Psychosomatic, Anxiety and Impulse Control disorders

The Psychosomatic, Anxiety and Impulse Control Disorders programme is oriented towards epidemiological, clinical and basic research on a broad group of mental disorders and conditions that have a major impact on people's mental health and physical and psychological well-being. It studies the interrelationships between mind and body, developing research on ageing, memory and dementias, pain, anxiety and stress-related disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, personality disorders, eating disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults, addictive behaviours, and suicidal behaviours, among others. Supporting this group of research helps to better understand, prevent and treat these diseases, with the aim of reducing their negative consequences on patients, their families and society as a whole. 

What types of studies are done in this programme? Studies on the aforementioned diseases include epidemiological, biochemical, genetic, neuroimaging, neuropsychological, clinical and therapeutic aspects. Some of the studies carried out in this programme involve the identification of factors related to suicidal behaviours contributing to their prevention, brain circuits related to obsessive-compulsive spectrum and anxiety, biochemical mechanisms related to pain, immune system responses and their impact on cognition, emotions and behaviour, the risk and processes that mark the evolution towards dementia during ageing, or the prevalence of mental disorders and their impact on quality of life and functionality of people. As well as the validation and implementation of digital tools applied to health and different therapeutic strategies, including third generation psychotherapies, combined therapies and neuromodulation.

Lines of research

• Ageing and, specifically, healthy ageing.
• Inflammation in relation to stress and anxiety disorders.
• Longitudinal epidemiological studies in mental health.
• Anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Neurobiological and psycho-social aspects of pain.
• Psychotherapeutic interventions and neuromodulation techniques in OCD, personality disorders,impulsivity, anxiety and other stress-related disorders.
• E-Health.
• Liaison psychiatry, risk factors and mental health in medical populations.

Groups