache?
An in-depth look at muscular dystrophy
The causes of multiple sclerosis
Talk about neuroregeneration
Define cognitive neuroscience
Everything about dementia
Study brain development from birth to age 2
What causes Parkinson’s disease?
The function of peripheral nerves
What are vestibular disorders?
Pain and the science behind it
An in-depth analysis of stem cells

Engaging Topics in Neuroscience

Are you looking for some engaging topics in neuroscience? If you want the best ideas, all you have to do is take a look at the following list and take your pick:

Research the Down syndrome
A closer look at ADHD
What causes brain tumors?
What causes epilepsy episodes?
Research the occurrence of schizophrenia in the UK
An in-depth look at brain stimulation
Treating severe depression in young adults
Improving memory in the adult population
The importance of sleep for brain health
Mapping the human brain

Comprehensive Neuroscience Topic for Every Student

The nice thing about our blog is that we have a comprehensive neuroscience topic for every student. Even better, all our topics are relatively simple, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time doing research:

The future of brain implants
The processes behind depression
The role of dopamine
How are emotions created?
Love starts in your brain, not your heart
ADHD behavior and brain activity
Effects of illegal drugs on dopamine production
How does dyslexia manifest itself?
Early stages of Schizophrenia
The link between gut bacteria and the brain
Studying the brains of people with a high IQ

Neuroscience Research Questions

The best way to get ideas for your next paper is to take a look at some original neuroscience research questions. Here are some that should get you started right away:

How do brain tumors cause damage?
What causes substance addiction?
What role does the brain play in autistic spectrum disorders?
Does being a vegetarian influence your brain?
What causes chronic migraines?
Why is Pierre Paul Broca’s work important?
Why is stress so dangerous for the brain?
How do genes influence the onset of Alzheimer’s disease?
What can cause a brain tumor?
Does music affect the human brain?
Can repeated head injuries damage the brain? (think about modern sports)
What does being Bipolar I mean?

Easy Neuroscience Paper Topics

Our experts have created a list of easy neuroscience paper topics for you. You could start writing your thesis in no time if you choose one of these great ideas:

What causes epilepsy?
A closer look at Alzheimer’s disease
What can cause a loss of feeling?
The effects of dementia on the brain
The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease
What can cause memory loss?
Mitigating headaches without medication
The effects of a mild stroke
Talk about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
What can cause a lack of coordination?

Neuroscience Research Topics for College Students

We have a list of awesome neuroscience research topics for college students and you can use any one of them for free. Take a look at our best ideas yet:

Can the brain be linked to substance abuse?
How does the brain recognize people?
Latest development in brain surgery
An in-depth look at neuroplasticity
Innovative medication for treating brain disorders
Treating Alzheimer’s in 2023
How damaging is Cannabis for the brain?

Cognitive Neuroscience Research Topics

If you want to talk about something in cognitive neuroscience, we have put together the best and most interesting cognitive neuroscience research topics:

The role played by neurons in our body
What is Magnetoencephalography?
How difficult is it to map the entire brain?
Define consciousness from a neurological POV
How does our brain affect our perception?
Discuss Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation procedures
Latest advancements in Functional magnetic resonance imaging

Brain Research Topics

Brain research is a very interesting thing to talk about, especially since we are still struggling to understand how certain things work. Take a look at some amazing brain research topics:

Study the brain development of an infant
Brain tumor stages
The effect of social media on the human brain
Multiple sclerosis treatment options
What can cause muscular dystrophy?
Discuss 3 cerebrovascular diseases
Interesting breakthroughs in cellular neuroscience
Talk about our brain’s problem-solving abilities
The effects of sugar on brain chemistry

Neurobiology Topics

We agree, researching a topic in neurobiology is not easy. However, with the right neurobiology topics, you could write an awesome thesis without spending years working on it:

Research the role of the amygdala
What are brain neurotransmitters?
The causes of posttraumatic stress disorder
How do we recognize a bipolar disorder?
The importance of hormones
Talk about experimental psychology

Behavioral Neuroscience Research Topics

Do you want to write your dissertation on a behavioral neuroscience topic? Our experts have compiled a list of the most interesting behavioral neuroscience research topics for you:

The processes behind sensation
How does the brain control our movement?
An in-depth look at motivated behavior
Best way to diagnose a sleep disorder
Improving success at academic activities
How does your brain perceive the environment?

Cool Neuroscience Topics

We have some very cool neuroscience topics right here and the good news is that they’re all relatively easy. The list has been updated recently and new topics have been added:

Effects of plant-based diets
The life and work of Cornelia Bargmann
Discuss a breakthrough in neurotech
3D brain function mapping
Discuss the importance of brain implants
The life and work of Róbert Bárány

Controversial Topics in Neuroscience

Just like any other field, neuroscience has its controversies. And what better way to start a dissertation than finding the most controversial topics in neuroscience:

Discuss the Bayesian brain theory
Ethics behind wearable brain gadgets
Discuss postnatal neurogenesis
Can our brain “deep learn”?
Invasive brain imaging procedures
How do we differentiate between good and bad?

Hot Topics in Neuroscience

Did you know that getting hot topics in neuroscience is not overly difficult? This section of our list of topics is updated periodically, so you can definitely find an original idea right here:

Electrical brain stimulation methods
Define the concept of Free Will
Talk about hereditary brain disorders
How is speech formed?
Can our brain hibernate?
What causes aggressive behavior?

Current Topics in Neuroscience

The best way to make your thesis interesting is to write about something that is of great interest. This means you need to choose one of our current topics in neuroscience:

Cerebellar Neurons that can help you lose weight
Effects of a meat-based diet
Latest brain mapping technology
CT scans in 2023
Brain implants that can control a computer
An in-depth look at super-agers

Complex Neurological Research Topics

Are you looking for some complex neurological research topics? If you want to give a difficult topic a try, don’t hesitate to choose one of these excellent ideas:

An in-depth look at the Demyelinating disease
The effects of a cerebrovascular stroke
Bioterrorism in 2023
Legal issues in neurology
Dopamine’s link to aggressiveness
Brain changes that lead to alcohol addiction

Can You Help Me With My Thesis?

So, can you help me with my thesis? Of course, we can help you with much more than some interesting neuroscience research paper topics. Our experienced professionals are ready to give you the best dissertation assistance on the Internet and make sure you get a top score on your paper. All our university educated ENL writers have extensive experience writing dissertations on any subject and topic you can imagine. These cheap dissertation writing services can deliver a final paper in no time, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with us even if you are on a tight deadline.

Our PhD-holding writers and editors are ready to spring into action right now. We can help you with the research, as well as with thesis writing, editing and proofreading. Moreover, we can write a high quality research paper for any high school, college or university student. Your professor will love our work – guaranteed. Our company has 24/7 customer support, so you can order custom academic content online at any time of day or night. What are you waiting for? Give us a try and get a discount!

Pain and addiction

Breaking the grip

Pull on any loop of the Gordian knot that is finding treatments for pain and addiction, and the whole knot just tightens. Powerful painkillers come with a daunting risk of chemical dependency. The persistent sadness, worry and inability to find joy in life that can accompany chronic pain make substance use more appealing.

“Understanding pain and addiction is one of the most pressing needs in health care,” says Michael S. Avidan, MBBCh, the Dr. Seymour and Rose T. Brown Professor of Anesthesiology and head of the Department of Anesthesiology. “The way we treat pain has exacerbated the opioid epidemic, which is one of the biggest scourges in our society. We’re not going to solve this by waging a war on drugs. We’re going to address this by understanding the mechanisms of pain, why addiction occurs and by translating scientific insights into clinical practice.”

Pain and pleasure

It’s hard to be happy when you’re always hurting. That’s one reason opioids can be so addictive — they dampen both physical and emotional pain, leaving people temporarily pain-free and euphoric. Neuroscientists Meaghan C. Creed, PhD, and Jose A. Moron-Concepcion, PhD, the Henry Elliot Mallinckrodt Professor of Anesthesiology, have identified circuitry in the brain that links pain to negative emotions such as sadness, anxiety and an inability to feel joy. The finding suggests that modulating the circuitry could treat both emotional and physical suffering, an approach that could reduce the addictive potential of opioids and improve quality of life for people with chronic pain, even when it’s not possible to completely eliminate the pain itself.

“By targeting the emotional aspects of pain, we hope to make pain less debilitating so that patients won’t crave the emotional high they get from opioids,” says Moron-Concepcion.

Moment of promise

To learn more of WashU Medicine’s work in Alzheimer’s disease research, visit here .

Sleep quality

Keeping the brain sharp

There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep. Apart from the pleasure of waking up refreshed and relaxed, sleep consolidates memories and enhances learning and creativity, which is why people grappling with a thorny problem are well advised to “sleep on it.” Sleep allows time for the brain’s housekeeping cells to clear away the molecular debris from the day, so the brain can start the next day fresh. And poor sleep doesn’t just make people grouchy; it has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, depression, Alzheimer’s and many other chronic conditions. WashU Medicine scientists are leaders in exploring sleep, from the fundamental question of why we do it in the first place, to how and why sleep disturbances undermine health and what can be done to address it.

