The Early Psychosis: Investigating Cognition (EPIC) Project

The epic project logo, showing the outline of a brain, with the chemical symbol for glutamate at the centre, and the words the early psychosis investigating cognition project.

Welcome to the new website for the Early Psychosis: Investigating Cognition (EPIC) Project!

This is a collaborative project based at the University of Nottingham, UK.

What is the EPIC Project?

Problems with memory and attention affect a large proportion of people with psychosis, often existing long before other clinical symptoms. However, clinical assessments often prioritize symptoms like hallucinations, overlooking the importance of these cognitive functions.

Our project aims to fill this gap by focusing on understanding the changes in memory and attention in daily life during early psychosis. Additionally, we aim to investigate the role of naturally occurring brain chemicals in memory function and whether they can predict the effectiveness of brain stimulation as a treatment.

Brain stimulation is increasingly used for various disorders, yet its effectiveness varies between individuals. We seek to explore the reasons behind this variability.

In this project, we want to:

  • explore personal experiences of individuals in the early stages of psychosis regarding changes in memory and attention.

  • assess memory using a range of tasks.

  • measure levels of naturally occurring brain chemicals using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

  • investigate the relationship between memory performance and chemical levels.

  • determine if memory performance or chemical levels can predict the effectiveness of brain stimulation.

We will employ interviews, quality of life assessments, memory and attention tests, MRI brain imaging, and brain stimulation techniques.

You can hear about the project on Notts Psych Pod, S2 Ep3 here

Here, Claudia talks about the effects of cognitive difficulties on individual’s lives and the importance of finding personalised treatment options.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2EBCxS60Hc


Social media

You can follow the EPIC project on:

X (formerly Twitter): @the_EPIC_study

Bluesky: @the-epic-study


Advisory group

We are establishing an advisory group comprising individuals with psychosis to guide our research. This group will assist in various aspects, including developing interview questions, explaining brain imaging and stimulation procedures to participants, and disseminating research findings.

You can find more information about the advisory group and how to join here: https://the-epic-study.quarto.pub/the-epic-project/advisory-group.html






This project is funded by Wellcome.

Wellcome Trust logo.