Stress in the brain: toward objective markers and personalized interventions, with insights from AI

Dr Ziv Ben-Zion will introduce a translational perspective on the central question of this session: how can we move toward objective markers and personalised interventions in stress-related disorders?

Drawing on his work on the neurocognitive mechanisms of stress vulnerability and resilience, he will use post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a model to highlight the challenge of clinical heterogeneity and the possibility that symptoms reflect partially dissociable processes rather than a single underlying construct [1].

He will briefly outline how approaches integrating behavioural, physiological, and neural measures with computational modelling aim to identify markers of risk, recovery, and treatment-relevant subtypes [2].

At the same time, he will emphasise key limitations, including challenges in the reproducibility and clinical translation of neuroimaging findings in psychiatry [3], motivating large-scale, longitudinal, and multimodal efforts such as the STRONG programme, a national research initiative on stress and trauma resilience.

Finally, he will briefly consider how insights from stress and vulnerability may extend to interactions with AI-based mental health tools, particularly when individuals are in heightened emotional states, raising questions about the need for appropriate safeguards [4,5].

The session will open to discussion around what constitutes a clinically useful “objective marker”, how such markers can inform personalised interventions, and how to ensure safe and responsible use of AI in vulnerable populations.

References [1] Ben-Zion Z, et al., Biological Psychiatry, 2025. [2] Ben-Zion Z, et al., JAMA Network Open, 2025. [3] Ben-Zion Z, et al., The American Journal of Psychiatry, 2023. [4] Ben-Zion Z, et al., npj Digital Medicine, 2025. [5] Ben-Zion Z, Nature, 2025.