Sleep is the best medicine

To Brendan P. Lucey, MD, director of the Washington University Sleep Medicine Center, the goal is to help people sleep better. After his lab and others showed that poor sleep increases brain levels of two damaging Alzheimer’s proteins, he set out to determine whether good sleep could lower the levels of toxic proteins and thereby prevent or delay the onset of cognitive symptoms. He leads an ongoing phase 2 clinical trial of suvorexant, an FDA-approved insomnia drug. Preliminary results have been promising, hinting at the potential of sleep medications to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Brain tumors

Fighting with targeted tools

Whether malignant or benign, a brain tumor is life-altering. Malignant tumors can spread and become deadly. And “benign” doesn’t mean harmless; benign tumors can cause serious problems such as paralysis, seizures and personality changes, depending on which parts of the brain they affect.

“Brain tumors affect the fundamental attributes of people — their personality and behavior; their ability to move, speak, see, think — that are just such essential characteristics of a human being,” says neurosurgeon Albert H. Kim, MD, PhD, the founding director of the Brain Tumor Center at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. “To understand and treat brain tumors, we have to attack them from different angles and tailor therapy to each person.”

Zika’s silver lining

Zika virus made headlines worldwide in 2015, when it caused thousands of babies in Brazil to be born with tiny, misshapen brains. Neuro-oncologist Milan G. Chheda, MD, and virologist Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, aim to harness the virus’s infamous power to kill brain cells and direct it against brain cancers. They have shown that the virus can activate immune cells to destroy an aggressive brain cancer in mice, giving a powerful boost to an immunotherapy drug and sparking long-lasting immunological memory that can ward off tumor recurrence for at least 18 months.

Fast facts about human brain development

Human development

Starting out strong

The first 1,000 days, from conception to around the second birthday, are a period of exponential brain growth and development. Anything that affects the process — including genetic alterations, chemicals such as alcohol or the home environment — can have lifelong consequences. WashU Medicine researchers are leading efforts to understand the factors that influence brain development to promote healthy brains and help people live their best lives.

Building the brain

How do billions of neurons organize themselves into structures and networks to form the enormously complex machine that is the brain? The answer could shed light on the roots of conditions such as epilepsy, autism and intellectual disability, but studying the developing brain in utero has proved challenging.

Linda J. Richards, PhD, the Edison Professor of Neuroscience and head of the Department of Neuroscience, has pioneered the study of brain development in marsupials that are born 16 days after conception. They are born with brains little more than nubs and undergo the bulk of development after birth. Recently, Richards showed that distinct activity patterns emerge in different brain areas just weeks after conception. “Would alterations to patterned activity disrupt how brain circuits are set up, and if so, could that cause developmental disorders?” she asks.

Neurological injury

Smoothing the road to recovery

A car accident, a gunshot, a stroke — in an instant, everything changes. Returning to the way things were tends to be slow and difficult, with no guarantees. WashU Medicine researchers are making crucial discoveries regarding the biology of regeneration and recovery. These discoveries pave the way toward — and in some cases already have achieved — innovative new therapies and devices to help people recover from neurological injury as fully as possible.

A breakthrough device

The first FDA-approved device that helps stroke patients retrain their brains is based on research by Eric C. Leuthardt, MD, the Shi Hui Huang Professor of Neurological Surgery, and biomedical engineer Daniel W. Moran, PhD. Leuthardt’s insights into motor signaling in the brain led to the development of the IpsiHand, in which patients use a brain-computer interface to control a robotic glove that opens and closes their hands. Repeated use gradually teaches patients’ brains to do it on their own, restoring significant hand function. The FDA designated the IpsiHand a “Breakthrough Device,” which means it meets a critical unmet need, and gave it “de novo” authorization, as there was no similar medical device on the market.

Immune-brain nexus

Wielding a double-edged sword

The brain was once thought to be off-limits to the immune system, too sensitive to tolerate immune cells with their sharp weapons. Now, scientists know that immune cells and molecules flow into and out of the central nervous system all the time, supporting normal brain function, fighting infections and tumors, and, yes, sometimes causing injury and disease. The nexus between the immune and nervous systems provides new opportunities to intervene to promote health and prevent or treat neuroinfectious, neuroimmune and neurological conditions ranging from COVID-19 to multiple sclerosis to autism.

Immune surveillance

The idea that the immune system surveils and protects the brain is now widely accepted, but until recently it wasn’t clear how and where. In 2015, neuroscientist and immunologist Jonathan “Jony” Kipnis, PhD, found a network of vessels in the meninges — the tissues encasing the brain — that drains fluid and small molecules from the brain into the lymph nodes. Subsequent research indicated that immune cells stationed in the meninges inspect fluid as it washes out of the brain. Such cells are prepared to initiate an immune response if they detect signs of infection or injury, Kipnis says. “The immune cells that sit on the borders of the brain could potentially be a feasible target for treating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, once we better understand their role in these complex diseases.”

Fast facts about neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegeneration

Preserving function

Neurodegeneration tends to start slowly, almost imperceptibly. For a variety of reasons, neurons gradually stop functioning as well as they used to, and some start dying. In Alzheimer’s disease, the most common neurodegenerative disease, signs of decay are detectable long before memory issues arise. This slow start provides an opportunity to intervene while the problem is still manageable. WashU Medicine researchers are working on detecting and healing ailing neurons, opening paths to new treatments.

Therapy for few; hope for many

In April 2023, the FDA approved the drug tofersen — based on international clinical trials led by Timothy M. Miller, MD, PhD, the David Clayson Professor of Neurology — for an inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a paralyzing neurological disease. The drug targets a gene called SOD1, and clinical trials show that it slows disease progression in the 2% of ALS patients with SOD1 mutations. The drug’s success provides new hope for disease-changing therapies for other forms of ALS, once thought to be untreatable. “My whole career has been built on the assumption that ALS is a treatable disorder,” Miller says.

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We examine banking regulation in a macroeconomic model of bank runs. We construct a general equilibrium model where banks may default because of fundamental or self-fulfilling runs. With only fundamental defaults, we show that the competitive equilibrium is constrained efficient. However, when banks are vulnerable to runs, banks’ leverage decisions are not ex-ante optimal: individual banks do not internalize that higher leverage makes other banks more vulnerable. The theory calls for introducing minimum capital requirements, even in the absence of bailouts.

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Front Psychol

Neuroscience-based psychotherapy: A position paper

Davide maria cammisuli.

1 Department of Psychology, Catholic University, Milan, Italy

Gianluca Castelnuovo

2 Psychology Research Laboratory, Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Milan, Italy

In the recent years, discoveries in neuroscience have greatly impacted upon the need to modify therapeutic practice starting from the evidence showing some cerebral mechanisms capable of coping with mental health crisis and traumatic events of the individual's life history by redesigning the narrative plot and the person's sense of the Self. The emerging dialogue between neuroscience and psychotherapy is increasingly intense and modern psychotherapy cannot ignore the heritage deriving from studies about neuropsychological modification of memory traces, neurobiology of attachment theory, cognitive mechanisms involved in psychopathology, neurophysiology of human empathy, neuroimaging evidence about psychotherapeutic treatment, and somatoform disorders connecting the brain and the body. In the present article, we critically examined sectorial literature and claimed that psychotherapy has to referred to a neuroscience-based approach in order to adopt the most tailored interventions for specific groups of patients or therapy settings. We also provided recommendations for care implementation in clinical practice and illustrated challenges of future research.

1. Introduction

In the second half of the 19th century, schools in psychotherapy were born according to different epistemological constructs and methods, with the aim of removing trauma, modifying symptoms of affective nature, and promoting the development of a healthy personality (Janiri et al., 2009 ). Psychotherapy can be defined in relation to three main elements, that is a helping relationship established after the parent–child one, the creation of a secure base from which the therapist influences the patient through psychological techniques, and a patient who has the capacity to benefit from such an experience (Strupp, 1978 ). However, Freud himself first recognized the limit of the only adoption of a pure introspective approach, stating that the deficiency in [our] description would probably vanish if we were already in a position to replace the psychological terms by physiological or chemical ones (Freud, 1920 , p. 60). He first endeavored to establish the restraint of the “ talking cure ” and to clarify that the progress of what we currently name as “neuroscience” would have achieved the result to bridge this gap (Solms and Turnbull, 2018 ).

With the advent of neuroscience, a highly integrated discipline, as well as astrophysics, knowledge in the fields of molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, neurophysiology, neuroradiology, and general and experimental psychology, has harmoniously merged, creating a body of evidence of which psychotherapy has to benefit. One of the most fruitful experiences that determined a new approach to scientific research in brain science was that of Francis O. Schmitt, who set up the Neuroscience Research Program (NRP) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1962. He intended the NRP as a research field connecting physical, biological, and neural science for a better understanding of the liaison between mind, brain, and behavior (Adelman, 2010 ). Neuroscience grew rapidly from this time point on as scientists from all areas of the life sciences rapidly moved into the field. This process culminated with the foundation of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) in 1969 (Adelman, 2010 ).

