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Clinical Neuroscience Research Group

Can neuroscience help us understand the mechanisms, development, and treatment of mental illness and cognitive impairment in individual patients?

The research group's logo; the abbreviation CNRG in capital letters below a line drawing of a brain, as well as the group's full name at the bottom.

About the group

Professor Nils Inge Landrø is the leader of the group. The group was established in 2014.The members of the group mainly have a background in psychology/clinical neuropsychology.

The main focus of the group's research is how knowledge of cognitive and clinical neuroscience can be used to understand the mechanisms, development and treatment of mental illness and cognitive impairment. By understanding the mechanisms that cause psychological and cognitive disorders and how these are similar, rather than different, across different diagnoses, we want to identify treatment strategies to target these mechanisms. By identifying factors that maintain the symptoms of each patient, the treatment can be tailored to individual symptom profiles rather than diagnosis. An aim is to integrate new technology in the treatment of psychological disorders and cognitive impairment.

Translational research, that is the use of neuroscientific knowledge to develop interventions and conduct randomized controlled studies, makes us part of the international research frontier.

Projects

In previous and ongoing projects, we have studied cognitive control functions and mood, as well as genes that regulate the interaction between cognition and emotion. This kind of research can provide new insights into how mood disorders (depression) develop and sustain over time. The projects will provide new knowledge of the principles of treatment and prevention.

The group has conducted the biggest randomized controlled trial that investigated the effect of change in affective bias on recurrence of depression. This project has thus far resulted in multiple articles in internationally renowned peer-reviewed journals and three doctoral dissertations.

Other topics are impulsivity and impulsivity disorders, related to addiction and personality disorders.

We also study cognition and quality of life in temporal lobe epilepsy. The project is a longitudinal follow-up study in which people with newly diagnosed temporal lobe epilepsy are followed at the time of diagnosis, 1, 2 and 5 years. The goal is to map the developmental trajectory of seizure frequency, memory difficulties and other cognitive impairments, as well as quality of life. The project takes place at ERGO – Epilepsy Research Group Oslo, at Oslo University Hospital. So far, the project has resulted in two articles, as well as four master's theses.

Ongoing Projects:

Cooperation

Through the cooperation with other research environments, the group is also engaged in studies related to pain associated with neurological disorders, injuries, and cognitive late effects of other somatic disorders like cancer and Covid-19.

Researchers work with several colleagues internally at the Department of Psychology, and CNRG is a central part of the intersectional collaboration DRIVE (Depression Research InitiatIVE) aiming at increasing the understanding, and improving the treatment, of depression.

Several CNRG members have adjunct positions and are affiliated with various external institutions: Oslo University Hospital, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, and Lovisenberg hospital.

Key international partners are Professor Catherine J Harmer (University of Oxford), Professor Jutta Joormann (Yale University), Professor Ernst Koster (University of Gent), and assistant professor Jaquelin Becker (Mount Sinai, New York).

Resources

Both traditional neuropsychological and psychometric testing methods, experimental cognitive paradigms, as well as mapping of eye movements, electrophysiological methods, and brain imaging are being used. Other physiological measures include genetics, cortisol and heart rate monitoring. We also use smartphone apps for registering daily fluctuations in symptoms and web-based methods for cognitive assessment.

Alumni

Ass.professor Brage Kraft, OsloMet

Professor Rune Jonassen, OsloMet

Ass.professor Eva Hilland, OsloMet

Ass.professor Bjørn Ingulfsvann Hagen, UiT

Senior engineer Luigi Maglanoc, UIO

Researcher Trine Waage Rygvold, Oslo University Hospital

Section leader Martin Aker, NevoSom, OUS

Published Mar. 21, 2017 10:36 AM - Last modified Jan. 19, 2024 11:23 AM

Participants

Detailed list of participants