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Michael Browning

@mikebrowning.bsky.social
142 followers 98 following 21 posts

Researcher and psychiatrist in Oxford

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Reposted by Michael Browning
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford @oxfordpsychiatry.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
🔊NEW RESEARCH: The chemical histamine – widely associated with the body's allergy response – shapes how the brain forms memories and handles negative experiences, according to a new study. Researchers found that raised histamine levels facilitated communication within the brain's memory networks.
"While histamine was the first of the major players found in the brain, before dopamine and serotonin, its function has remained comparatively unknown. This work shows for the first time how histamine shapes the brain processes that underpin human learning and memory.” Michael Colwell, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford
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Reposted by Michael Browning
Wanjun Lin @wanjunlin.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Very happy to share this work on a preprint! Coauthored with @mikebrowning.bsky.social @Erdem Pulcu @lhuntneuro.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... How do we learn when rewards and punishments change independently—and how does this go awry in anxiety and depression?
biorxiv.org
Valence-specific representation of uncertainty in the anterior cingulate is impaired in those with affective symptoms
The ability to seek reward and avoid punishment is a fundamental survival instinct. In natural environments, however, the statistics of rewards and punishments can change independently of one another....
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Reposted by Michael Browning
Thomas Akam @thomasakam.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
This project builds on work establishing the behaviour done at Champalimaud in Lisbon with @michaelfsp.bsky.social, Beatriz Godinho, Christian Machens, and @ruimcosta.bsky.social : www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Flexible route planning and rapid structure learning by mice in complex environments
Action selection using predictive models of the environment plays a fundamental role in human and animal behaviour, yet is poorly understood at circuit and algorithmic levels. Spatial navigation is an...
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Reposted by Michael Browning
NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Oxford Health @oxhealthbrc.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
This #ClinicalTrialsDay (20 May), we’re promoting studies seeking participants. RELMED aims to improve #depression treatment by predicting which #antidepressant works best. If eligible, you may be able to take part. Find out more or register interest: oxfordhealth.relmed@nhs.net relmed.ac.uk
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
What a fantastic trial! Once-weekly semaglutide versus placebo in patients with alcohol use disorder and comorbid obesity: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial - The Lancet www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
thelancet.com
Once-weekly semaglutide versus placebo in patients with alcohol use disorder and comorbid obesity: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Semaglutide showed robust therapeutic effects in treatment-seeking participants with obesity and alcohol use disorder and this trial supports previous preclinical and clinical findings suggesting GLP-...
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Just out today, the keto diet showed a (modest) benefit in treatment resistant depression, when compared to a pretty reasonable control! jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com
A Ketogenic Diet for Treatment-Resistant Depression
This randomized clinical trial assesses the effect of a ketogenic diet on mental health outcomes in individuals with treatment-resistant depression.
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
RA jobs in Oxford working on a Wellcome Trust funded grant. Neuroimaging, neurostimulation, computational modelling-- what's not to like! my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com
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Quentin Huys @docqhuys.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Postdoctoral research position in #ComputationalPsychiatry and #EEG as part of relmed.ac.uk trial testing reinforcement learning as biomarker for antidepressant treatment response. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... @uclbrainscience.bsky.social @mikebrowning.bsky.social @relmed.bsky.social
relmed.ac.uk
Antidepressant treatment shouldn't be a guessing game. RELMED is working towards using advanced research to predict which medication is most likely to help each person along their individual path to recovery.
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
These posts are live now! Oxford is a great place to work. Do apply if you'd like to apply neurostimulatory techniques to understand symptoms. my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru... my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com
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Reposted by Michael Browning
Xiaosi Gu @xiaosigu.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
📣🔥Thrilled to announce that 2026 Computational Psychiatry Conference will take place in New Haven, CT, btw July 14-16 - www.cpconf.org @robbrutledge.bsky.social @drrickadams.bsky.social @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social @docqhuys.bsky.social @clairegillan.bsky.social Sonia Bishop More info to come soon!
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Reposted by Michael Browning
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford @oxfordpsychiatry.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Repetitive negative thoughts will be investigated using a range of cutting-edge brain science techniques as part of a new study led by the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford and funded by Wellcome @wellcometrust.bsky.social 👇 tinyurl.com/364es88k
Graphic of a head with a circle in it with arrows. Arrows suggest circle repeats itself.
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
There are 3 Oxford-based post doc positions for this Wellcome Trust project that will be advertised soon! If you have experinece in neurostimulation (tms/tus) and/or modelling of cogneuro data in humans do contact one of us (me, @mkflugge.bsky.social @lilweb.bsky.social, Jacinta OShea) to discuss!
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Cost effectiveness of pramipexole for treatment resistant depression! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Cost-effectiveness of pramipexole augmentation for acute phase and maintenance therapy of treatment-resistant depression compared to placebo augmentation: economic evaluation of the PAX-D randomised c...
Pramipexole augmentation of antidepressant treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) has been shown to improve symptom burden over 12 weeks b…
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Interesting new study of pramipexole in anhedonic low mood in mdd, bipolar and dysthymia. Some cool mechanistic outcomes: www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