An important turnover in the process of the emerging dialogue between psychotherapy and neuroscience was undoubtedly the scientific contribution of Kandel ( 1998 , 2012 ), who went on to the Nobel Prize for medicine/physiology in 2000 by providing a breakthrough perspective on how biology has influenced modern psychiatry, especially on how memory and learning processes can explain behavior and its disorder and implications of the neurobiological research in psychotherapy. Kandel's description of the influence of culture on genetics and of the mechanism of “reconsolidation” of memory emphasizes the importance of psychotherapy for mental disorders. Particularly, practicing psychotherapy as a strategic and significant influence on the patient's living environment can be particularly effective in modeling gene expression and promoting behavioral modifications (Etkin et al., 2005 ).

Beyond different treatment approaches (i.e., psychoanalysis and psychodynamic therapies, cognitive–behavioral therapy, humanistic therapy, family and system psychotherapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and integrative or holistic therapies) (Roth and Fonagy, 2005 ), psychotherapy involves common elements, such as verbal and non-verbal exchanges as interactions between therapist and patient, therapeutic alliance, empathy, resilience to trauma, cognitive restructuring, and new learning (Gabbard, 2009 ) that we currently believe psychotherapists have to read under the magnifying glass of neuroscience. Currently, on at least six major study areas, some of which already pointed out in Janiri et al. ( 2009 ), neurosciences have provided valuable contributions to the understanding of the neurobiological substrate of brain changes useful for psychotherapy practice: memory of trauma, neurobiological correlates of human attachment, mirror neurons system and theory of mind (ToM), brain modifications after psychotherapeutic treatment, and somatic symptoms and disorders. To let the scientific audience better focus on these areas, we provided a summary table for each section of the manuscript reporting major recommendations for mental health practitioners. We firmly affirm that psychotherapists in the modern era can no longer ignore discoveries in the field of neuroscience and have to learn from them in order to implement their clinical practice.

2. Psychotherapy of traumatic memories

There are organic molecular mechanisms that are fundamental for the establishment of long-term memories. For instance, the corticosterone hormone, which corresponds to the cortisol in humans, released after a stressor input in animals, rapidly interacts with growth factors produced in the brain, in particular with the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophin essential for long-term synaptic plasticity (Alberini, 2009 ). These mechanisms occur in the medial temporal lobe, specifically in the hippocampus, which plays a central part in long-term memory formation (Johnston and Amaral, 2004 ). Peripheral BDFN levels are lower in psychiatric disorders (Boulle et al., 2012 ), and a recent systematic review has shown that BDNF seems to present variations after psychotherapy, especially in patients with bulimia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, and borderline personality disorder, with a reduction in symptomatology (Claudino et al., 2020 ).

Memory represents a system of brain networks that presides over different functionally coordinated and anatomically independent cognitive mechanisms sharing the ability to store information (Squire, 2004 ). Particularly, explicit (or declarative) memory is involved in the psychotherapeutic process. As reported in Freud-Fliess Letters (1887–1904), Our psychic mechanism is formed, is created through a process of stratifications. The material that is present as memory or trace of memory undergoing continuous reconstruction, a renewal with respect to the present, to new circumstances. Memory is not present once, it does not remain as a single trace but continues to renew itself (Albertini, 2014 ). Research in neuroscience has documented that the storage of memories is allowed in relation to a certain level of stress (Schwabe et al., 2012 ). When the stress level is relatively moderate, memories are formed and retained, and when the stress becomes too prolonged or intense, it generates a negative effect on memories that can even be lost, like in the case of trauma (Alberini, 2011 ). Moreover, regardless of its valence (i.e., positive vs . negative), the intensity of an emotion experienced during an original event increases the likelihood that the memory will be recalled later. Scientific evidence has shown that an increased arousal results in a more augmented physiological interaction between the amygdala and the hippocampus, leading to an enhanced encoding and long-term consolidation of information (Lane et al., 2015 ).

Starting from these findings, it is possible to advance hypotheses on the mechanisms that take place in the room of the psychotherapist when memories are remembered by the patient, precisely traumatic ones. Reconsolidation mechanisms would offer the opportunity to restore memories with a different emotional level, that is, lower stress intensity and greater control. At a molecular level, memory consolidation of an experienced event (i.e., long-term memory) is formed as synaptic connections within a set of neurons (Gallistel and Matzel, 2013 ). To this end, an experienced event induces a neuronal depolarization and an influx of intracellular Ca 2+ , which initiates a downstream molecular cascade that results in the transcription and translation of plasticity-related proteins (PRPs) inducing changes in neuronal networks as remodeled synaptic connections (Sekeres et al., 2017 ). The activity among synaptic connections leads to the development of “memory engram” requiring a period of quiescence to be stabilized that can be potentially interrupted by protein-synthesis inhibition or interference from new learning (Sekeres et al., 2017 ). The multiple trace theory (MTT) (Nadel and Moscovitch, 1997 ; Moscovitch and Nadel, 1999 ) offers insight into how the repeated recollection of prior events can transform memory representations. Accordingly, the establishment of long-term memory involves a long interaction between hippocampal regions of the medial temporal lobes and medial prefrontal cortex. MTT proposes that each time an episodic memory is elicited by active retrieval or recollection, an update trace is created, incorporating information from the old trace and new recall. According to Albertini ( 2014 ), remembering with the psychotherapist creates the possibility of associating old reactivated memories with new ones moving from painful experiences faced during treatment. In the presence of new elements and of the support given by the therapist, restored memory has different qualities (i.e., less traumatic and emotionally intense). MTT supports that memories are not the same record of the original event but undergo updating and reshaping as they age and when they are altered by recollection during psychotherapy (Lane et al., 2015 ). The psychotherapeutic process promotes the possibility of associating old memories reactivated with new experiences of the present, thus soliciting a real behavioral change (Lane, 2020 ).

A number of psychotherapeutic techniques are considered in the emerging field of “memory therapeutics” including accelerated resolution therapy, rewind techniques, cognitive restructuring, and imagery modification. They aim to help the patient to feel less distressing sensations during memory reactivation, achieve a novel perspective about past negative events, rescript a different ending, and transform trauma using metaphors (Waits and Hoge, 2018 ). Since memory traces of traumatic events can be weakened, it is helpful to underline the influence of experiences made during psychotherapeutic treatment. Specifically, a distinct type of successful traumatic memory processing in PTSD psychotherapy includes threat processing by intensive imaginal memory retrieval through the support of the therapist for the reappraisal of the event, self-referential reflection on associated beliefs and emotions, and memories retelling (Ford, 2018 ).

The BDNF—which is related to synaptic plasticity—seems to be low in psychiatric disorders;
A moderate level of stress is necessary for memory storage;
Memory reconsolidation supports the psychotherapeutic process for the creation of alternative ways of behaving; and
Psychotherapy of traumatic memories consists of specific techniques in the case of PTSD.

3. Neurobiology of attachment therapy

According to Holmes ( 1993 ), attachment theory provides a psychological grounding that is applicable to all forms of psychotherapy in terms of a secure base (i.e., consistency, regularity, and reliability, a combination of warmth and firm boundaries), emersion of autobiographical competence (i.e., a secure attachment in therapy enables the patient to tell a different story about himself/herself), ability in processing affect (i.e., primitive emotions aroused in therapy are modulated by the attunement of the therapist and become manageable for the patient), and coping with loss (i.e., the expression of repressed pain or the modulation of unprocessed angry is an important part of each psychotherapeutic treatment). Attitudes and behavioral modifications of parents during the maternal gestational period, childbirth, breastfeeding, and in the first 3 years of the child's life imply a synergy between hormonal and neurochemical systems and lead to changes in brain structure and functionality, stimulating or inhibiting certain brain areas (Kim, 2016 ; Grumi et al., 2021 ). Early life experiences with the own caretakers have a huge impact on the child's brain development because repeated relationship patterns shape undifferentiated neurons into coherent firing networks supporting specific cognitive-affective brain structures (Schore, 2003 ; Kandel et al., 2013 ; Grawe, 2017 ; Siegel, 2020 ). The attachment relationship between the baby and the primary caretakers represents the link between the neurobiological programming of brain development and early care experiences. The child's bond to caregivers is implicated in the development of the right hemisphere and of specific brain areas (i.e., prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and limbic system) conditioning interpersonal relationships. In fact, such brain areas are involved in the processing and expression of emotional information and influence affective states' modulation and decoding of facial expressions, gestures, and prosody (Etkin et al., 2015 ). Remarkably, starting from a neuropsychoanalysis perspective, Schore ( 2022 ) contended that the right brain represents the psychobiological substrate of the unconscious human mind, as first described by Sigmund Freud, able to process emotional stimuli with implicit attention outside the role of awareness. Early relational experiences with caretakers are transferred into the psychotherapeutic process. Maternal and paternal mental illnesses in the perinatal period negatively impacting the interaction with the baby represent risk factors for the development of the parenting style because they may inhibit the abovementioned child's brain areas (Stein et al., 2014 ; Lautarescu et al., 2020 ). Conversely, when parental care contemplates the growth needs of the child, and neuronal networks conform to ensure positive responses to the environment, adults presenting with secure attachment show higher levels of reflective functioning and mature defenses that serve in better regulating affective states than those with insecure attachment (Tanzilli et al., 2021 ).

