PRE2023-The role of habitual inhibition in cognitive and emotional control (PID2022-136996NB-I00)

The PhD contract and research project will aim to define the behavioural and neural footprints behind cognitive and emotional habitual inhibition and their associated causal network, to also define the role of dopamine involved in cognitive and emotional habitual inhibition. The present doctoral contract will focus on the design and validation of a novel and cutting-edge paradigms to capture a novel cognitive mechanism in healthy participants using neuroimaging and neuromodulation, as well as studies in patients with Parkinson’s disease or behavioural addictions. The hosting group is a growing multidisciplinary international and highly competitive team in the field of cognitive and clinical neuroscience. The PI Dr. Ignacio Obeso is a researcher at CINC-CSIC and collaborates with local hospitals. Our group’s main research objectives aim at elucidating the neurocognitive mechanisms behind cognitive control, reward and habits to uncover the neural basis of these behaviours. We also work to update and inform how these cognitive processes are dysfunctional in clinical scenarios (Parkinson’s disease, behavioural addictions). We employ various neuroscientific techniques (e.g., behavioral testing, eye-tracking, psycho-physiology, fMRI, PET, brain stimulation) and designs (cross-sectional, longitudinal, and training protocols) in health and disease conditions.