Cecilia Vezzani

How can gastrointestinal hormones modulate reward signals? 🔍Our systematic review + meta-analysis (w/ @Cor_Et_Cerebrum & @cornu_copiae) investigating the role of Ghrelin & GLP-1 on reward responses is out now on Physiology & Behavior! @SSIBsociety sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Finally in Milan for the 37th ECNP Congress! Looking forward to the many interesting talks scheduled for the next few days #ECNP2024

In our new preprint we show how macronutrients can help explain altered food reward in depression 🧠 Our findings reveal that patients with MDD report reduced wanting & liking for foods high in fat or protein compared to carbs. @neuroMADLAB @cornu_copiae medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

Our second living Bayesian meta-analysis on tVNS-induced effects is online now 👀. In this preprint+app, we analyze pupil dilation and find marked differences between pulsed (works!) vs. continuous protocols. biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Finally in Cambridge for the 2024 @jResearcherProg Conference! So excited to see the progress made in this year and present some of our ‘Appetite for risk’ preliminary results 🧠

We have finally optimized our closed-loop setup for pulsed taVNS at the 3T MR scanner in Bonn. I tested it inside yesterday and it works like a charm. Special thanks to everyone who supported the required hardware adjustments. Can't wait to run our studies now.

Does vagus nerve stimulation induce motivational effects in patients with depression? Our study shows acute tVNS-induced increases in invigoration that are largely maintained. Patients also report increases in wanting. Led by Ferstl & @anne_kuehnel sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

What is anhedonia? Inability to experience pleasure? Loss of interest? Both? To treat reward deficits, we need to know WHEN (anticipation or consummation) and WHERE (wanting or liking) deficits manifest. Let's unravel this mystery! 🕵️🧵 medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

🔍 Looking for participants for a study on the impact of oral contraceptives on the brain 🧠. If you want to start or stop taking the pill, or you're a long-term user of the pill, DM me to contribute to women's mental health research! 💊

Still two weeks left to apply to become one of the supervisors for the 2024 #jSchool! 👀👀

🌟 Join the @theneurotechEU Internship Program for Masters and Bachelors students! 🧠✨ Passionate about neuroscience? Explore opportunities in Bonn! 🌟 🔗 Apply now: neurotecheu.uni-bonn.de/neuroscience-i… #ibehave #neurotecheu #neuroscience #internshipprogram #masters #bachelors

With Christmas and lots of food approaching, go check out our new preprint on ghrelin and its association with mood (spoiler: ghrelin is more than a "hunger hormone")! 🧵 /W lead from our amazing MD student Rauda Fahed @neuroMADLAB /w @cornu_copiae tinyurl.com/ykws98fn

New preprint from the lab 🥳. We show that higher fasting levels of ghrelin are associated with a better mood state in patients with MDD and healthy people. Congratulations to Rauda (as an M.D. student) and @Cor_Et_Cerebrum for leading the effort.

It's always exciting to replicate and extend your own work. In this new preprint together with @cornu_copiae, we show that tVNS increases wanting and invigoration over trials in participants with depression. medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

We have previously shown that non-invasive tVNS boosts the drive to work for rewards in healthy people, but what about patients with depression? In our new preprint, we show tVNS-induced increases in motivation that are even maintained. medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

If you’re attending #2023SPR don’t forget to stop by Salon F at 5pm today for our symposium TAVNS AS A VERSATILE MODULATORY TOOL: BIOMARKERS OF NEUROTRANSMISSION AND EFFECTS ON BEHAVIOR! @TheRealSPR

Classical music and psychophysiology in today’s President’s Symposium at #2023SPR 😍

Such an inspiring WISE luncheon hosted by @TheRealSPR today. Thanks to @ProfAkinola and @page_gould for sharing their experiences on how to build a more inclusive and diverse environment in academia. Great food for thoughts on how students and ECRs can also contribute! #2023SPR

We've a full room at #2023spr for Rita Z. Goldstein's presentation, "Enhancing Recovery of the Prefrontal Cortex in Human Drug Addiction: What Does Language Have to Do with it". Do we see you in Salon D?

Finally arrived in New Orleans right on time for #2023SPR (plus some city sightseeing)🤩 Looking forward to the next few days of talks, posters and social events, and to presenting some of our recent work on taVNS and decision-making on Friday! @TheRealSPR

New paper 🚨 This work on the reliability of our gamified reinforcement learning task (coded by @glassybrain back in the days) was a massive team effort. Led by @eudaimonja & @anne_kuehnel.