Olu Ajilore, MD, PhD

“Network Psychiatry: Connecting the Dots Between Mood and Cognition”

Network perspectives on brain function have revolutionized the way we conceptualize psychiatric disorders. This talk will present data on using multimodal neuroimaging techniques to understand how brain network alternations connect mood and cognition, how these network abnormalities respond to treatment, and how novel treatments may be designed to target network dysfunction. We will expand the notion of the “network” to include novel ways to assess mood and cognition using passive sensing with smartphones.

Dr. Ajilore is the Center for Depression and Resilience Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois-Chicago. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in biology. Dr. Ajilore did his MD/PhD degree at Stanford University where he studied the negative effects of stress hormones on the brain. His lab currently uses computational neuroimaging techniques and digital biomarkers to better track and treat neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Ajilore is also serves as the Associate Head for Faculty Development, the director the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program and as a member of the National Advisory Mental Health Council for NIMH.

Reading List

Kannampallil, T., Ajilore, O. A., Lv, N., Smyth, J. M., Wittels, N. E., Ronneberg, C. R., Kumar, V., Xiao, L., Dosala, S., Barve, A., Zhang, A., Tan, K. C., Cao, K. P., Patel, C. R., Gerber, B. S., Johnson, J. A., Kringle, E. A., & Ma, J. (2023b).Effects of a virtual voice-based coach delivering problem-solving treatment on emotional distress and brain function: A pilot RCT in Depression and anxiety. Translational Psychiatry, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-023-02462-x

McAleer, J., Stewart, L., Shepard, R., Sheena, M., Stange, J. P., Leow, A., Klumpp, H., & Ajilore, O. (2023). Neuromodulatory effects of transcranial electrical stimulation on emotion regulation in internalizing psychopathologies. Clinical Neurophysiology, 145, 62–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2022.10.015

Thomas, P. J., Leow, A., Klumpp, H., Phan, K. L., & Ajilore, O. (2021). Network diffusion embedding reveals Transdiagnostic subnetwork disruption and potential treatment targets in internalizing psychopathologies. Cerebral Cortex, 32(9), 1823–1839. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab314

Xing, M., Lee, H., Morrissey, Z., Chung, M. K., Phan, K. L., Klumpp, H., Leow, A., & Ajilore, O. (2019). Altered dynamic electroencephalography connectome phase-space features of emotion regulation in social anxiety. NeuroImage, 186, 338–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.10.073

Zulueta, J., Piscitello, A., Rasic, M., Easter, R., Babu, P., Langenecker, S. A., McInnis, M., Ajilore, O., Nelson, P. C., Ryan, K., & Leow, A. (2018). Predicting mood disturbance severity with mobile phone keystroke metadata: A BIAFFECT Digital Phenotyping Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 20(7). https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.9775