Dr. Claire Gillan

• Gillan CM, Papmeyer M, Morein-Zamir S, Sahakian BJ, Fineberg NA, Robbins TW, de Wit S, Disrupted balance between goal-directed behavior versus habit learning in obsessive-compulsive disorder, American Journal of Psychiatry, 168, (7), 2011, p718 - 726Journal Article, 2011, DOI
• Robbins TW, Gillan CM, Smith D, de Wit S, Ersche KD, Neurocognitive endophenotypes; a dimensional approach to psychiatry, Trends in Cognitive Neuroscience, 16, (1), 2012, p81 - 91Journal Article, 2012, DOI
• Godier LR, de Wit S, Pinto A, Steinglass JE, Greene AL, Scaife J, Gillan CM, Walsh BT, Simpson HB, Park, RJ, An investigation of habit learning in Anorexia Nervosa, Psychiatry Research, 2016Journal Article, 2016, DOI
• Tobias-Webb J, Limbrick-Oldfield EH, Gillan CM, Moore JW, Aitken MRF, and Clark, Let me take the wheel: illusory control and sense of agency, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2017Journal Article, 2017, DOI , URL
• Gillan CM & Daw ND, Taking psychiatry research online, Neuron, 91, (1), 2016, p19 - 23Journal Article, 2016, DOI
• Ersche KD, Gillan CM, Jones PS, Williams GB, Luitjen M, de Wit S, Ward LHE, Sahakian BJ, Bullmore ET, and Robbins TW, Carrots and sticks fail to change behavior in cocaine addiction, Science, 352, (6292), 2016, p1468 - 1471Journal Article, 2016, DOI
• Gillan CM, Kosinski M, Whelan R, Phelps EA & Daw ND, Characterizing a psychiatric symptom dimension related to deficits in goal-directed control, eLife, 5, (e11305), 2016Journal Article, 2016, DOI
• Gillan CM, Robbins TW, Sahakian BJ, van den Heuvel O & van Wingen G, The role of habit in compulsivity, European Neuropsychopharmacology, 26, (5), 2016, p828 - 840Journal Article, 2016, DOI
• Gillan CM, Otto AR, Phelps EA, Daw ND, Model-based learning protects against forming habits, Cognitive Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 15, (3), 2015, p523 - 536Journal Article, 2015, DOI
• Gillan CM, Apergis-Schoute A, Morein-Zamir S, Urcelay GP, Sule A, Fineberg NA, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW, Functional neuroimaging of avoidance habits in OCD, American Journal of Psychiatry, 2015, p1 - 10Journal Article, 2015, DOI
• Gillan CM & Sahakian BJ, What is the driver, obsessions or compulsions in OCD?, Neuropsychopharmacology, 40, (1), 2015, p247 - 248Journal Article, 2015, DOI
• Gillan CM & Robbins TW, Goal-directed learning and obsessive-compulsive disorder, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 5, (369), 2014, p1655-Journal Article, 2014, DOI
• Voon V, Derbyshire K, Rück C, Irvine MA, Worbe Y, Enander J, Schreiber LRN, Gillan CM, Fineberg NA, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW, Harrison NA, Wood J, Daw ND, Dayan P Grant JE, Bullmore ET, Disorders of compulsivity: a common bias towards learning habits, Molecular Psychiatry, 20, 2014, p345 - 352Journal Article, 2014, DOI
• Gillan CM, Morein-Zamir S, Durieux, A, Fineberg NA, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW, Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients have a reduced sense of control on the illusion of control task, Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 2014, p204-Journal Article, 2014, DOI
• Fineberg NA, Chamberlain SR, Goudriaan AE, Stein DJ, Vanderschuren LJMJ, Gillan CM, Shekar S, Gorwood PAPM, Voon V, Morein-Zamir S, Denys D, Sahakian BJ, Moeller GF, Robbins TW, Potenza MN, New Developments in Human Neurocognition: Clinical, Genetic and Brain Imaging Correlates of Impulsivity and Compulsivity, CNS Spectrums, 19, 2014, p69 - 89Journal Article, 2014
• Gillan CM, Morein-Zamir S, Urcelay GP, Sule A, Voon V, Apergis-Schoute A, Fineberg NA, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW, Enhanced avoidance habits in obsessive-compulsive disorder, Biological Psychiatry, 75, (8), 2014, p631 - 638Journal Article, 2014, DOI
• Gillan CM, Morein-Zamir S, Kaser M, Fineberg NA, Sule A, Sahakian BJ, Cardinal R, Robbins TW, Counterfactual decision-making in obsessive-compulsive disorder: further evidence for impaired goal-directed control, Biological Psychiatry, 75, (8), 2014, p639 - 646Journal Article, 2014, DOI
