Daphne Holt, MD, PhD is the Co-Director of the MGH Psychosis Clinical and Research Program, Director of the MGH Resilience and Prevention Program, and an Associate Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Using functional neuroimaging in combination with physiology, behavioral tasks and clinical assessments, she has investigated the neurocognitive basis of the core symptoms of psychotic illness, including delusions, negative affect and social impairment. Her research has also focused on identifying changes in brain function and behavior linked with risk for serious mental illness and has been developing novel interventions to increase resilience and potentially prevent serious mental illnesses in at-risk youth.
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This research highlights the potential of resilience training as a scalable, cost-effective intervention for reducing loneliness and improving mental health outcomes in at-risk young adults. -
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The prevalence of loneliness in people with psychotic disorders is ~80% – more than twice the rate in the general population. -
In medication-free young adults higher suicidality was associated with smaller right frontal pole size and reduced connectivity to the bilateral inferior frontal cortex. -
College students reporting higher rates of weekly cannabis use were more likely to report psychotic symptoms. -
Non-depressed young adults with a family history of depression display greater amygdala reactivity than those without a family history. This finding correlates with lower resilience […]