3.1. Perinatal psychotherapy

With the acronym Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorder (PMAD), a consensus in the scientific community has been obtained about the need to go beyond a focus on postpartum depression in the perinatal period toward a more comprehensive mother' symptomatology, including the spectrum of depressive and anxiety disorders, the obsessive–compulsive disorder, the PTSD and the puerperal psychosis (Byrnes, 2018 ). Furthermore, fathers may display anxiety disorders, somatic symptoms, hypochondria, substance abuse, and behavioral reactivity as maladaptive responses to paternity (Baldoni and Giannotti, 2020 ). To address these issues, perinatal psychotherapy assumes a fundamental part in caretakers' health regarding manifestations of mental suffering, starting from the multifactorial etiopathogenetic origin of maternal and parental mental illnesses, including neurobiological and hormonal modifications due to childbirth. The activation of the superior temporal sulcus, the amygdala, the right inferior frontal gyrus, and the insula is particularly sensitive to changes in hormonal levels involved in parental care, including augmentation in oxytocin and vasopressin levels in both parents and decrement in testosterone and estradiol for men (Abraham et al., 2014 ; Witteman et al., 2019 ). Interesting advances in psychotherapy research have recently highlighted the role of some hormones, such as cortisol and oxytocin, in mediating the relationship between the therapist and the patient, too. The cortisol, or the stress hormone representing the final product of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, is secreted in psychosocial stress contexts (Dickerson and Kemeny, 2004 ) and is capable of modulating the emotional experience influencing the affect. For instance, higher cortisol levels are associated with significant increases in negative affect in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) (Booij et al., 2016 ). Levi et al. ( 2021 ) have studied the extent to which therapist's cortisol modulates patient's affect during psychodynamic psychotherapy of MDD by collecting salivary samples before and after specified sessions and data from patient's retrospective reports of in-session affect. The study provided initial evidence that the positive or negative affect of the patient is mediated by the therapist's changes in cortisol levels, supporting the importance of a special social support context built by the interpersonal relationship as an empathic response to the stress manifested by depressed patients. When in a safe situation, a person profoundly perceives his/her engagement, the oxytocin may also be released, supporting reciprocity, empathy, compassion, and synchronized behavior and characterizing parent–infant relationship (Schneiderman et al., 2012 ; Feldman, 2017 ). Oxytocin, as the neurohormone associated with care behavior, is implicated in the pathophysiology of MDD in humans (Engel et al., 2019 ), too, and it is a potential candidate for explaining treatment outcomes in relation to patient–therapist synchrony. Zilcha-Mano et al. ( 2020 ) have demonstrated that psychotherapeutic treatment is effective when patients suffering from MDD and therapists are biologically synchronized in oxytocin levels change, giving cutting-edge directions for future research. Starting from these preliminary findings, we think that psychotherapists working on perinatal mental health should reflect on how they build a supportive context and place themselves in sync with the patient since this can actually affect his/her affective state with significant implications for the child's care.

3.2. Couple psychotherapy

The integration of the attachment theory with neuroscience also poses a relevant application in the psychotherapy of couples about the dyadic affect regulation during treatment. The goal of neuroscience-based psychotherapy in this specific setting is to help each partner understand his/her part in altering the relationship, starting from personal attachment needs and psychophysiological reactions elicited in the communication with the significant other. By understanding how each partner's nervous reaction is affected by emotional reverberation triggered in the couple's interaction, partners can be treated in psychotherapy to recreate greater emotional control and a secure relationship base (Goldstein and Thau, 2004 ). When a couple's attachment schema is breached, partners may seek treatment, and psychotherapy plays a pivotal role in restoring a balance between them. Particularly, they should be encouraged to become progressively aware of their unconscious, implicit memories driving personal communication patterns (Schore, 2003 ). In this way, when partners get into a crisis and start psychotherapy, they are stimulated to progressively recognize the subcortical emotional system they have constructed during the love affair in order to rebuild it in a creative and positive manner. The therapist has to be able to normalize conflictual states by soliciting the couple to pay attention to autonomic responses to dangerous, frightening, and disruptive stimuli, which may be conveyed in the communication between partners, in order to control them and promote assertiveness.

An attachment-based approach in psychotherapy looks at the connection between the infant's primary experiences and caregivers' responses;
The development of the right hemisphere and of the prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and limbic system is influenced by such a relationship in childhood;
Perinatal psychotherapists should pay attention to neurochemical and hormonal modifications in new parents;
The awareness of the subcortical emotional system driving interpersonal communication between partners is a goal of neuroscience-based couple psychotherapy.

4. Cognitive psychopathology and psychotherapy

Cognitive defect varies to some extent in psychiatric disorders (Millan et al., 2012 ). However, it is still unclear how cognitive deficits may limit the ability of patients to actually attend psychotherapy or how cognitive problems may preclude a positive response to treatment. Cognitive symptoms such as those related to frontal lobe damage provoke a series of cognitive (e.g., disturbances in attention, planning, rigidity, inertia, criticism, control, inhibition, and decision-making) and emotional deficits (e.g., apathy, abulia, anhedonia, impulsiveness, behavioral inadequacy, aggression, and sociopathy) can greatly impact psychological interventions in patients with neurological disorders (Robinson et al., 2019 ) or acquired brain injury (Thøgersen et al., 2022 ). Psychotherapists have to be aware of executive dysfunction hindering the therapeutic process as an impairment that can strongly restrain its effect (Diamond, 2013 ; Cozolino, 2017 ), specifically in the case of particular approaches designed for older adults because of diminished specific frontal skills reported in elderly (Goodkind et al., 2016 ).

In this context, cognitive psychopathology offers an original contribution to psychotherapy for an in-depth understanding of psychiatric disturbances by making available the broad patrimony inherited from modern clinical neuropsychology (Timpano Sportiello, 2008 ). In particular, it can contribute to improving psychotherapeutic practice by refining the diagnosis and the differential diagnosis, offering relevant information to be provided to psychiatrists in the case of patients following combined treatments (i.e., neuropsychopharmacology), and enhancing the reliability of the prognostic judgment, also in relation to psychosocial rehabilitation interventions (e.g., behavioral skills training in psychiatric disorders). Cognitive dysfunction predicts psychosocial impairment; thus, its assessment is fundamental for rehabilitation purposes, especially in the case of severe psychiatric diseases (Etkin et al., 2022 ).

Disturbances in autobiographical memory, reality testing, interpretation of others, and fragmentation of a person's thought as an individual apart from everyone else are the consequences of the disruption of the “Default Mode Network” (DMN) (Raichle and Snyder, 2007 ; Andrews-Hanna et al., 2014 ; Mak et al., 2017 ) and are present in anxiety, depression, PSTD, and schizophrenia (Broyd et al., 2009 ; Cozolino, 2017 ). Neural areas, including the medial prefrontal cortex, the midline regions of the posterior cingulate cortex, and the precuneus region of the parietal cortex that turned on/off only to self-related task engaging of an individual, have been recently shown to support the DMN (Raichle and Snyder, 2007 ; Mak et al., 2017 ; Buckner and DiNicola, 2019 ). These findings have sustained the hypothesis that it may be the neuronal basis of the Self (i.e., personal and social awareness and ability in differentiated cognition and perception) (Faustino, 2022 ). Moreover, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is considered the neural circuit of working memory, also enables us to pay attention to something in the here-and-now (Siegel, 2006 ). Results are fundamental in psychotherapy—especially in Gestalt therapy—because its normal functioning permits to place the basis for the correct understanding of present feelings, emotions, and interpersonal reactions as they occur in the ongoing treatment sessions with no or little emphasis on past experiences. In a few words, it allows patients to concentrate on a new way of behaving built together with the psychotherapist.

The cognitive psychopathology perspective proposes that cognitive dysfunctions, which are closely related to emotional and relational processes, may contribute to the development, maintenance, and recurrence of psychiatric symptoms (Seron and Van der Linden, 2000 ). Psychotherapists must be exercised in drawing specific conclusions from a deep investigation of patients, including their cognitive evaluation, with the aim of taking into account particular mechanisms associated with mental pathology during the treatment course. Cognitive impairment consisting of dysfunction in working memory, attention/executive functions, processing speed, and visual and verbal learning represents a core feature of schizophrenia that is present in 62%−98% of patients and has been described in the first psychiatric episode, in healthy close relatives and in persons at high risk of developing the disease, and both in ongoing and remission phases (Morozova et al., 2022 ). Anxious symptoms produce significant deficits in attention control efficiency, especially in inhibition and switching (Shi et al., 2019 ). Symptoms frequently complained by depressed patients include attentional lability, concentration difficulties, dysmnesia (e.g., forgetfulness and word-finding difficulty), problem-solving, decision-making, judgment, and mental slowness (Richardson and Adams, 2018 ), whereas cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder is not limited to the affective episodes but persist in euthymic phases and mainly pertain attention, executive functions, learning, memory, and psychomotor speed (Cipriani et al., 2017 ). Patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder are significantly impaired in visuospatial memory, executive functions, verbal memory, and verbal fluency (Shin et al., 2014 ). Poor executive or “top-down regulation” of appetitive (i.e., reward, incentive salience) or aversive (i.e., stress, negative affect) processes is recognized as a basic impairment in behavioral addiction and a potentially relevant target for intervention, too (Ramey and Regier, 2019 ).