• Morein-Zamir S, Papmeyer M, Gillan CM, Fineberg NA, Robbins TW, Sahakian BJ, Punishment induces an impulsive response style in OCD: Evidence from a motivational go/no go task, Psychological Medicine, 43, (2), 2013, p391 - 400Journal Article, 2013, DOI
• An associative account of avoidance. In Handbook of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning in, editor(s)Robin Murphy & Rob Honey , The Wiley Handbook on the Cognitive Neuroscience of Learning, Wiley & Sons, 2016, pp442 - 468, [Gillan, CM, Urcelay, GU & Robbins, TW]Book Chapter, 2016
• Annemieke M. Apergis-Schoutea, Claire M. Gillan, Naomi A. Fineberg, Emilio Fernandez-Egea, Barbara J. Sahakian, Trevor W. Robbins, Neural basis of impaired safety signaling in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, PNAS, 114, (12), 2017, p3216 - 3221Journal Article, 2017, DOI , URL
• Rouault M, Seow T, Gillan CM, Fleming SM, Psychiatric symptom dimensions are associated with dissociable shifts in metacognition but not task performance., Biological Psychiatry, 2018Journal Article, 2018, DOI , URL
• Gillan CM, Fineberg NA, Robbins TW, A Trans-Diagnostic Perspective on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Psychological Medicine, 47, (9), 2017Journal Article, 2017, DOI
• Fineberg NA, Apergis-Schoute AM, Vaghi MM, Banca P, Gillan CM, Voon V, Chamberlain SR, Cinosi E, Reid J, Shahper S, Bullmore ET, Sahakian BJ, Robbins T, Mapping Compulsivity in the DSM - 5 Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders: Cognitive Domains, Neural Circuitry And Treatment. , International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 21, (1), 2018, p42 - 58Journal Article, 2018, DOI
• de Wit S, Kindt M, Knot SL, Verhoeven AAC, Robbins TW, Gasull-Camos J, Evans M, & Mirza H, Gillan CM, Shifting the balance between goals and habits: five failures in experimental habit induction, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2018Journal Article, 2018, DOI , URL
• Habits and Goals in OCD in, editor(s)C. Pittenger , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Phenomenology, Pathophysiology and Treatment, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017, [Gillan CM]Book Chapter, 2017
• Gillan, C.M. and Whelan, R., What big data can do for treatment in psychiatry, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 18, 2017, p34-42Journal Article, 2017, DOI , URL
• Apergis-Schoute AM, Bijleveld B, Gillan CM, Fineberg NA, Sahakian BJ and Robbins TW, Hyperconnectivity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in obsessive-compulsive disorder., Brain and Neuroscience Advances, 2018Journal Article, 2018, DOI
• Wu Y, Clark L, Ziliolid S, Eisenegger C, Gillan CM, Dengh H, Lia H, Single dose testosterone administration modulates emotional reactivity and counterfactual choice in healthy males, Psychoneuroendochronology, 2018Journal Article, 2018, DOI , URL
• Wheaton MG*, Gillan CM*, Simpson HB, Does cognitive-behavioral therapy affect goal-directed planning in obsessive-compulsive disorder?, Psychiatry Research , 2018Journal Article, 2018, DOI , URL
• Luijten, M, Gillan CM, de Wit S, Franken I, Robbins TW, Ersche, K, Goal-directed and habitual control in smokers, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 2019Journal Article, 2019, DOI , URL
• Gillan CM, Kalanthroff E, Evans M, Weingarden HM, Jacoby RJ, Gershkovich M, Snorrason I, Campeas R, Cervoni C, Crimarco N, Sokol Y, Garnaat SL, Mclaughlin N, Phelps EA, Pinto A, Boisseau CL, Wilhelm S, Daw ND, Simpson HB , Comparison of the association between goal-directed planning and self-reported compulsivity vs obsessive-compulsive disorder diagnosis, JAMA Psychiatry, 2019Journal Article, 2019, DOI , URL
