New Grant Awarded to Prechter Team: Using PRIORI Tech for Emotion Patterns

The Prechter Program is excited to announce that Drs. Melvin McInnis, Emily Mower Provost, and Sarah Sperry have been awarded an R01 grant, “Detecting dynamic fluctuations in emotion, mood, and functioning: A digital phenotypic approach to clinical monitoring in bipolar disorder” from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
 
Bipolar disorder is a chronic illness affecting more than 40-million people worldwide that is characterized by transitions into mania (heightened energy) and depression (lowered energy). Anticipating mood transitions is critical to reduce their impact. Yet for many, it can be difficult to recognize the early warning signs. In this grant, we will study the relationship between patterns in emotion expression and mood severity. Participants in the study will use our PRIORI (Predicting Individual Outcomes for Rapid Intervention) technology, a smartphone application that will record audio periodically throughout the day, to automatically estimate the emotions that are present. While using PRIORI, participants will also complete smartphone-based assessments of their emotions and moods. Our hope is that patterns in emotion detected from PRIORI can serve as a new type of early warning sign, providing notification of impending changes in mood severity and allowing for just-in-time interventions to support long-term health.
 
The grant discussed in this article was awarded by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number 1R01MH130411. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.