Towards the identification and individualized modulation of shared neurocognitive components of compulsivity

Compulsions - characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder, binge eating and addiction - are strong urges, that lead to behavioral patterns, often accompanied by anxiety or discomfort, temporarily relieved by maladaptive pursuit. In severe cases, compulsions are debilitating and resistant to available therapies.

I hypothesize that compulsions primarily arise from aberrant connectivity patterns in the frontal regions, marked by impairments in different dimensions of behavioral flexibility.

My overarching goals include identifying spatiotemporal network dynamics mediating compulsions, understanding neurocognitive processes associated with behavioral inflexibility, and developing network-based neuromodulation protocols to improve different dimensions of behavioral flexibility underlying compulsivity.

Inspired by the network perspective on psychopathology, and the inherent challenge of controlling complex synergetic systems through single-region modulation, multi-focal stimulation will be used to induce a rebalancing spatiotemporal target pattern, reshaping brain dynamics towards desired states.

I propose a transdiagnostic study of compulsive disorders, using computational models of complex behavior and multimodal neuroimaging to investigate dimensions of behavioral flexibility.

By categorizing patients based on distinct neurocognitive impairments, we aim to develop personalized neuromodulation protocols restoring network configurations that promote behavioral flexibility.