• Browning M, Huys, Q, Paulus M, Frank M, Chatham C, Carter C, Den Ouden H, Gillan CM, Chekroud A, Gold J, Phillips M, Powers A, Baker J, Mourao-Miranda J, Stephan KE, Cools R, Dayan P, Hartley C, Roiser J, Schmack K, Sebold M, Kepecs A, Lawson R, Pizzagalli D, Rindskopf D, Schiller D. , Realizing the Clinical Potential of Computational Psychiatry: Report from the Banbury Centre Meeting, February 2019, Biological Psychiatry, 2020Journal Article, 2020, URL
• Brown V, Chen J, Gillan CM, Price R., Improving the reliability of computational analyses: Model-based planning and its relationship with compulsivity, Biological Psychiatry: CNNI, 2020Journal Article, 2020
• Brain and Neuroscience Advances, (2019), 2017 - 2018p, Gillan, CM, Rudebeck, P, [eds.]Journal, 2019
• Recent developments in the habit hypothesis of OCD and compulsive disorders in, editor(s)Naomi A. Fineberg and Trevor W. Robbins , Future Trends In Obsessive-Compulsive And Related Disorders, Cambridge, Springer, 2020, [Gillan, CM]Book Chapter, 2020
• Gillan CM, Vaghi MM, Hezemans FH, van Ghesel Grothe S, Dafflon J, Brühl AB, Savulich G, & Robbins TW., Experimentally-induced and real-world acute anxiety have no effect on goal-directed behaviour., Psychological Medicine, 2020Journal Article, 2020
• TXF Seow, CM Gillan, Transdiagnostic Phenotyping Reveals a Host of Metacognitive Deficits Implicated in Compulsivity, Scientific Reports, 10, (1), 2020Journal Article, 2020
• Gillan CM & Seow TXF, Carving out new transdiagnostic dimensions for research in mental health, Biological Psychiatry: CNNI, 2020Journal Article, 2020
• Sean W. Kelley, Caoimhe Ní Mhaonaigh, Louise Burke, Robert Whelan, Claire M. Gillan, Machine learning of language use on Twitter reveals weak and non-specific predictions, npj Digital Medicine, 5, (1), 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Robert Whelan, Florentine M. Barbey, Marcia R. Cominetti, Claire M. Gillan, Anna M. Rosická, Developments in scalable strategies for detecting early markers of cognitive decline, Translational Psychiatry, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Alexandra Kathryn Hopkins, Claire Gillan, Jonathan Paul Roiser, Toby Wise, Nura Sidarus, Optimising the measurement of anxious-depressive, compulsivity and intrusive thought and social withdrawal transdiagnostic symptom dimensions, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Vanessa M. Brown, Claire M. Gillan, Marlee Renard, Rachel Kaskie, Michelle Degutis, Anna Wears, Greg J. Siegle, Fabio Ferrarelli, Susanne E. Ahmari, Rebecca B. Price, A double-blind study assessing the impact of orbitofrontal theta burst stimulation on goal-directed behavior., Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Legaz A, Abrevaya S, Dottori M, González Campo C, Birba A, Martorell Caro M, Aguirre J, Slachevsky A, Aranguiz R, Serrano C, Gillan CM, Leroi I, Ibañez A, Multimodal mechanisms of human socially reinforced learning across neurodegenerative diseases., Brain : a journal of neurology, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Kelly JR, Gillan CM, Prenderville J, Kelly C, Harkin A, Clarke G, O'Keane V, Psychedelic Therapy's Transdiagnostic Effects: A Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Perspective., Frontiers in psychiatry, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI
• Kelly R. Donegan, Claire M. Gillan, New principles and new paths needed for online research in mental health: Commentary on Burnette et al. (2021), International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Seow TXF, Rouault M, Gillan CM, Fleming SM, Reply to: Metacognition, Adaptation, and Mental Health., Biological psychiatry, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI
• Hunter LE, Meer EA, Gillan CM, Hsu M, Daw ND, Increased and biased deliberation in social anxiety., Nature human behaviour, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI
• Seow TXF, Rouault M, Gillan CM, Fleming SM, How Local and Global Metacognition Shape Mental Health., Biological psychiatry, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI
• Price RB, Gillan CM, Hanlon C, Ferrarelli F, Kim T, Karim HT, Renard M, Kaskie R, Degutis M, Wears A, Vienneau EP, Peterchev AV, Brown V, Siegle GJ, Ahmari SE, Effect of Experimental Manipulation of the Orbitofrontal Cortex on Short-Term Markers of Compulsive Behavior: A Theta Burst Stimulation Study., The American journal of psychiatry, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI
• Gillan CM, Rutledge RB, Smartphones and the Neuroscience of Mental Health., Annual review of neuroscience, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI
• Seow TXF, Benoit E, Dempsey C, Jennings M, Maxwell A, O'Connell R, Gillan CM, Model-Based Planning Deficits in Compulsivity Are Linked to Faulty Neural Representations of Task Structure., The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI
• Seow TXF, Benoit E, Dempsey C, Jennings M, Maxwell A, McDonough M, Gillan CM, A dimensional investigation of error-related negativity (ERN) and self-reported psychiatric symptoms., International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, 2020Journal Article, 2020, DOI
• Sean W. Kelley, Claire M. Gillan, Using language in social media posts to study the network dynamics of depression longitudinally, Nature Communications, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Price, R.B., Ferrarelli, F., Hanlon, C., Gillan, C.M., Kim, T., Siegle, G.J., Wallace, M.L., Renard, M., Kaskie, R., Degutis, M., Wears, A., Brown, V., Rengasamy, M., Ahmari, S.E., Resting-State Functional Connectivity Differences Following Experimental Manipulation of the Orbitofrontal Cortex in Two Directions via Theta-Burst Stimulation, Clinical Psychological Science, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Lee CT, Palacios J, Richards D, Hanlon AK, Lynch K, Harty S, Claus N, Swords L, O'Keane V, Stephan KE, Gillan CM, The Precision in Psychiatry (PIP) study: an internet-based methodology for accelerating research in treatment prediction and personalisation, BMC Psychaitry, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Wise T, Robinson, O & Gillan, CM, Identifying transdiagnostic mechanisms in mental health using computational factor modeling, Biological Psychiatry, 2022Journal Article, 2022, URL
• Habit Formation in, editor(s)Lynall & Jones , Cambridge Textbook of Neuroscience for Psychiatrists, Cambridge, UK, 2023, [Gillan CM]Book Chapter, 2023
• Fox CA, Lee CT, Hanlon A, Seow TXF, Lynch K, Harty S, Richards D, Palacios J, O'Keane V, Stephan KE, Gillan C, Metacognition in anxious-depression is state-dependent: an observational treatment study, 2023Journal Article, 2023, DOI
• Alexandra Kathryn Hopkins, Claire Gillan, Jonathan Paul Roiser, Toby Wise, Nura Sidarus, Optimising the measurement of anxious-depressive, compulsivity and intrusive thought and social withdrawal transdiagnostic symptom dimensions, 2022Journal Article, 2022
• Sean Kelley, Aaron Jason Fisher, Chi Tak Lee, Eoghan Gallagher, Anna K Hanlon, Ian Robertson, Claire Gillan, Elevated Emotion Network Connectivity Leaves People Vulnerable to Fluctuations in Depression, 2022Journal Article, 2022
• Vanessa M. Brown, Claire M. Gillan, Marlee Renard, Rachel Kaskie, Michelle Degutis, Anna Wears, Greg J. Siegle, Fabio Ferrarelli, Susanne E. Ahmari, Rebecca B. Price, A double-blind study assessing the impact of orbitofrontal theta burst stimulation on goal-directed behavior., Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Legaz A, Abrevaya S, Dottori M, González Campo C, Birba A, Martorell Caro M, Aguirre J, Slachevsky A, Aranguiz R, Serrano C, Gillan CM, Leroi I, Ibañez A, Multimodal mechanisms of human socially reinforced learning across neurodegenerative diseases., Brain : a journal of neurology, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Sean W. Kelley, Claire M. Gillan, Using language in social media posts to study the network dynamics of depression longitudinally, Nature Communications, 2022Journal Article, 2022
• Kelly R. Donegan, Claire M. Gillan, New principles and new paths needed for online research in mental health: Commentary on Burnette et al. (2021), International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI

• Sean Kelley, Aaron Jason Fisher, Chi Tak Lee, Eoghan Gallagher, Anna K Hanlon, Ian Robertson, Claire Gillan, Elevated Emotion Network Connectivity Leaves People Vulnerable to Fluctuations in Depression, biorxiv, 2022Journal Article, DOI

The goal of my research is to understand the fundamental brain processes that leave people vulnerable to mental health problems. A core aspect of my research concerns understanding of how habits are formed and overcome using a combination of electroencephalography and computational modelling, which is the topic of my 2020 ERC starting grant. This foundational work links to theories that I have developed on the role of the brain"s habit system in disorders of compulsion. This theory is now so widely recognised that it features in our undergraduate psychology textbooks. I have developed several new methods for scaling up research in an emerging field of computational psychiatry. For example, I developed `computational factor modelling", a novel method to validate dimensions of mental health problems in large unselected samples. This technique has since been used in 20 papers by international groups and is the topic of numerous collaborations (including KCL, Princeton and UCL). I am a leader in smartphone science, having built the Neureka App that engages over 18,000 registered users as citizen scientists and is now being used by 5 external research teams (UCL, University of Minnesota, Oxford, Chile and Mt Sinai). I have pioneered novel methods for studying how mood states evolve and interact dynamically over time using natural language processing of social media data and have developed a new method to conduct large scale precision CBT studies. I have won several major awards for my research contributions, including Science Foundation Ireland"s Early Career Researcher of the Year (2022) and the Early Career Award from the Society for Neuroeconomics (2022). I have gained 3 million in funding for my research. I review, interview and consult for major funding panels (e.g. ERC, Wellcome, NIMH) a have been invited to give 4 plenaries at international conferences in the past year alone.

• Title

  The DETECT project Developing a global infrastructure for digital brain health research at GBHI
  Summary
  Funding Agency

  Global Brain Health Institute
  Date From

  01/2018
  Date To

  01/2020
• Title

  A computational approach to identifying trans-diagnostic predictors of antidepressant response
  Summary

  Many patients with depression do not respond to their first drug treatment; it often takes several attempts before something works. This lack of precision means that patients suffer through months of ineffective treatment before getting any relief. I aim to improve matters by developing a tool that can be used to estimate a person's likelihood of benefitting from a range of treatments, based on a set of clinical, demographic and cognitive data, which are designed to be feasible to collect in a clinical setting. In order to develop this algorithm, using a technique called machine learning, we need lots of data. Specifically, we need to collect data from hundreds of individuals who are starting out on a new antidepressant treatment and follow their progress over several weeks. To achieve this, I will take this study out of the laboratory and into people's homes via the Internet. Once the algorithm has been trained using data collected online, we will test how well it performs in three local clinics. If successful, this project might one day revolutionise how we assign personalised treatments to individuals suffering from mental health problems.
  Funding Agency

  MQ
  Date From

  2017
  Date To

  2020
• Title

  A neurocomputational investigation of Pavlovian-instrumental interactions in avoidance
  Summary
  Funding Agency

  Wellcome Trust
  Date From

  2013
  Date To

  2017

Neurosciences, Psychology and cognitive sciences,

• Isaac Newton Trust Public Engagement Grant 2013
• Oon Khye Beng Chʹhia Tsio Studentship Award 2011
• Downing College Academic Travel Award 2011
• Junior Investigator Award, British Association for Psychopharmacology 2015
• Ziskind-Somerfeld Research Award for Outstanding Research Investigations in Biological Psychiatry, Honorable Mention 2015
• InSRI Annual Meeting Poster Award 2014
• Guarantors of Brain Travel Award 2013
• Postdoc Travel Award, British Association for Psychopharmacology 2015
• Oon Khye Beng Chʹhia Tsio Studentship Award 2010
• Top 30 Thinkers Under 30 (Pacific Standard) 2014
• University College Dublin, Entrance Scholarship 2006
• UK Science & Innovation Network Travel Grant 2014
• Medical Research Council PhD Studentship 2009
• Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship 2013
• Cambridge European Trust Studentship (declined) 2009
• Early Career Award from the Society for Neuroeconomics 2022
• Hodson Endowment Award 2006
• Medical Research Council Centenary Postdoctoral Fellowship 2012

• Society of Biological Psychiatry 2015
• Neuroscience Ireland Present
• British Association for Psychopharmacology 2013
• Society for Neuroeconomics 2020

• International computational psychiatry consensus statement working group. Banbury Meeting, Cold Spring Harbour, USA. 2019
• PhD Thesis Examination University College London 2023
• PhD Thesis Examination KU Leuven 2022
• Grant Review: National Institute of Mental Health (NIIMH), R21 scheme 2020
• Masters thesis supervisor for ENS Paris MA programme 2019-2020
• Grant Review: European Research Council (ERC), Consolidator scheme 2019
• Advisory Panel for Alzheimer's Research UK: Think Brain Health Campaign 2021-present
• NIMH Computational Psychiatry Working Group. NIMH, Bethesda, USA. 2017
• Grant Review: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) 2019
• PhD Thesis Examination, Ecole Normale Superiore 2021
• Interview Panel for Wellcome Trust Mental Health Award: Looking Backwards, Moving Forwards 2022
• PhD Thesis Examination Oxford University 2023
• Grant Review: Medical Research Council (MRC), UK 2018
• Grant Review: Marie Curie 2016
• Editorial Board: Brain and Neuroscience Advances (journal) 2018-present
• Scientific Advisory Board: It Get's Brighter (UK mental health charity) 2017-present
• Scientific Advisory Board for Plato Science 2022-present
• Editorial Board: Computational Psychiatry 2021-present
• Scientific Advisory Board for the Wellcome Trust Mental Health Priority Area 2020-present
• Editorial Board at eLife 2020-present
• PhD Thesis Examination University of Copenhagen 2022
• Grant review panel for Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) German Research Foundation 2023
• NIH roundtable on computational psychiatry, Panellist 2022
• Journal Peer Review for 30 Journals including PNAS, American Journal of Psychiatry, Nature Human Behaviour, Current Biology, Biological Psychiatry, Science Advances, Nature Communications 2011