Current Research and Interests

"Memory Processes, Psychological Disorders, and Traumatic Stress."Much of our research has been concerned with involuntary memory and imagery in a variety of psychiatric disorders, which we have investigated using phenomenological, experimental, therapeutic, and neuroimaging studies. Many patients experience repetitive visual intrusions that are highly distressing and often appear to act as maintenance factors. We have described the characteristics of these intrusions in some detail and explored methods of blocking intrusions both at the encoding stage (using a secondary visuospatial task) and the retrieval stage (using imagery rescripting). Matthew Whalley, Mick Rugg, Ray Dolan and I have conducted two fMRI studies funded by the Wellcome Trust investigating the neural basis of how patients with PTSD and depression retrieve emotional memories that either are independent of their own experience (Study 1) or directly reflect major life events (Study 2). Data from Study 1 are consistent with a substantially intact neural system supporting episodic retrieval in patients suffering from PTSD (see article in press in Brain and Cognition). Data from Study 2 are currently being analysed and are focussing on different patterns of activation associated with reliving versus ordinary memories of patients’ traumatic events. Other research relevant to the neuropsychology of PTSD includes a meta-analysis of verbal and non-verbal memory deficits for non-emotional material.