Dr E. Vassena (Eliana)

My work combines neuroscience with computational psychiatry to study the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety.

I'm a neuroscientist with a clinical background, interested in how the brain guides motivated effortful behaviour, decides which actions are worth pursuing, and boosts behaviour towards success. These mechanisms are impaired in psychiatric disorders (such as depression) and sub-clinical conditions (such as burnout). I study how alteration of brain circuits driving motivation and effort leads to pathology. I use functional MRI, computational modelling and Artificial Intelligence approaches, experimental measures of behaviour, physiology, neurostimulation, and pharmacology.

I am a member of the https://www.winrepo.org/ initiative, to improve gender balance at conferences, and a member of the Donders Diversity and Sustainable science initiative. I am engaged in outreach through several online platforms and as editor in chief of https://it.in-mind.org/.

• Perception, Action and Decision-making
• Natural Computing & Neurotechnology

• Affective Neuroscience
• Cognitive Affective Neuroscience
• Neuronal Oscillations
• Motivational and Cognitive control