Cognitive remediation (CR)—sometimes referred to as cognitive enhancement therapy—is an intervention targeting cognitive deficits using scientific principles of learning in order to improve functional outcomes and rehabilitation of life skills (Wykes, 2018 ). CR has been conducted in various psychiatric disorders. Empirical evidence supports its efficacy in schizophrenia (Vita et al., 2021 ). CR techniques have also been applied to eating and weight disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and autism spectrum disorders (Kim et al., 2018 ). We encourage psychotherapists to practice cognitive remediation techniques before treatment, especially when patients are so ill, in order to train them in promoting reflection on their thinking styles and exploring new strategies for everyday life. Such an approach may decrement the high dropouts rate from treatment, increase engagement in the therapeutic alliance (Tchanturia and Hambrook, 2010 ), and provide an opportunity for extending cognitive improvements to everyday functioning (Wykes, 2018 ) before discussing about feelings and emotions representing the core elements of the psychotherapeutic process.

We also affirm that the relationship with the psychotherapist does not only work because of the emotional bond with the patient but also when the practitioner is able to assign him/her adequate cognitive tasks in real life by taking into account the cognitive biases specifically characterizing personal cognitive profile. Only a correct weighting of what the patient is able to transfer from the therapeutic session to practical life experiences provides a concrete possibility of change. This becomes particularly true for cognitive–behavior psychotherapy (CBT) using homework assignments in order to maximize its effect (Kazantzis et al., 2005 ). Quite recently, a neuroscience-informed cognitive–behavioral approach (i.e., “The Waves of the New ABCs”) was developed to describe a continuous processing of internal and external stimuli that results in emotions, behaviors, and thoughts using the ABCDE model (Field et al., 2015 ), too.

Finally, with specific regard to depression, cognitive psychopathology can offer useful indications for psychotherapeutic treatment. We stress that the medial and orbital prefrontal regions play a key role in mediating the interaction between affective states and cognition: Depressed patients show facilitation of performance when responding to stimuli with a negative emotional tone (Elliott et al., 2002 ). Remarkably, mood-congruent memory (MCM) represents a psychological phenomenon where emotional memory is biased toward contents affectively congruent with a past or current mood (Faul and LaBar, 2022 ). Especially in the case of the MCM phenomenon, we recommend psychotherapists to operate through normalizing a deranged cognitive control process, which determines that information with an adverse emotional tone is recorded and recalled more successfully, contributing, in turn, to mood deflection. In the opinion of the authors, since psychophysiology consists a part of clinical neuroscience (Rabavilas and Papageorgiou, 2003 ), it appears advantageous to monitor psychophysiological variations associated with the MCM phenomenon through the ambulatory technological system (Loeffler et al., 2013 ), in order to allow the patient a more comprehensive appraisal of his/her emotional involvement in remembering evocative stimuli. Biofeedback instrumentation is able to identify maladaptive physiological responding and recognizing of mind-body connections can further facilitate psychotherapeutic progress.

Cognitive deficits—especially executive ones—may preclude a successful psychotherapeutic treatment;
The DMN may be recognized as the neuronal basis of the Self and its disruption is present in anxiety, depression, PSTD, and schizophrenia;
Psychotherapists should assess their patients in terms of cognitive functioning according to the neuropsychological impaired profile typically reported in a specific psychiatric disease;
CR therapy should be practiced by psychotherapists in the case of patients with serious illnesses prior to the treatment, with the final aim of a better therapy start;
Homework assignments used in CBT should be formulated according to the potential cognitive deficits reported by patients in treatment; and
Psychotherapists performing retrieval of memories during treatment should pay attention to the MCM phenomenon in the case of patients suffering from MDD.

5. The therapeutic process of human empathy

The mirror neuron system (MNS) represents a distributed network of brain cells that discharges when a primate performs an action or observes an action performed by a similar one (Jeon and Lee, 2018 ). The MSN plays an important role in imitative behavior, especially in deciphering others' actions. They were originally found in the macaque's brain on the ventral premotor cortex and inferior parietal lobule (IPL) (di Pellegrino et al., 1992 ; Gallese et al., 1996 ; Rizzolatti et al., 1996 ). Later neuroimaging studies revealed corresponding activations in some human brain districts, that is, the prefrontal motor cortex, the areas around the intraparietal sulcus, and the supratemporal sulcus (Jellema and Perrett, 2003 ; Puce and Perrett, 2003 ; Rizzolatti and Craighero, 2004 ; Fogassi et al., 2005 ). Remarkably, the IPL visuo-motor organization receiving visual information from the eyes and somatosensory information from the mouth, the hands, and the arms calls into question the evidence that it may represent the neural basis of the ability to understand the intentions of the actions performed by others (Fogassi et al., 2005 ).

Mirror neurons are not only involved in motor perception but also in interpersonal cognition (Baird et al., 2011 ), suggesting that people perceive emotions in others by activating the same emotional response in themselves (Gallese, 2003 ). Although no conclusive evidence for a “broken mirror theory” has been provided, it has been hypothesized that a neuropathological functioning of the brain structures associated with mentalization deficits may exist in some psychiatric disorders characterized by social-cognitive deficits such as schizophrenia (van der Weiden et al., 2015 ) and autism spectrum disorders (Cattaneo et al., 2007 ; Gallese et al., 2013 ). Deficits in social cognition would depend on the particular function investigated (e.g., social threat and facial recognition) and are associated with characteristic symptoms of specific personality disorders (Herpertz and Bertsch, 2014 ).

Beyond the MSN, the empathy-related processing largely used in the therapeutic relationship also involves the temporo-parietal areas, the prefrontal cortex, and the temporal poles as a neurobiological substrate of the ToM, referring to the metacognitive ability to infer another person's mental state from his/her experiences and behavior (Vogeley et al., 2001 ; Vogeley and Fink, 2003 ; Frith and Frith, 2007 ; Schulte-Rüther et al., 2007 ). Remarkably, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex strongly participates in the empathic response through emotion regulation and perspective-taking, and such capacities are reflected by brain structural variations in psychotherapists. Domínguez-Arriola et al. ( 2022 ) have demonstrated that psychotherapists display a significantly thicker left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on the A9/46d region than non-therapists and that it correlates with the Empathic Concern (EC) scale score but not with any of the other psychometric measures adopted in the study. The authors concluded that the greater thickness of this region could reflect a superior tendency to regulate one's affective state in a professional context that demands augmented empathic skills than other jobs.

Scientific evidence on human empathy research is consistent with Kohut's emphasis on the therapeutic understanding of the patient prior to the interpretation of his/her dynamics (Stone, 2005 ). The discovery of mirroring mechanisms generates interesting implications for psychotherapeutic practice. The patient has an innate and programmed capacity to internalize, embody, and imitate the state of another person, and through psychotherapy, he/she can discover himself/herself in the other's mind (Janiri et al., 2009 ). Accordingly, proximity to the patient (i.e., proxemics), bodily movements (i.e., kinesics), and paralanguage (i.e., a no-lexical component of speech) are fundamental dimensions in the therapeutic setting (Cappas et al., 2005 ) that have to be correctly managed by psychotherapists prior to discuss about feelings and emotions (Faustino, 2021 ).

The knowledge of the neurophysiology of human empathy is also fundamental in social behavior, and group psychotherapy can take advantage of it. Psychotherapy can use the power of relationships to help patients increase wellbeing and enhance interactive capacity in familiar and social environments, and group therapy offers a unique setting to this end. According to Badenoch and Cox ( 2010 ), the brain's capacity to change is sensitive to environments providing moderate emotional arousal, attuned interpersonal relationships, and experiences that disconfirm earlier implicit learnings. Furthermore, the practice carried out by a patient in a group setting allows them to observe from their own mind the minds of others and concurs in the ability to elaborate emotional states associated with past memories through increased integration between the middle prefrontal cortex and limbic regions, creating a broader sense of confidence and stability (Siegel, 2007 ) through discussion with the group. As the limbic region becomes more dominated by emotional resonance circuits than in the past, internal and behavioral reactivity to activating stimuli decreases, providing the possibility to experiment with control thanks to the group as a source of response regulation (Badenoch, 2008 ). According to Schermer ( 2010 ), beyond mirroring and identification among group members, therapist attunement and interpretation represent two relevant features of group psychotherapy. The therapist attends the non-verbal and paraverbal communication as an expression of bonding and mutuality that emerge in the group. Since mirror neurons can register shared intentions, goals, and emotions, they impact the ongoing cohesion, norms, affective tone, and objectives of each session. Moreover, when the group is a close-knit one, and the psychotherapist has been able to nourish it, members often feel as if they can anticipate what someone is going to say next in the session, and such an impression is therapeutic because it helps members to feel less alone with their troubles and tuned with each other.

