Professor Cynthia Fu
Professor
Department of Psychology & Human Development , School of Childhood and Social Care
Professor Cynthia Fu investigates the brain regions affected by depression and how they may change with different therapies, such as talking therapies, antidepressant medication and neurostimulation. From this work, she has been studying how we can develop biomarkers to aid in diagnosis and to predict treatment response as well as how we can help to prevent the development of depression.
OVERVIEW
Cynthia and her team have been studying the brain regions affected by depression and how they can change with treatment, revealing that there are common as well as distinct effects of antidepressant medication and talking therapies. Her research was the first to demonstrate that the pattern of neural activation during sad facial processing could accurately diagnose depression for an individual person and how the pattern of brain responses as well as morphological changes could help to predict how likely an individual patient will respond to psychological or pharmacological treatments.
CURRENT RESEARCH
Cynthia's research focuses on the brain regions affected by depression, how they change with treatment with psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy, and whether we can predict clinical response before the start of treatment. Her research has direct translational potential and had led to primary publications in the development of biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis based on brain imaging.
Cynthia's research is regularly cited in the top decile for influential publications in psychiatry and has received numerous awards, including the British Association for Psychopharmacology Award and from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression (Brain & Behavior Research Foundation).
FUNDING
Cynthia has received funding from the Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly.
EXTERNAL ROLES
Cynthia is also an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist in the Affective Disorders Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and is a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Affective Disorders, King's College London.
Publications
Browse past publications by year.
Full publications list
Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications
- Enhanced network synchronization connectivity following transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in bipolar depression: Effects on EEG oscillations and deep learning-based predictors of clinical remission Journal of Affective Disorders. p. In Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.09.054
- Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation in bipolar depression: an open-label treatment study of clinical outcomes, acceptability and adverse events International Journal of Bipolar Disorders. 12 (Art. 30). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-024-00352-9
- Multi-site benchmark classification of major depressive disorder using machine learning on cortical and subcortical measures Scientific Reports. 14 (Art. 1084). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47934-8
- The Human Affectome Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 158 (Art. 105450). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105450
- Acceptability of home-based transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in major depression: a qualitative analysis of individual experiences Mental Health Review Journal. 29 (1), pp. 79-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-07-2022-0050
- Neuroanatomical dimensions in medication-free individuals with major depressive disorder and treatment response to SSRI antidepressant medications or placebo Nature Mental Health. 2, pp. 164-176. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-023-00187-w
- Characterizing Heterogeneity in Neuroimaging, Cognition, Clinical Symptoms, and Genetics Among Patients With Late-Life Depression JAMA Psychiatry. 79 (5), pp. 464-474. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.0020
- Transcranial direct current stimulation effects in late life depression: a meta-analysis of individual participant data Journal of Affective Disorders Reports. (Art. 100407). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2022.100407
- Adjunctive home-based transcranial direct current stimulation treatment for major depression with real-time remote supervision: An open-label, single-arm feasibility study with long term outcomes Journal of Psychiatric Research. 153, pp. 197-205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.07.026
- Situational factors shape moral judgments in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern, and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample Nature Human Behaviour. 6, pp. 880-895. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01319-5
- Observing infants together: long-term experiences of observers and families Infant Observation. 24 (1), pp. 4-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698036.2021.1952094
- Motor adaptation and internal model formation in a robot-mediated forcefield Psychoradiology. 1 (2), p. 73–87. https://doi.org/10.1093/psyrad/kkab007
- Is tDCS a potential first line treatment for major depression? International Review of Psychiatry. 33 (3), pp. 250-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2021.1879030
- Dehydration in older people: a systematic review of the effects of dehydration on health outcomes, healthcare costs and cognitive performance Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 95 (Art. 104380). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2021.104380