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Dr Philip Jean-Richard Dit Bressel

Dr Philip Jean-Richard Dit Bressel

Senior Lecturer

2015    PhD, UNSW Sydney 

Science
School of Psychology

I lead the Brain•Mind•Behaviour Lab at UNSW School of Psychology.

My lab's research seeks to understand the psychobiology of motivated learning, decision-making, and behaviour, with a special focus on how we learn and make decisions around actions with negative consequences. Our research makes use of specially-designed experimental tasks across species, precision neuroscience techniques (e.g., optical and genetic approaches to measure and manipulate neural processes in real-time, in vivo pharmacology), and advanced analysis methods, to uncover mechanisms for adaptive and maladaptive behaviour.
E-mail
p.jean-richardditbressel@unsw.edu.au
Location
Room 706, Mathews Building School of Psychology UNSW Sydney
  • Journal articles | 2025
    Drakopoulos V; Reichenbach A; Stark R; Foldi CJ; Jean-Richard-dit-bressel P; Andrews ZB, 2025, 'FiPhoPHA—A Fiber Photometry Python Package for Post Hoc Analysis', Eneuro, 12, http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0221-25.2025
    Journal articles | 2025
    Gaetani K; Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P; McNally GP, 2025, 'Early contingency information enhances human punishment sensitivity when punishment is frequent but not rare', Behavioral Neuroscience, 139, pp. 216 - 228, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bne0000627
    Journal articles | 2025
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P, 2025, 'Mechanisms for punishment learning and decision-making: A special issue', Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2025.108108
    Journal articles | 2025
    Keevers LJ; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P, 2025, 'Obtaining artifact-corrected signals in fiber photometry via isosbestic signals, robust regression, and dF/F calculations', Neurophotonics, 12, http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.12.2.025003
    Journal articles | 2025
    Zeng L; Park HRP; Mcnally GP; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P, 2025, 'Causal inference and cognitive-behavioral integration deficits drive stable variation in human punishment sensitivity', COMMUNICATIONS PSYCHOLOGY, 3, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s44271-025-00284-9
    Journal articles | 2024
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Gaetani K; Zeng L; Weidemann G; McNally GP, 2024, 'Translational Research in Punishment Learning', Behavioral Neuroscience, 138, pp. 143 - 151, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bne0000587
    Journal articles | 2024
    Mcnally GP; Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P, 2024, 'A Cognitive Pathway to Persistent, Maladaptive Choice', European Addiction Research, 30, pp. 233 - 242, http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000538103
    Journal articles | 2024
    Rafiei N; Mitchell CS; Tedesco CR; Chen J; Choi EA; Roughley S; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Kumar NN; McNally GP; Herzog H; Begg DP, 2024, 'Chemogenetic activation ofarcuate nucleus NPY and NPY/AgRP neurons increases feeding behaviour in mice', Neuropeptides, 107, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.npep.2024.102454
    Journal articles | 2023
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Lee JC; Liew SX; Weidemann G; Lovibond PF; McNally GP, 2023, 'A cognitive pathway to punishment insensitivity', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120, pp. e2221634120, http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2221634120
    Journal articles | 2023
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; McNally GP, 2023, 'Reply to Jarvis and Chong: Understanding punishment insensitivity phenotypes using computational modelling', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120, http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2316107120
    Journal articles | 2023
    McNally GP; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Millan EZ; Lawrence AJ, 2023, 'Pathways to the persistence of drug use despite its adverse consequences', Molecular Psychiatry, 28, pp. 2228 - 2237, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41380-023-02040-z
    Journal articles | 2022
    Choi EA; Husić M; Millan EZ; Gilchrist S; Power JM; dit Bressel PJR; McNally GP; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P, 2022, 'A Corticothalamic Circuit Trades off Speed for Safety during Decision-Making under Motivational Conflict', Journal of Neuroscience, 42, pp. 3473 - 3483, http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0088-22.2022
    Journal articles | 2022
    Ghareh H; Alonso-Lozares I; Schetters D; Herman RJ; Heistek TS; Van Mourik Y; Jean-Richard-dit-bressel P; Zernig G; Mansvelder HD; De Vries TJ; Marchant NJ, 2022, 'Role of anterior insula cortex in context-induced relapse of nicotine-seeking', Elife, 11, pp. e75609, http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.75609
    Journal articles | 2022
    Jean Richard dit Bressel P; McNally GP, 2022, 'Punishment and compulsion: more than meets the eye', Neuropsychopharmacology, 47, pp. 425 - 426, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41386-021-01182-4
    Journal articles | 2022
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Tran J; Didachos A; McNally GP, 2022, 'Instrumental aversion coding in the basolateral amygdala and its reversion by a benzodiazepine', Neuropsychopharmacology, 47, pp. 1199 - 1209, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41386-021-01176-2
