Recently, we did a spotlight on Dr. Erika Forbes, a Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. Now that you know a little bit about her, we want to tell you about some of the awesome studies Dr. Forbes and her team are conducting!
Dr. Forbes is running one study titled Depression and Cytokines. The goal of this study is to answer an important question about mental health: do inflammatory processes lead to anhedonia and depression in young people? Anhedonia is a lack of interest or pleasure in daily life and activities. Anhedonia is a symptom of depression, although Dr. Forbes emphasized that people can experience anhedonia without being depressed and not all people with depression have this symptom. If you’re interested in learning more about this study, please visit the site.
A second study Dr. Forbes directs is titled Cognitive Inflexibility in Eating Disorders. This study aims to better understand if cognitive inflexibility is related to differences in eating disorder presentation. The two aspects of cognitive inflexibility Dr. Forbes is investigating are attentional set-shifting and reversal learning. In other words, Dr. Forbes is observing the flexibility of learning and thinking for people with and without eating disorders. To learn more about the study and the other studies Dr. Forbes is conducting, please visit the study site. Keep an eye out for our next feature on Dr. Forbes that outlines some tips she has for adolescents and parents of adolescents with depression.
Do you have any thoughts or questions for Dr. Forbes or the SOVA team about these studies? Please comment below!