Marcos Ross is a PhD candidate working at the psychiatry department of the Amsterdam UMC (location VUmc). With a background in biochemistry, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind, he has a multidisciplinary mindset and a profound interest for the human experience. He is especially passionate about bringing an integrated view of mind, body, and world closer to scientific discourse and healthcare. His past research has focused on well-being from a network science perspective and has seen that personalized network models that include both symptoms and well-being traits (e.g., satisfaction, optimism) can be a powerful tool to increase self-understanding. He is also a musician (Marcos Ross Music). Overall, he is a driven and creative person, always open to learn.

Research question

“What is the relationship between depression severity and cognitive performance?”

Abstract

The study explores the association between depression severity and cognitive performance in the context of remote ambulatory assessment. Participants provided data every couple of weeks with their smartphone. They answered the PHQ-8 to assess depression severity and played a mobile game called THINC-it to assess cognitive performance, both subjectively and objectively. By using Multilevel Modeling, the relationships between these variables at the between-person and within-person levels will be explored. Ultimately, it will provide insights for remote assessment of cognitive performance and whether it can be used as a marker for changes in mental health status.