Dissecting the contribution of dysregulated sense of agency to psychotic disorders

Research project description

PhD will investigate novel experimental paradigms to measure Sense of Agency and use these paradigms to test associations between them and psychosis spectrum disorders. 

Schizophrenia (SZ) is hypothesized to be fundamentally a disturbance of the self. Particular aspects of the self, the Sense of Agency (SoA), appear to be disrupted in individuals with SZ. Agency was believed to be a straightforward matter of conscious intentions causing actions. The self appeared to be the agent, as being capable of inducing physical events as causal consequences of certain of their conscious mental states. Research indicates that the genesis of agency and the relation to the self is much less straightforward than it has been previously assumed. Rather than agency being based solely on mental causation, SoA appears to be based on the interplay of both unconscious and conscious processes. 

One of the core features of a disrupted SoA is the misidentification of the source of internally generated stimuli, ie, the agent. This is the underlying principle of the source monitoring theory, which proposes that patients misattribute the source that generated a stimulus, which can result in psychotic symptoms like thought insertion (e.g., “ideas being forced into my head by someone else”). This follows the context of a misattribution of agency, because the source of the “ideas” is misattributed (exogeneous rather than endogenous). 

The project aims at developing novel experimental paradigms to measure SoA along its various dimensions and use these paradigms to test associations between these various dimensions and psychosis spectrum disorders such as schizophrenia (SZ). The project will consist in: i) developing new motor tasks on tactile device (e.g. drawing, darts, shooting game) where the feedback will be distorted on each trial by a certain amount, and link the level of distortion to the subjective reports of how much participants feel in the control during the task; ii) develop a computational model of SoA and fit this model to participant behavior, unveiling computational markers for the different dimensions of SoA; iii) perform a causal intervention task where we induce short-live emotions / meta-cognitive states and measure their impact on our computational markers of SoA; iv) perform a mobile-based longitudinal study to measure how their fluctuations relate to changes in symptom in psychosis spectrum disorders. We hope the project can further our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie psychosis spectrum disorders and open the path to new diagnostic tools based on digital technologies. 

This ambitious transdisciplinary project will benefit from the complementary expertise of the partnering teams in computational neuroscience, modelling of behavioral data, neuroimaging, individual differences, and clinical psychology. 

Academic background / Skills

Candidates must hold a degree that allows admission to the official doctoral programme at UAB.  

Additional requirements for a stronger application are: 

• MSc or equivalent in Cognitive Science, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science or a related field. 
• Proficiency in English at a minimum B2 level. 
• Interest in learning computational science methods. 
• Strong communication skills to effectively disseminate research results to diverse audiences. 
• Ability to work in a team, critical thinking, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion. 
• Theoretical background in Cognitive psychology, Statistics and Computer Science.  

Research group/s description

Person-Environment Interaction in Risk and Resilience for Mental Health research group integrates clinical practitioners from public mental health centers in Barcelona and world-leading clinical, developmental and genetics researchers. Our approach is characterized by a multi-level approach, integrating the study of person-factors, environmental exposures and genetic variability that moderates the impact of environmental factors on the person. 

The computational neuroscience unit at the CRM is made up of the groups of three Principal Investigators (Alex Roxin, Klaus Wimmer and Alex Hyafil). The unit is an active member of a larger, Barcelona-wide Neuroscience community which includes theoretical, experimental and clinical groups. Broadly speaking, we investigate how large assemblies of interacting neurons give rise to animal and human behaviour. Our approach combines computational modeling, behavioural experiments, neuroimaging and data analysis. 

Informal inquiries about the position or specific requirements are welcome!