Finally, we also stress that psychotherapy practice based on empathic resonance is highly relevant in re-experiencing distressing life episodes to significantly impact response prevention by restraining patients from the use of unhelpful coping mechanisms and by improving behavioral control. Furthermore, it can exert an emotional regulation upon anger, guilt, and anxiety intensity and provides reassuring experiences that can permanently modify the implicit coding of stressful events. This is particularly true in PTSD, which is characterized by trauma re-experience, emotional numbing, avoidance, and exaggerated arousal (Frans et al., 2005 ). According to Peri et al. ( 2015 ), face-to-face exposure to traumatic memories in a safe environment with the psychotherapist may improve the acquisition of emotion regulation leading the patient to create new associative brain networks. Through the use of such a technique, modulated emotional responses are mirrored back to the patient by the psychotherapist allowing him/her to re-experience painful emotions in a controlled manner.

The MNS and the ability of the ToM support therapeutic relationship, and psychotherapists should be aware of this;
The patient can discover himself/herself in the psychotherapist's mind during treatment and better hold his/her negative emotions;
Group psychotherapy supports empathic resonance among members able to strength attentional control over the limbic system reactivity; and
The exposure technique to traumatic memories in PTSD should be done in a face-to-face manner between the patient and the psychotherapist in order to improve emotional regulation.

6. Neuroimaging and psychotherapy

Psychotherapy represents a well-established strategy for a large part of psychiatric disorders. Despite this, psychotherapeutic interventions do not equally work for all patients because mechanisms through which they may reduce symptomatology remain difficult to fully understand. However, with the advent of neuroimaging techniques, researchers have new tools to find biomarkers of brain functioning associated with psychotherapeutic treatment or recognized as outcome predictors. Neuroimaging of patients with psychiatric disorders has revealed variances from healthy individuals, such as differences in measures of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), changes in local blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD), brain metabolites levels, and functional connectivity (Weingarten and Strauman, 2015 ). Functional imaging methods comprise several types of modalities, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). With different advantages and limitations (Peres and Nasello, 2008 ), such techniques share two general approaches to the study of psychotherapy effectiveness, that is, the usage of neuroimaging in the pre/post-treatment and the identification at baseline of brain-based predictors of response to treatment (Weingarten and Strauman, 2015 ).

With regard to the first approach, neurobiological research has shown a shared neural circuitry of emotion dysregulation associated with anxiety and depression. Prefrontal cortical regions, including the anterior cingulate cortex, the dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortices, as well as dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices, provide a “top-down regulation” over limbic regions (i.e., the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the insula) reacting to emotional information (Fournier and Price, 2014 ). Psychotherapeutic techniques relying on cognitive mechanisms associated with frontal domains, such as logical reasoning (e.g., emotions labeling), problem-solving, cognitive reappraisal, cognitive restructuring, modification of patient's self-representations, and mindfulness (Frewen et al., 2008 ) can help in remediating the inefficiency of such a regulation, by modulating reaction to negative emotional stimuli (Fournier and Price, 2014 ). Specifically, research in mindfulness currently integrates theory and methods from eastern contemplative traditions, western psychology, and neuroscience and is based on neuroimaging techniques, physiological measures, and behavioral tests (Tang et al., 2015 ). In addition to this, complementary emotion-focused techniques, such as experiential focusing, systematic evocative unfolding, evocative experiential states, and relaxation techniques (e.g., diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle relaxation) can contribute to enhancing emotional soothing by a “bottom-up regulation” of the subcortical network, too (Faustino, 2022 ). In light of this, we highlight that a top-down and bottom-up integrated approach to the treatment of anxious or depressive symptoms is necessary to counteract the symptomatology reported by the patient. A very recent systematic review of fMRI studies examining the neural basis of CBT concluded that although anxiety and associated disorders are mediated by different neural circuitry, it can increase prefrontal control of subcortical structures (Brooks and Stein, 2022 ). In a pool of fMRI studies, it has also been reported that amygdala hyperactivation in PTSD is due to the ineffective inhibitory control by the medial prefrontal cortex (Stevens et al., 2013 ), while dysregulation in corticostriatal circuitry has been reported to describe the neuropathology of obsessive–compulsive and related disorders (Milad and Rauch, 2012 ).

With regard to the second approach, the use of neuroimaging to identify predictors of treatment outcomes in patients with psychiatric disorders has been rapidly increasing in the last few years (Weingarten and Strauman, 2015 ). Sectorial literature investigating predictive neuroimaging markers of psychotherapy response has specifically suggested that the anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, and anterior insula emerged as potential markers in MDD and some anxiety disorders (Chakrabarty et al., 2016 ). Two resting-state PET studies found that CBT responders have lower pretreatment metabolic activity in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (Konarski et al., 2009 ; McGrath et al., 2013 ); a hypometabolism of the right anterior insula was also found as associated with the positive response to CBT (McGrath et al., 2013 ). Other resting-state functional studies showed an increased orbitofrontal cortex activity as associated with response to behavioral therapy in obsessive–compulsive disorder (Brody et al., 1998 ; Yamanishi et al., 2009 ). In a sample of patients with panic disorder, an improved response to exposure-based CBT was predicted by increased pretreatment activation in the bilateral insula and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during threat processing, as well as increased right hippocampal gray matter volume (Reineke, 2014 ). An fMRI study concluded that the excessive amygdala response to fear reflecting difficulties in managing anxiety reactions elicited during CBT might limit optimal response to therapy in PTSD (Bryant et al., 2008 ). Hyperactivity of higher-order visual areas as a reaction to emotional stimuli was associated with a response to CBT for social anxiety (Doehrmann et al., 2013 ; Klumpp et al., 2013 ). CBT response was also predicted by pretreatment activity in prefrontal regions and the amygdala in patients with a generalized social anxiety disorder (Klumpp et al., 2014 ). Recently, it has been reported that the resting-state pretreatment metabolic activity in the fronto-insular cortex may distinguish between patients likely to respond to psychotherapy, while high metabolic activity in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex may be predictive of poor outcomes in MDD (Dunlop and Mayberg, 2014 ).

We conclude that research in brain imaging and psychotherapy may increase the availability of evidence-based standardized protocols for selected groups of patients affected by psychiatric disorders. Since psychotherapy requires a considerable amount of time and effort, having the means to foresee from the beginning whether a patient is likely to benefit from treatment could be of great clinical utility, and neuroimaging represents a promising method to this end. However, research in this area needs to acquire other evidence, and a certain amount of caution must be used with respect to the single patient application of brain imaging techniques which should be corroborated by comparison of altered neurophysiological patterns typically involved in the same clinical population.

Neuroimaging techniques can be used to find biomarkers of brain functioning associated with psychotherapeutic treatment or to recognize outcome predictors;
A neural circuitry of emotion dysregulation is associated with anxiety and depression symptoms, and psychotherapists should perform bottom-up and top-down regulation techniques to better control them;
Research in brain imaging and psychotherapy may increase evidence-based standardized protocols for selected groups of psychiatric patients in order to augment treatment response and cost-effectiveness of health outcomes; and
Technical and statistical limitations of integrating single-case (functional) neuroimaging and psychotherapy should be considered by therapists.

7. Interpersonal neurobiology perspective for somatic symptoms and related disorders

Various definitions, including “psychosomatic symptoms,” “functional symptoms,” “subjective health complaints,” “somatization,” “somatic symptom distress,” and “bodily distress,” have been used to depict a person's suffering related to physical symptoms (Van den Bergh et al., 2017 ). Diagnostic categories of Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders , fifth edition (DSM-5) (APA, 2013 ), Somatoform Disorders in the 10th Revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) (World Health Organization, 2004 ) or Bodily Distress Disorder in the ICD-11 (WHO, 2019 ) are currently used in psychiatry nosography to classify the suffering of a person with a significant focus on physical symptoms such as pain, weakness, and breathlessness to a level that results in significant distress and functional limitation, low quality of life, work participation, and social interaction. Physical symptoms may or may not be associated with a diagnosed medical condition; however, the emphasis is on excessive thoughts, feelings, or behaviors related to their monitoring. Bodily distress is higher associated with depression and anxiety than specific medical conditions with comparable symptoms and well-defined organic pathology (e.g., IBS vs. inflammatory bowel disease, FMS vs. rheumatoid arthritis) (Henningsen, 2022 ). Moreover, individuals with somatic symptoms and related disorders experience difficulty in accepting that their concerns are excessive and prefer consulting general medical services rather than mental health services, which result in increased healthcare costs. A meta-analysis found that approximately 30% of patients in primary care settings fulfill the criteria for somatic symptoms disorder, and up to 50% of them present with at least one physical complaint (Haller et al., 2015 ).

