The quest of unraveling a person’s motive has captivated our imagination since the dawn of humankind. To parse motivated behavior, our lab is using functional neuroimaging techniques in combination with detailed behavioral, physiological, and psychological assessments. We are particularly interested in building statistical and computational models decoding motivation. By capitalizing on big data from many different modalities, we envision to predict future actions in everyday life. Such detailed knowledge is indispensable in improving treatment for many mental disorders, which are characterized by seemingly inappropriate actions or desires: Why is he no longer enjoying his favorite dish? Why can she not stop eating the cake although she is no longer hungry? Our mission is to decompose the neurobiological mechanisms of action and desire using cutting-edge tools of data science to evaluate their translational potential to improve aberrant motivation in patients. To this end, our lab is fully committed to open research practices.
We are happy to share our work, help you implement a new technique, or receive your input on how we can do better. Moreover, we are committed to scientific outreach. If you are interested in learning more about our work, please get in touch with us and follow us for regular updates.