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When an organ is unable to meet the demands placed on it, illness can arise. As the main functions of the brain are to compute and learn, an understanding of mental illnesses will benefit from an understanding of the computational and learning functions the brain performs, and how these are affected in states of ill-health.

We focus on developing computational tools with real potential for clinical applications.

Ongoing studies

Key publications

Browning, Michael; Cowen, Philip J.; Galal, Ushma; Baldwin, Ashley; Cleare, Anthony J.; Evans, Jonathan; Huys, Quentin J. M.; Kessler, David; Kurkar, Micheal; Nixon, Neil; Rastogi, Abhinav; Watson, Stuart; Yu, Ly-Mee; Mort, Sam; Simon, Judit; Laszewska, Agata; Lewis, Alexander C.; Roberts, Sophie M.; Fiske, Victoria; Frending, Lisa M.; Money, Catherine; Godlewska, Beata R.; Ryland, Howard T.; Halahakoon, Don Chamith; Wright, Laurence Astill; Salas, Barbara; Peddada, Apoorva; Wahba, Mourad; Taylor, Katharine S.; Kerr-Gaffney, Jess; Swiffen, Duncan; Zangani, Caroline; Smith, Katharine A.; Harmer, Catherine J.; Geddes, John R.; group, P. A. X. -D.

Pramipexole augmentation for the acute phase of treatment-resistant, unipolar depression: a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomised trial in the UK. Journal Article

In: The Lancet Psychiatry, vol. 12, iss. 8, pp. 579–589, 2025, ISSN: 2215-0374.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Hall, Anna; Browning, Michael; Huys, Q. J. M.

The computational structure of consummatory anhedonia Journal Article

In: Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 28, iss. 6, pp. 541-553, 2024.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Norbury, Agnes; Hauser, Tobias; Fleming, Stephen; Dolan, Raymond; Huys, Quentin J. M.

Different components of cognitive-behavioural therapy affect specific cognitive mechanisms Journal Article

In: Science Advances, vol. 10, iss. 13, pp. eadk3222, 2024.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Berwian, Isabel M.; Wenzel, Julia G.; Collins, Anne G. E.; Seifritz, Erich; Stephan, Klaas E.; Walter, Henrik; Huys, Quentin J. M.

Computational Mechanisms of Effort and Reward Decisions in Patients With Depression and Their Association With Relapse After Antidepressant Discontinuation Journal Article

In: JAMA Psychiatry, vol. 77, iss. 5, pp. 513-522, 2020.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Schad, Daniel J; Rapp, Michael A; Garbusow, Maria; Nebe, Stephan; Sebold, Miriam; Obst, Elisabeth; Sommer, Christian; Deserno, Lorenz; Rabovsky, Milena; Friedel, Eva; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich; Zimmermann, Ulrich S; Walter, Henrik; Sterzer, Philipp; Smolka, Michael N; Schlagenhauf, Florian; Heinz, Andreas; Dayan, Peter; Huys, Quentin J M

Dissociating neural learning signals in human sign- and goal-trackers Journal Article

In: Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 4, iss. 2, pp. 201-214, 2020.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Huys, Quentin J M; Renz, Daniel

A Formal Valuation Framework for Emotions and Their Control Journal Article

In: Biological Psychiatry, vol. 82, iss. 6, pp. 413–420, 2017.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Huys, Quentin J M; Maia, Tiago V; Frank, Michael J

Computational psychiatry as a bridge from neuroscience to clinical applications Journal Article

In: Nature Neuroscience, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 404–413, 2016.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Huys, Quentin J M.; Eshel, Neir; O'Nions, Elizabeth; Sheridan, Luke; Dayan, Peter; Roiser, Jonathan P.

Bonsai trees in your head: how the Pavlovian system sculpts goal-directed choices by pruning decision trees Journal Article

In: PLoS Comput Biol, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. e1002410, 2012.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Recent publications

Guennouni, Ismail; Dupret, Samuel; Huys, Quentin J. M.; Speekenbrink, Maarten

(Re)building Cooperation: Effects of a Cognitive Intervention on Cooperative Behaviour in Games Journal Article

In: Computational Psychiatry, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 184–201, 2026, ISSN: 2379-6227.

Links | BibTeX

Fielder, Jennifer C.; Viding, Essi; Huys, Quentin J. M.; Steinbeis, Nikolaus

Social feedback informs generalisation of control beliefs Journal Article

In: Cognition, vol. 278, pp. 106704, 2026, ISSN: 0010-0277.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Bagdades, Elena; Biria, Marjan; Burman, Charlotte; Delpech, Raphaëlle; Huys, Quentin J. M.; Moses-Payne, Madeleine; Norman, Jessica; Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Spencer, Lucienne; Tromans, Naomi; Singh, Ilina; Leigh, Eleanor; Krebs, Georgina; Stringaris, Argyris

Social prediction errors and feedback shape momentary mood and anxiety: Moderation by social anxiety and depression symptoms. Journal Article

In: Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 205, pp. 105145, 2026, ISSN: 1873-622X.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Berndt, Lioba C. S.; Crawley, Daisy; Tymchyk, Ruslana; Hall, Anna; Onysk, Jakub; Erdmann, Tore; Wimmer, Elliott; Berwian, Isabel M.; Norbury, Agnes; Huys, Quentin J. M.

Early reduction in aversive Pavlovian bias as a mediator of anhedonia improvement during Behavioural Activation in realistic treatment settings. Journal Article

In: PLoS Computational Biology, vol. 22, iss. 7, pp. e1014439, 2026, ISSN: 1553-7358.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Cheng, Annie; Konova, Anna; Powers, Albert; Corlett, Philip; Levy, Ifat; Gu, Xiaosi; Huys, Quentin; Pushkarskya, Helen; Fineberg, Sarah; Hauser, Tobias; Bzdok, Danilo; Harpaz-Rotem, Ilan; Babuscio, Theresa; Nichols, Lisa; Zhao, Yize; Sharma, Manu; Meeker, Daniella; Xu, Hua; Rutledge, Robb B.; Pearlson, Godfrey D.; Pittenger, Christopher; Yip, Sarah W.

Threading the needle: Practical considerations for merging theory-driven computational psychiatry with data-driven analytics to enhance precision health at scale. Journal Article

In: Biological Psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, 2026, ISSN: 2451-9030.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Recent preprints

Jafree, Daniyal J; Sun, Mingze; Stewart, Gordon W; Gishen, Faye; Swanton, Charles; Reza,; Motallebzadeh,

Integrated MB-PhD training is a long-term investment in the clinician-scientist workforce Journal Article

In: medRxiv, 2026.

Links | BibTeX

Qiu, Zeguo; Wang, Muzhi; Lu, Haoyang; Abir, Yaniv; Zharmakhan, Raziya; Singh, Nikki; Poppe, Michaela; Degni, Luigi; Huys, Quentin JM

EEG biomarkers of reinforcement learning and motivation: A multi-task battery Journal Article

In: 2026.

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Onysk, Jakub; Chen, Jiazhou; Huys, Quentin JM

On the computational nature of emotions: insights from metareasoning and transformers Journal Article

In: psyArxiv, 2026.

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Serfaty, Jade; Huys, Quentin J. M.

Subjective emotion judgements adhere to principles of Bayesian inference and efficient representation Journal Article

In: psyArxiv, 2026.

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Kim, Taekwan; Viding, Essi; Huys, Quentin J M

Reliable detection of longitudinal change incomputational models Journal Article

In: psyArxiv, 2026.

Links | BibTeX