Somatic symptoms and related disorders are challenging to treat for psychotherapists (Weigel et al., 2020 ). Because patients with somatic symptoms and related disorders are notably heterogeneous with respect to the nature and origins of their problems, the ability to design tailored interventions represents a central feature (Luyten and Fonagy, 2020 ). In the opinion of the authors, a neuroscience-based psychotherapy approach to such disorders should be performed within the framework of interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB), a scientifically grounded theory developed by Siegel ( 1999 ) as a field combining a wide array of science branches. The IPNB addresses three fundamental aspects of life, that is relationships (i.e., the sharing of energy and information flow), the brain (i.e., the embodied mechanisms of energy and information flow), and the mind (i.e., an emergent self-organizing activity of the brain regulating the flow of energy and information). Siegel stated that A healthy mind is a mind that creates integration within the body and its brain (…) (Siegel, 2019 , p. 229). “Integration” represents the basis of harmony in human beings and is essential for their health. The IPNB perspective supports the hypothesis that mental disorders are both an outcome of blocked integration and result in further impairments to integration (Siegel, 2012 ). The integration or linking of differentiated parts of a system can be seen as the fundamental process of wellbeing and appears to be at the core of emotional regulation. Neural integration, enabling differentiated areas to communicate effectively to be part of a functional whole, can promote emotional regulation (Siegel, 2019 ). To this end, the “vertical integration” invoked by the author (Siegel, 2006 ) includes body-proper sensations, brainstem, limbic circuits, and middle prefrontal cortex structures. In the opinion of the author, this can be particularly relevant for somatic symptoms and related disorders treatment in order to transform a disconnected way of living into a more integrated personal identity. We think that mindful awareness training as a form of internal attunement (Siegel, 2012 ) can constitute an example of an intervention from which such a kind of mental disorder may benefit. Reducing physiological arousal and interoceptive hypervigilance through relaxation and exploring emotional control, experiences, expectations, beliefs, and illness behavior, as well as correcting catastrophic misinterpretations of somatic sensations (Van den Bergh et al., 2017 ; Henningsen, 2022 ) during psychotherapeutic treatment can further enhance the vertical integration.

The IPNB developed by Siegel ( 1999 ) may explain in more detail the need for integration between the body and the mind for subjective wellbeing;
A “vertical integration” of body-proper sensations, brainstem, limbic circuits, and middle prefrontal cortex structures supported by specific techniques may aid the treatment of somatic symptoms and related disorders.

8. Discussion

According to previous attempts to point out neuroscience-based psychotherapy principles (Cappas et al., 2005 ; Faustino, 2021 ), the traditional dualism between brain and mind is no longer tenable. In the near future, we wish that neuroscience-based psychotherapy can contribute to the unification of its fragmented field, given that each specific school approach explains only 8% of the variance of the results and the most important common factor called into question to explain the patient's change after treatment is the therapeutic alliance (Wampold and Imel, 2015 ). Nearly 75% of patients commonly receiving psychotherapy improve after treatment compared to those who do not receive any treatment or ameliorate on their own (Jiménez et al., 2018 ). Moreover, psychotherapy—without difference in schools approach—is comparable in effectiveness to medication and has no relevant side effects (Leichsenring et al., 2022 ).

Memory is a fundamental trait of adaptive behavior, and it is never the same as itself. Starting from studies exploring molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying long-term memory formation and reconsolidation, psychotherapists should be fully aware of the crucial role they have in redesigning the patients' narrative plot, with a significant impact on identity and psychopathological symptoms relief. The investigations in which biological markers have found their way into psychotherapy research are still rare to date. We think that this represents a promising area to be implemented in the near future, bypassing potential methodological limitations (Piotrkowicz et al., 2021 ) as in the case of BDNF detection that should be added as a supplement to symptom scales commonly used to analyze psychotherapeutic effects. Since their potential to provide information about a therapeutic alliance that cannot be only derived from self-report questionnaires, salivary oxytocin/cortisol should be collected repeatedly during the treatment course from both patient and therapist before the therapeutic session, in order to collect biological data able to better describe the special bond between patient and therapist.

As people use their cognitive abilities to engage in everyday life, cognitive psychopathology has to be considered a crucial aspect of individuals adhering to psychotherapy. Many psychiatric disorders include the disruption of some aspects of cognition, and these deficits may predispose individuals to psychopathology, constitute an early marker, sustain the disorder, and predict the likelihood of functional recovery and successful rehabilitation. As a result, cognition and associated neural circuitry should be recognized as a key target of treatment by psychotherapists.

According to Bonini et al. ( 2022 ), studies of mirror mechanisms will lead to new research avenues in neuropsychiatric conditions in the near future. We are also confident in the increasing use of neuroimaging techniques to refine our understanding of both the outcome and process of psychotherapy, inform practitioners about evidence-based methods for specific psychiatric disorders, and help researchers to better define treatment protocols. In the opinion of the authors, an in-depth study of the implications of the dopaminergic mesocorticolimbic system of patients is really promising, with the aim of depicting the process of motivation to change as an intrinsic lever of the psychotherapeutic process. To this end, we think that brain imaging can play a relevant role, too.

Professionals must have timely access to information for optimal care implementation and a promising area of research based on advancements in MRI techniques (e.g., diffusion tensor imaging, DTI; BOLD fMRI signals from different brain regions) referred to the “connectome,” will permit researchers to shift attention from discrete brain areas to networks of brain regions supporting psychological dysfunction (Weingarten and Strauman, 2015 ). Systematic validation of biomarkers for independent clinical populations and integration with clinical data can augment their value for predicting psychotherapy outcomes. However, initial neuroimaging findings should be replicated in larger clinical populations and across a range of psychiatric disorders avoiding clinical decision-making on single cases due to the person's complexity (e.g., the potential presence of comorbidity) and limited generalizability of results.

Finally, we want to point out that by a neuroscience-based view of psychotherapy, the brain should be properly recognized as an interpersonal and a historical organ along the drawn lines of social neuroscience or neurophenomenology (cf., Varela, 1996 ; Cacioppo et al., 2002 ; Fuchs, 2003 ). This can stem a potential drift toward a more accurate knowledge of somatization and mind–body connection.

9. Conclusion

We have explored several paths regarding the neurobiological mechanisms through which psychological changes occur to sustain the future development of psychotherapy based on brain functioning and modeling. The latest discoveries in the neuroscientific field have shed light on the means by which psychotherapy proves to be a successful practice. For its part, psychotherapy can contribute to neuroscience by making available data from an accurate clinical activity that links the semeiotic investigation to the uniqueness of the patient and that bases its workout on the relational dimension of change, i.e., the therapeutic relationship. We also speculate that a neuroscience-based approach can really change and ameliorate our current psychotherapeutic interventions starting immediately by integrating in clinical practice patients' evaluation of cognitive domains mainly involved in the manifested mental disorder, top-down regulation techniques over the limbic system (i.e., emotions labeling, problem-solving, cognitive reappraisal, cognitive restructuring, mindfulness, and modification of patients' self-representations) and bottom-up interventions addressing somatosensory features of unresolved trauma (cf., Odgen et al., 2006 ) as well as “memory therapeutics” (i.e., accelerated resolution therapy, rewind techniques, cognitive restructuring, and imagery modification) able to redesign the narrative plot and the person's sense of the Self. Such improvements can be finalized after training of practitioners where necessary. Finally, according to a previous review suggesting that psychotherapy can influence the brain and behavior through the adaption of gene expression to the environment (Jiménez et al., 2018 ), we endorse the increasing consensus that it entails new learning in the context of an emotional relationship leading to epigenetic modifications after treatment.

Author contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

Acknowledgments

The first author gratefully acknowledges Gabriele Cammisuli for his inexhaustible source of love and inspiration that allows him to integrate paternity and his work as a researcher.

Funding Statement

This research received funding from the Italian Ministry of Health.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Collection 30 April 2019

Top 100 in Neuroscience

Explore our most highly accessed* neuroscience articles in 2018. Featuring authors from around the World, these papers highlight valuable research within neuroscience from an international community.

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Meeting Time: 09:45 AM‑11:00 AM TTh Instructor: Ali Anwar Course Description: Cloud computing serves many large-scale applications ranging from search engines like Google to social networking websites like Facebook to online stores like Amazon. More recently, cloud computing has emerged as an essential technology to enable emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and Machine Learning. The exponential growth of data availability and demands for security and speed has made the cloud computing paradigm necessary for reliable, financially economical, and scalable computation. The dynamicity and flexibility of Cloud computing have opened up many new forms of deploying applications on infrastructure that cloud service providers offer, such as renting of computation resources and serverless computing. This course will cover the fundamentals of cloud services management and cloud software development, including but not limited to design patterns, application programming interfaces, and underlying middleware technologies. More specifically, we will cover the topics of cloud computing service models, data centers resource management, task scheduling, resource virtualization, SLAs, cloud security, software defined networks and storage, cloud storage, and programming models. We will also discuss data center design and management strategies, which enable the economic and technological benefits of cloud computing. Lastly, we will study cloud storage concepts like data distribution, durability, consistency, and redundancy. Registration Prerequisites: CS upper div, CompE upper div., EE upper div., EE grad, ITI upper div., Univ. honors student, or dept. permission; no cr for grads in CSci. Complete the following Google form to request a permission number from the instructor ( https://forms.gle/6BvbUwEkBK41tPJ17 ).

