MAPs: Methods And Primers for Computational Psychiatry and Neuroeconomics

Clinical scientists are often overwhelmed by the complexity of large datasets and the challenges of integrating many types of data within hypothesis-testing frameworks in the pursuit of deep insights into etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of psychopathologies. The application of recently developed analytic and mathematical modeling approaches to psychiatry —often referred to as “computational psychiatry”—shows promise in addressing these challenges.

However, many researchers face barriers to using these approaches, including limited computational background and uncertainty about how to get started. MAPs aims to lower these barriers by providing clear guidance on both WHY and HOW to use computational methods in psychiatry. The program will feature talks focused on specific methods and toolboxes, along with practical, step-by-step guidance on how to apply them. We also build a shared library of recorded talks, code resources, and supporting materials so that researchers can revisit, learn, and start using these approaches in their own work. Speakers (both experienced and early-career researchers) will present their computational projects and walk through how they implemented them, including tools, workflows, and common challenges.

Progress in computational psychiatry will depend on matching methods to the questions we want to answer, making assumptions explicit, and grounding models in clinically meaningful problems. This broader effort—what we term Neurometrica—aims to better align theories of brain function in health and disease with the tools used to study them. MAPs is intended to support this effort.

MAPs is sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine. Faculty Organizers: Helen Pushkarskaya and Alisa Loosen.

Please subscribe to the MAPs workshop via google group.

May 6, Wednesday

10:00 am -11:00 am: Gustavo Deco, Ph.D. University Pompeu Fabra, Center for Brain and Cognition, ICREA. Modeling Whole-Brain Dynamics: Turbulence as a framework for brain dynamics in health and disease.

12:00 pm -1:00 pm: Leonardo Saraiva, Ph.D, Yale school of Medicine. Dynamic Mean Field Model: the fast DMF toolbox.

1:30 pm -2:30 pm: Leonardo Saraiva, Ph.D, Yale school of Medicine. The Turbulent Brain: a toolbox to compute the turbulent dynamical behaviour of whole-brain activity.

2:30pm: Leonardo Saraiva. QA session: practical considerations.