Publications — Rutledge Lab

RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND PREPRINTS

Hur JK, Heffner J, Feng GW, Joormann J, Rutledge RB (2024) Language sentiment predicts changes in depressive symptoms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 121, e2321321121. [Abstract] [PDF]

Feng G, Rutledge RB (2024) Surprising sounds bias risky decision making. Nature Communications 15, 8027. [Abstract] [PDF] [PsyArXiv]

Allen KR, et al. (2024) Using games to understand the mind. Nature Human Behaviour 8, 1035-1043. [Abstract] [PDF] [PsyArXiv]

Jangraw D, et al. (2023) A highly replicable decline in mood during rest and simple tasks. Nature Human Behaviour 7, 596-610. [Abstract] [PDF] [PsyArXiv]

Grossmann I, et al. (2023) Insights into accuracy of social scientists' forecasts of societal change. Nature Human Behaviour 7, 484-501. [Abstract] [PDF] [PsyArXiv]

Bedder RL, Vaghi MM, Dolan RJ, Rutledge RB (2023) Risk taking for potential losses but not gains increases with time of day. Scientific Reports 13, 5534. [Abstract] [PDF] [PsyArXiv]

Kao CH, Feng GW, Hur JK, Jarvis H, Rutledge RB (2022) Computational models of subjective feelings in psychiatry. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 105008. [Abstract] [PDF] [PsyArXiv]

Chew B*, Blain B*, Dolan RJ, Rutledge RB (2021) A neurocomputational model for intrinsic reward. Journal of Neuroscience 41, 8963-8971. [Abstract] [PDF] [BioRxiv]

Gillan CM, Rutledge RB (2021) Smartphones and the neuroscience of mental health. Annual Review of Neuroscience 44, 129-151. [Abstract] [PDF]

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**Why do we make risky decisions?**

Chew B*, Hauser TU*, Papoutsi M, Magerkurth J, Dolan RJ, Rutledge RB (2019) *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA*
Low prestimulus brain activity can increase risk taking in humans.
Read more here.

Does bipolar disorder affect how we perceive rewards?

Mason L, Eldar E, Rutledge RB (2017) *JAMA Psychiatry*
In bipolar disorder, normal fluctuations in mood may snowball because of a stronger bias of emotion on how experiences are perceived.
Read more here.

Does depression affect how our brains respond to rewards?

Rutledge RB, Moutoussis M, Smittenaar P, Zeidman P, Taylor T, Hrynkiewicz L, Lam J, Skandali N, Siegel JZ, Ousdal OT, Prabhu G, Dayan P, Fonagy P, Dolan RJ (2017) *JAMA Psychiatry*
Basic reward processing is surprisingly intact in people with major depression.
Read more here.

**Do older people take fewer risks?**

Rutledge RB, Smittenaar P, Zeidman P, Brown HR, Adams RA, Lindenberger U, Dayan P, Dolan RJ (2016) *Current Biology*
As we age, the dopamine in our brain gradually declines, possibly explaining a reduction in our willingness to take risks for potential rewards.
Read more here.

**How does inequality affect our happiness?**

Rutledge RB*, de Berker AO*, Espenhahn S, Dayan P, Dolan RJ (2016) *Nature Communications*
We developed a new equation to predict how happy people will be based not only on what happens to them, but also what happens to the people around them.
**Read more here.**

An equation to predict happiness?

Rutledge RB, Skandali N, Dayan P, Dolan RJ (2014) *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA*
We developed a new equation that predicts the momentary happiness of thousands of people, finding that it depends not on how well things are going, but whether things are going better than expected.
Read more here.

**How does dopamine affect our decisions and happiness?**

Rutledge RB, Skandali N, Dayan P, Dolan RJ (2015) *Journal of Neuroscience*
Boosting dopamine with the drug levodopa increased how willing people were to take risks and how happy they felt about the rewards they received.
**Read more here.**

Images (left to right, top to bottom): ‘Ice Cream Choices’ (courtesy of nhblevins via Flickr); 'alone' (courtesy of Etienne via Flickr); 'ah-gong! li haw' (courtesy of Steve Leggat via Flickr); 'Laughs' (courtesy of Marc Kjerland via Flickr); ' Happy Lane' (courtesy of Brett Davies via Flickr); 'Gambling cat' (courtesy of GChampeau via Flickr)