researchsquare.com
Efficacy and target engagement of dopamine agonist pramipexole for anhedonic depression - the PRIME-PRAXOL randomized controlled trial
Here, we examined the efficacy and target engagement of dopamine agonist pramipexole in treating a cross-diagnostic sample of mood disorders characterized by severe anhedonia. Patients with major depr...
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Really interesting, brief ideas paper. Clearly relevant to treatment research-- the mechanism by which you leave an illness state is unlikely to just be the opposite of the mechanism by which you entered it (can see how this might apply to e.g. SSRIs in depression).
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Reposted by Michael Browning
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford @oxfordpsychiatry.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Gulliver Waite took part in the PAX-D trial testing Pramipexole for treatment resistant depression @ox.ac.uk. He told @theguardian.com how being part of the study made a difference to his life. 👉 Gulliver's story www.theguardian.com/society/2025... 👉 The findings www.psych.ox.ac.uk/news/parkins...
theguardian.com
‘I wish I had taken part sooner’: how a medical trial transformed a young person’s life
Exclusive: Gulliver Waite signed up after antidepressants and talking therapies failed to alleviate clinical depression
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Really lovely story from one of our participants in the recent PAX-D study. If you are interested in the results of the study, you can find them here: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
thelancet.com
Pramipexole augmentation for the acute phase of treatment-resistant, unipolar depression: a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomised trial in the UK
In this trial involving participants with treatment-resistant depression, pramipexole augmentation of antidepressant treatment, at a target dose of 2·5 mg, demonstrated a reduction in symptoms relativ...
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Reposted by Michael Browning
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 20/10/2025
‘I wish I took part sooner’: how a medical trial transformed a young person’s life
theguardian.com
‘I wish I took part sooner’: how a medical trial transformed a young person’s life
Exclusive: Gulliver Waite signed up after antidepressants and talking therapies failed to alleviate clinical depression
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Reposted by Michael Browning
relmed.bsky.social @relmed.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Curious about how scientists measure brain activity through EEG? Swipe to read more! ⚡️
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Reposted by Michael Browning
relmed.bsky.social @relmed.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Depression can affect the mind, body and daily life in ways you might not expect. 🧠Swipe to learn the key signs and symptoms – and why recognising them matters. #Depression #Mentalhealth #Research
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Reposted by Michael Browning
Ryan Yan Yan @ryanypsych.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
New preprint alert with @mikebrowning.bsky.social and Chamith Halahakoon! People have been using computer-based reinforcement learning tasks with affect probes. But to what extent do they reflect real-life affective experience? We tested this with 3 weeks of EMA + RL tasks in 339 participants.
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Pramipexole vs. quetiapine vs. amantadine in TRD. Interesting open label, short term RCT using a surprisingly low dose (I suspect that the reported dose of 37.5mg of pramipexole is a typo and it should be 0.375mg) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Comparative efficacy of antidepressant augmentation with amantadine vs pramipexole in treatment-resistant unipolar depression: A randomised controlled trial
Augmentation strategies for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) are limited, with strongest evidence for atypical antipsychotics. Given emerging insi…
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Reposted by Michael Browning
Quentin Huys @docqhuys.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
V important meta-analysis doi.org/10.1001/jama...: Discontinuation symptoms 1 week post stopping antidepressants was below the threshold for clinically significant discontinuation syndrome. Later worse mood is likely depression relapse @jfhayes.bsky.social @sameerjauhar.bsky.social.
doi.org
Incidence and Nature of Antidepressant Discontinuation Symptoms
This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the presence and incidence of discontinuation symptoms in individuals who stop taking antidepressants.
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Reposted by Michael Browning
NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Oxford Health @oxhealthbrc.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
🎊Recently, colleagues from across the @NIHRresearch Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC) gathered for a celebration of progress and partnership in mental health research. ➡️ oxfordhealthbrc.nihr.ac.uk/nihr-mental-...
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Michael Browning @mikebrowning.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Our new study published in TheLancetPsych! We found that pramipexole augmentation substantially reduced depressive symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression over 48 weeks of treatment. This is an important advance in how we treat depression! 1/6 www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
thelancet.com
Pramipexole augmentation for the acute phase of treatment-resistant, unipolar depression: a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomised trial in the UK
In this trial involving participants with treatment-resistant depression, pramipexole augmentation of antidepressant treatment, at a target dose of 2·5 mg, demonstrated a reduction in symptoms relativ...
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Reposted by Michael Browning
Quentin Huys @docqhuys.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Delighted to announce this position www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/current-vaca.... It's part of the Mental Health Mission Mood Disorders Research Clinic Network, aiming to support clinical trials in mood disorders in the UK. Should be very interesting! oxfordhealthbrc.nihr.ac.uk/mhm/mood-dis...
northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk
Current vacancies
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Reposted by Michael Browning
Quentin Huys @docqhuys.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
RELMED.ac.uk is now open to recruitment. This @wellcometrust.bsky.social-funded study wellcome.org/research-fun... will ask whether reinforcement learning tasks are differentially sensitive to dopaminergic and serotonergic antidepressants.
wellcome.org
Reinforcement Learning Mechanisms of Pharmacological Treatments for Depression (RELMED) - Grants Awarded | Wellcome
Reinforcement Learning Mechanisms of Pharmacological Treatments for Depression (RELMED)
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