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Tadayon-Nejad Lab

Psychiatric Systems Neuroscience of Value and Decision-Making

The value of an object or state is not simply reflected in the brain as an intrinsic property of that object but dynamically constructed by integration of its constituents within complex interrelated homeostatic, motivational, and social contexts. The desired objects are often not available for immediate use requiring an effortful action or sets of actions to acquire them. Such a value-based or reward-seeking action is executed with a vigor proportional to how much the desired object is wanted and often involves applying specific decision-making strategy or policy. After obtaining, the consumption of or interaction with the rewarding object can result in a hedonic or pleasurable experience that by itself functions as a reinforcer for the repetition of the same executed action. Impairment in any of these process (value construction, value-based decision-making, or action execution) can result in challenging and often difficult-to-treat neuropsychiatric symptoms such as apathy, amotivation, impulsivity, compulsivity, or anhedonia. By taking a Systems Neuroscience approach at the brain large-scale network level, we aim to explore the circuit-based neurocomputational mechanisms of aberrant valuation and value-based decision-making in psychiatric conditions in which those processes are known to be impacted such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, and anorexia nervosa, with the ultimate aim of developing novel and more effective treatments.

Selected Publications:

  • Tadayonnejad R, Majid DA, Tsolaki E, Rane R, Wang H, Moody TD, Pauli WM, Pouratian N, Bari A, Murray SB, O‘Doherty JP, Feusner JP (2022) Mesolimbic Neurobehavioral Mechanisms of Reward Motivation in Anorexia Nervosa: A Multimodal Imaging Study. Frontiers In Psychiatry (Accepted, In Press)
  • Seok D, Tadayonnejad R, Wong WW, O’Neill J, Cockburn J, Bari AA, O’Doherty JP, Feusner JD. (2022) Neurocircuit dynamics of arbitration between decision-making strategies across obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. Neuroimage: Clinical, 2022 Jun 4. 
  • Tadayonnejad R, Pizzagalli F, Murray SB, Pauli WM, Conde G, Bari AA, Strober M, O’Doherty JP, Feusner JD. (2021) White matter tracts characteristics in habitual decision-making circuit underlie ritual behaviors in anorexia nervosa. Scientific Reports 2021 Aug 5;11(1):15980
  • O’Doherty JP, Lee SW, Tadayonnejad R, Cockburn J, Iigaya K, Charpentier CJ. (2021) Why and how the brain weights contributions from a mixture of experts. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.2021 Apr;123:14-23
  • Tadayonnejad R, Wilson AC, Corlier J, Lee JC, Ginder ND, Levitt JG, Wilke SA, Marder KG, Krantz D, Bari AA, Feusner JD, Pouratian N, Leuchter AF. (2020) Sequential multi-locus transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder with comorbid major depression: A case series. Brain Stimulation. 2020 Nov-Dec;13(6):1600-1602.
  • Tadayonnejad R, Rangaprakash D, Olusola Ajilore, Teena Moody, Francesca Morfini, Ronald Ly, Joseph O’Neill and Jamie D. Feusner (2017) Pregenual anterior cingulate dysfunction associated with depression in OCD: an integrated multimodal fMRI/1H MRS study Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018 Apr;43(5):1146-1155