    Journal articles | 2021
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Lee J; Liew SX; Weidemann G; Lovibond P; McNally G, 2021, 'Punishment insensitivity in humans is due to failures in instrumental contingency learning', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.23.441174
    Journal articles | 2021
    Jean-Richard-dit-bressel P; Lee JC; Liew SX; Weidemann G; Lovibond PF; McNally GP, 2021, 'Punishment insensitivity in humans is due to failures in instrumental contingency learning', Elife, 10, pp. e69594, http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69594
    Journal articles | 2021
    Peng CY; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Gilchrist S; Power JM; McNally GP, 2021, 'Phasic inhibition of dopamine neurons is an instrumental punisher.', Behavioral Neuroscience, 135, pp. 415 - 425, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bne0000445
    Journal articles | 2020
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Clifford CWG; McNally GP, 2020, 'Analyzing Event-Related Transients: Confidence Intervals, Permutation Tests, and Consecutive Thresholds', Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 13, pp. 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2020.00014
    Journal articles | 2020
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Ma C; Bradfield L; Killcross S; McNally G, 2020, 'Punishment insensitivity emerges from impaired contingency detection, not aversion insensitivity or reward dominance', eLife, 8, pp. 808873, http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.52765
    Journal articles | 2020
    Liu Y; Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P; Yau JOY; Willing A; Prasad AA; Power JM; Killcross S; Clifford CWG; McNally GP, 2020, 'The mesolimbic dopamine activity signatures of relapse to alcohol-seeking', Journal of Neuroscience, 40, pp. 6409 - 6427, http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.072420.2020
    Journal articles | 2020
    Ma C; Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P; Roughley S; Vissel B; Balleine BW; Killcross S; Bradfield LA, 2020, 'Medial Orbitofrontal Cortex Regulates Instrumental Conditioned Punishment, but not Pavlovian Conditioned Fear.', Cereb Cortex Commun, 1, pp. tgaa039, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/texcom/tgaa039
    Journal articles | 2020
    Ma C; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Roughley S; Vissel B; Balleine B; Killcross S; Bradfield L, 2020, 'Medial Orbitofrontal Cortex Regulates Instrumental Conditioned Punishment, but not Pavlovian Conditioned Fear', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.12.092205
    Journal articles | 2019
    Choi EA; Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P; Clifford C; Mcnally G, 2019, 'Paraventricular thalamus controls behavior during motivational conflict', IBRO Reports, 6, pp. S68 - S68, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ibror.2019.07.224
    Journal articles | 2019
    Choi EA; Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P; Clifford CWG; McNally GP, 2019, 'Paraventricular thalamus controls behavior during motivational conflict', Journal of Neuroscience, 39, pp. 4945 - 4958, http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2480-18.2019
    Journal articles | 2019
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Ma C; Bradfield LA; Killcross S; McNally GP, 2019, 'Punishment insensitivity emerges from impaired contingency detection, not aversion insensitivity or reward dominance', Elife, 8, pp. e52765, http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.52765
    Journal articles | 2019
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; McNally GP, 2019, 'Visualizing Infralimbic Control over Incubation of Cocaine Craving', Neuron, 103, pp. 1 - 3, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.06.008
    Journal articles | 2018
    Gibson GD; Prasad AA; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Yau JOY; Millan EZ; Liu Y; Campbell EJ; Lim J; Marchant NJ; Power JM; Killcross S; Lawrence AJ; McNally GP, 2018, 'Distinct Accumbens Shell Output Pathways Promote versus Prevent Relapse to Alcohol Seeking', Neuron, 98, pp. 512 - 520.e6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.03.033
    Journal articles | 2018
    Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P; Killcross S; McNally GP, 2018, 'Behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of punishment: Implications for psychiatric disorders', Neuropsychopharmacology, 43, pp. 1639 - 1650, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41386-018-0047-3
    Journal articles | 2018
    Sengupta A; Yau JOY; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Liu Y; Millan EZ; Power JM; McNally GP, 2018, 'Basolateral amygdala neurons maintain aversive emotional salience', Journal of Neuroscience, 38, pp. 3001 - 3012, http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2460-17.2017
    Journal articles | 2017
    Sengupta A; Yau JOY; Bressel PJ-RD; Liu Y; Zayra Millan E; Power J; McNally G, 2017, 'Basolateral amygdala glutamatergic neurons maintain aversive emotional salience', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/186072
    Journal articles | 2016
    Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P; McNally GP, 2016, 'Lateral, not medial, prefrontal cortex contributes to punishment and aversive instrumental learning', Learning and Memory, 23, pp. 607 - 617, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/lm.042820.116
    Journal articles | 2015
    Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P; McNally GP, 2015, 'The role of the basolateral amygdala in punishment', Learning and Memory, 22, pp. 128 - 137, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/lm.035907.114
    Journal articles | 2014
    Bressel PJRD; McNally GP; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P, 2014, 'The role of the lateral habenula in punishment', Plos One, 9, pp. e111699, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111699
  • Preprints | 2025
    Drakopoulos V; Reichenbach A; Stark R; Foldi C; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Andrews Z, 2025, FiPhoPHA - A fiber photometry python package for post-hoc analysis, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.12.659422
    Preprints | 2025
    Gaetani K; McNally G; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P, 2025, Early contingency information enhances human punishment sensitivity when punishment is frequent but not rare, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/s3vg8_v1
    Preprints | 2025
    Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P; Tan S; Shen M; Keevers L; Williams-Spooner M; McNally G; Killcross S, 2025, Disinhibition of ventral tegmental area during initial punishment learning causes enduring punishment insensitivity, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7865029/v1
    Preprints | 2025
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Zeng L; Park H; McNally G, 2025, Causal inference deficits and integration failure drive stable variation in human punishment sensitivity, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ac423_v1
    Preprints | 2025
    Lou M; Al-Saddik S; Shen M; Keevers L; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P, 2025, Relationships between phenotypic differences in punishment behaviour and prefrontal cortex network engagement, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.24.684296
    Preprints | 2025
    Wise E; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Yau JO-Y; McNally G; Power J, 2025, Instrumental Punishment Learning Enhances the Intrinsic Excitability of Basolateral Amygdala Neurons, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2025.05.02.651812
    Preprints | 2024
    Keevers L; McNally G; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P, 2024, Obtaining artifact-corrected signals in fiber photometry: Isosbestic signals, robust regression and dF/F calculations, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3549461/v2
    Preprints | 2023
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Gaetani K; Zeng LZ; Weidemann G; McNally G, 2023, Translational research in punishment learning, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/jft7u
    Preprints | 2023
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Lee J; Liew SX; Weidemann G; Lovibond P; McNally G, 2023, A cognitive pathway to punishment insensitivity, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/qw534
    Preprints | 2023
    Keevers LJ; McNally GP; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P, 2023, Obtaining artifact-corrected signals in fiber photometry: Isosbestic signals, robust regression and dF/F calculations, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3549461/v1
    Preprints | 2023
    McNally G; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P, 2023, A cognitive pathway to persistent, maladaptive choice, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/nrwve
    Preprints | 2021
    Choi E; Husić M; Millan Z; Jean Richard dit Bressel P; McNally G, 2021, A corticothalamic circuit trades off speed for safety during decision-making under motivational conflict, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.21.469477
    Preprints | 2021
    Ghareh H; Alonso-Lozares I; Schetters D; Herman R; Heistek T; van Mourik Y; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Zernig G; Mansvelder H; de Vries T; Marchant N, 2021, Role of anterior insula cortex in context-induced relapse of nicotine-seeking, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.08.471717
    Preprints | 2021
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Lee J; Liew SX; Weidemann G; Lovibond P; McNally G, 2021, Punishment insensitivity in humans is due to failures in instrumental contingency learning, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.23.441174
    Preprints | 2021
    Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Tran J; Didachos A; McNally G, 2021, Instrumental aversion coding in the basolateral amygdala and its reversion by a benzodiazepine, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.08.451726
    Preprints | 2020
    Liu Y; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Yau JO-Y; Willing A; Prasad A; Power J; Killcross S; Clifford CWG; McNally G, 2020, The mesolimbic dopamine signatures of relapse to alcohol-seeking, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.06.981605
    Preprints | 2020
    Ma C; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Roughley S; Vissel B; Balleine B; Killcross S; Bradfield L, 2020, Medial Orbitofrontal Cortex Regulates Instrumental Conditioned Punishment, but not Pavlovian Conditioned Fear, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.12.092205
    Preprints | 2020
    Peng CY; Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel P; Gilchrist S; Power J; McNally G, 2020, Phasic inhibition of dopamine neurons is an instrumental punisher, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.25.399220
    Preprints | 2017
    Sengupta A; Yau JOY; Bressel PJ-RD; Liu Y; Zayra Millan E; Power J; McNally G, 2017, