How the brain will react in the face of affective challenge?

In everyday life, people may be critique form their bosses, getting negative feedback from others, or even harsh words in fight with their parents and friends. Being criticized is a distressing experience and activates self-conscious emotions (e.g. feeling hurt) and self-referential thinking, which need to be regulated to prevent maladaptive emotional responses to occur. People who are sensitive to criticism, are more likely to have a high risk for developing mood, anxiety and other affective disorders. Researches demonstrated that both neuropsychiatric patients and healthy individuals who are vulnerable to develop psychopathology show a similar neural sensitivity to criticism.


In this project, with the combination of fMRI technique, we aim to investigate the neural mechanisms when people confronted with criticism. Besides, we also want to detect the neuroimaging biomarkers for predicting the vulnerability for psychopathology.


For more information on this line of research, feel free to contact!