Neuroimaging and personality in Clinical and Health Psychology

Research project description

PhD will investigate how can be used the neuroimaging and personality traits in the study of pathology with chronic pain, resistant to conventional treatments, or in drug-resistant depression. 

Neuroimaging, in recent years, has provided relevant information about the neurobiology of different mental health disorders or problems. These data have been related to personality traits, either as potential predictor variables of the clinical course, or as comorbid traits to the primary mental health problem. In fact, both neuroimaging and personality have been a growing target of interest in recent decades, in the study of pathology with chronic or persistent pain, resistant to conventional treatments and with the perspective of new therapeutic lines, or in drug-resistant major depression. Both lines of research allow us to address new neuroanatomical and personality variables to improve the understanding of their neurobiological bases and the establishment of predictor variables of their evolutionary course and therapeutic response.

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: 

• The student should have a degree (bachelor or similar) in clinical psychology, mental health, medicine or biomedicine.  
• Postgraduate, specialization or master in neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry or neurology. 
• knowledge of neuroimaging and neuroimage analysis (Matlab/SPM).  
• Have linguistic skills in English (reading and writing) and, if possible, in Spanish.  
• The student’s interest must focus on knowledge of the human brain, and with clinical application, through neuroimaging and psychopathology, as well as in the techniques that allow their disorders to be objectified. 
• Their desired skills and competencies are proactivity, knowing how to work as a team, empathy and a great predisposition to work. 

Research group/s description

Research Group of Neuroimaging, Personality, Prevention and Treatment in Clinical and Health Psychology

The research team has supervised a total of 18 doctoral theses. They teach in 5 Official Masters. The applicant research team has extensive experience, recognized nationally and internationally, in the field of neuroimaging and neuroscience in mental health problems and international projection based on the number of scientific publications. He has a total of 176 publications, 24 book chapters and 4 books in his field of knowledge. In addition, the team has a sufficient number of senior researchers with extensive experience in various research projects or clinical trials that allows them to direct and offer their knowledge in the training of new researchers. Some of the members of the work team are part of a consolidated research group of the spanish national network in the field of psychiatry CIBERSAM.

Thesis Supervisor website.

Research Group website.