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Registration Prerequisites: CSCI 5521 or equivalent. Complete the following Google form to request a permission number from the instructor ( https://forms.gle/z8X9pVZfCWMpQQ6o6 ).

Visualization with AI

Meeting Time: 04:00 PM‑05:15 PM TTh Instructor: Qianwen Wang Course Description: This course aims to investigate how visualization techniques and AI technologies work together to enhance understanding, insights, or outcomes.

This is a seminar style course consisting of lectures, paper presentation, and interactive discussion of the selected papers. Students will also work on a group project where they propose a research idea, survey related studies, and present initial results.

This course will cover the application of visualization to better understand AI models and data, and the use of AI to improve visualization processes. Readings for the course cover papers from the top venues of AI, Visualization, and HCI, topics including AI explainability, reliability, and Human-AI collaboration. This course is designed for PhD students, Masters students, and advanced undergraduates who want to dig into research.

Registration Prerequisites: Complete the following Google form to request a permission number from the instructor ( https://forms.gle/YTF5EZFUbQRJhHBYA ). Although the class is primarily intended for PhD students, motivated juniors/seniors and MS students who are interested in this topic are welcome to apply, ensuring they detail their qualifications for the course.

Visualizations for Intelligent AR Systems

Meeting Time: 04:00 PM‑05:15 PM MW Instructor: Zhu-Tian Chen Course Description: This course aims to explore the role of Data Visualization as a pivotal interface for enhancing human-data and human-AI interactions within Augmented Reality (AR) systems, thereby transforming a broad spectrum of activities in both professional and daily contexts. Structured as a seminar, the course consists of two main components: the theoretical and conceptual foundations delivered through lectures, paper readings, and discussions; and the hands-on experience gained through small assignments and group projects. This class is designed to be highly interactive, and AR devices will be provided to facilitate hands-on learning. Participants will have the opportunity to experience AR systems, develop cutting-edge AR interfaces, explore AI integration, and apply human-centric design principles. The course is designed to advance students' technical skills in AR and AI, as well as their understanding of how these technologies can be leveraged to enrich human experiences across various domains. Students will be encouraged to create innovative projects with the potential for submission to research conferences.

Registration Prerequisites: Complete the following Google form to request a permission number from the instructor ( https://forms.gle/Y81FGaJivoqMQYtq5 ). Students are expected to have a solid foundation in either data visualization, computer graphics, computer vision, or HCI. Having expertise in all would be perfect! However, a robust interest and eagerness to delve into these subjects can be equally valuable, even though it means you need to learn some basic concepts independently.

Sustainable Computing: A Systems View

Meeting Time: 09:45 AM‑11:00 AM Instructor: Abhishek Chandra Course Description: In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the pervasiveness, scale, and distribution of computing infrastructure: ranging from cloud, HPC systems, and data centers to edge computing and pervasive computing in the form of micro-data centers, mobile phones, sensors, and IoT devices embedded in the environment around us. The growing amount of computing, storage, and networking demand leads to increased energy usage, carbon emissions, and natural resource consumption. To reduce their environmental impact, there is a growing need to make computing systems sustainable. In this course, we will examine sustainable computing from a systems perspective. We will examine a number of questions: • How can we design and build sustainable computing systems? • How can we manage resources efficiently? • What system software and algorithms can reduce computational needs? Topics of interest would include: • Sustainable system design and architectures • Sustainability-aware systems software and management • Sustainability in large-scale distributed computing (clouds, data centers, HPC) • Sustainability in dispersed computing (edge, mobile computing, sensors/IoT)

Registration Prerequisites: This course is targeted towards students with a strong interest in computer systems (Operating Systems, Distributed Systems, Networking, Databases, etc.). Background in Operating Systems (Equivalent of CSCI 5103) and basic understanding of Computer Networking (Equivalent of CSCI 4211) is required.

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Read our research on: Gun Policy | International Conflict | Election 2024

Regions & Countries

About 1 in 4 u.s. teachers say their school went into a gun-related lockdown in the last school year.

Twenty-five years after the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado , a majority of public K-12 teachers (59%) say they are at least somewhat worried about the possibility of a shooting ever happening at their school. This includes 18% who say they’re extremely or very worried, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand public K-12 teachers’ views on school shootings, how prepared they feel for a potential active shooter, and how they feel about policies that could help prevent future shootings.

To do this, we surveyed 2,531 U.S. public K-12 teachers from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14, 2023. The teachers are members of RAND’s American Teacher Panel, a nationally representative panel of public school K-12 teachers recruited through MDR Education. Survey data is weighted to state and national teacher characteristics to account for differences in sampling and response to ensure they are representative of the target population.

We also used data from our 2022 survey of U.S. parents. For that project, we surveyed 3,757 U.S. parents with at least one child younger than 18 from Sept. 20 to Oct. 2, 2022. Find more details about the survey of parents here .

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

Another 31% of teachers say they are not too worried about a shooting occurring at their school. Only 7% of teachers say they are not at all worried.

This survey comes at a time when school shootings are at a record high (82 in 2023) and gun safety continues to be a topic in 2024 election campaigns .

A pie chart showing that a majority of teachers are at least somewhat worried about a shooting occurring at their school.

Teachers’ experiences with lockdowns

A horizontal stacked bar chart showing that about 1 in 4 teachers say their school had a gun-related lockdown last year.

About a quarter of teachers (23%) say they experienced a lockdown in the 2022-23 school year because of a gun or suspicion of a gun at their school. Some 15% say this happened once during the year, and 8% say this happened more than once.

High school teachers are most likely to report experiencing these lockdowns: 34% say their school went on at least one gun-related lockdown in the last school year. This compares with 22% of middle school teachers and 16% of elementary school teachers.

Teachers in urban schools are also more likely to say that their school had a gun-related lockdown. About a third of these teachers (31%) say this, compared with 19% of teachers in suburban schools and 20% in rural schools.

Do teachers feel their school has prepared them for an active shooter?

About four-in-ten teachers (39%) say their school has done a fair or poor job providing them with the training and resources they need to deal with a potential active shooter.

A bar chart showing that 3 in 10 teachers say their school has done an excellent or very good job preparing them for an active shooter.

A smaller share (30%) give their school an excellent or very good rating, and another 30% say their school has done a good job preparing them.

Teachers in urban schools are the least likely to say their school has done an excellent or very good job preparing them for a potential active shooter. About one-in-five (21%) say this, compared with 32% of teachers in suburban schools and 35% in rural schools.

Teachers who have police officers or armed security stationed in their school are more likely than those who don’t to say their school has done an excellent or very good job preparing them for a potential active shooter (36% vs. 22%).

Overall, 56% of teachers say they have police officers or armed security stationed at their school. Majorities in rural schools (64%) and suburban schools (56%) say this, compared with 48% in urban schools.

Only 3% of teachers say teachers and administrators at their school are allowed to carry guns in school. This is slightly more common in school districts where a majority of voters cast ballots for Donald Trump in 2020 than in school districts where a majority of voters cast ballots for Joe Biden (5% vs. 1%).

What strategies do teachers think could help prevent school shootings?

A bar chart showing that 69% of teachers say better mental health treatment would be highly effective in preventing school shootings.

The survey also asked teachers how effective some measures would be at preventing school shootings.

Most teachers (69%) say improving mental health screening and treatment for children and adults would be extremely or very effective.

About half (49%) say having police officers or armed security in schools would be highly effective, while 33% say the same about metal detectors in schools.

Just 13% say allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools would be extremely or very effective at preventing school shootings. Seven-in-ten teachers say this would be not too or not at all effective.

How teachers’ views differ by party

A dot plot showing that teachers’ views of strategies to prevent school shootings differ by political party.

Republican and Republican-leaning teachers are more likely than Democratic and Democratic-leaning teachers to say each of the following would be highly effective:

Having police officers or armed security in schools (69% vs. 37%)
Having metal detectors in schools (43% vs. 27%)
Allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools (28% vs. 3%)

And while majorities in both parties say improving mental health screening and treatment would be highly effective at preventing school shootings, Democratic teachers are more likely than Republican teachers to say this (73% vs. 66%).

Parents’ views on school shootings and prevention strategies

In fall 2022, we asked parents a similar set of questions about school shootings.

Roughly a third of parents with K-12 students (32%) said they were extremely or very worried about a shooting ever happening at their child’s school. An additional 37% said they were somewhat worried.

As is the case among teachers, improving mental health screening and treatment was the only strategy most parents (63%) said would be extremely or very effective at preventing school shootings. And allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools was seen as the least effective – in fact, half of parents said this would be not too or not at all effective. This question was asked of all parents with a child younger than 18, regardless of whether they have a child in K-12 schools.

Like teachers, parents’ views on strategies for preventing school shootings differed by party.

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

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‘Back to school’ means anytime from late July to after Labor Day, depending on where in the U.S. you live

Among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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