Physical and mental health
This theme brings together members of the School to understand and improve physical and mental health from biological, psychological and social perspective. Our research ranges from fundamental work on disease mechanisms to applications aimed at developing and testing interventions.
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Some key areas of our research include:
- Physical health including pain, torpor, and movement
- Neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis
- Mental wellbeing and mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and addiction
- Factors that influence physical and mental health, such as age, nutrition, sleep, circadian rhythms, stress and drugs of abuse
- Development of new therapeutic approaches, including drugs, psychological treatments and societal interventions
- Developing new methods for collecting and analysing complex data
Our research is inherently interdisciplinary, uses many different experimental approaches and is supported by a wide range of funders, including NIHR, UKRI, Wellcome Trust and disease-focused charities.
If you are interested in learning more about our research in the Physical and Mental Health theme, please do contact our Theme Leads.
Theme leads
Research groups
Below are a list of research groups that operate within and alongside this research theme in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience
- Cerebrovascular and Dementia Research GroupOur research aims to better understand the pathophysiology of dementia and translate basic laboratory findings into therapeutic interventions.
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit (NBU)The Nutrition and Behaviour Unit has been established since 2006 and it forms one of the largest groups of its kind studying human food choice, dietary behaviour and appetite control.
- Anaesthesia, Pain and Critical CareThe Bristol Anaesthesia, Pain and Critical Care Research group is a multi-disciplinary collaboration aiming to transform patient care by providing new evidence from Basic science through to Applied clinical studies. The group develops novel methods to tackle important questions relevant to patients, clinicians, scientists and the NHS and is working to inspire and train new generations of junior clinicians and scientists to undertake high quality research.