In a human brain, there are 500 times more connections than there are stars in our galaxy: that is what we call "the human connectome".
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These connections that make up the human connectome change with our everyday experiences of mood, anxiety, and stress. When ‘stretched’, they can become disrupted and we observe these disruptions in clinical mood and anxiety disorders.
 
Our Human Connectome Project for Depression and Anxiety is using cutting-edge, high temporal resolution functional and structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology to detail connectomes with a high level of detail across the continuum of healthy mood states through clinical mood and anxiety disorders.
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Our mission is to characterize how specific types of connectome disruptions contribute to each person’s experience of depression and anxiety. In doing so, we refine our understanding of these disorders based on brain biotypes. We can then personalize interventions and create customized treatments and preventions.
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The Human Connectome Project for the Disordered Emotional States is part of the Connectome Studies Relating to Human Disease. In particular, it focuses on investigating mood and anxiety disorders.
 
The data from the Human Connectome Project for Disordered Emotional States, in conjunction with the other Connectome Studies Related to Human Disease,  will be screened, pre-processed and released by the Connectome Coordination Facility. The release of data from all Connectome Studies Relating to Human Disease will provide great opportunities to investigate a large dataset of standardized biological, cognitive-behavioral, and self-report measurements. To learn more about the Connectome Coordination Facility and how the Human Connectome Project for Disordered Emotional States relates to the larger Human Connectome Project, please check out our listing on the website here.
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The Human Connectome Project for Depression and Anxiety is possible because of a thriving collaboration with Stanford faculty - Drs. Leanne Williams, Max Wintermark, Ian Gotlib, Brian Wandell, Russ Poldrack and Trevor Hastie. It is also part of the large multi-site Human Connectome Project that emphasizes collaboration and open data sharing with the research community worldwide.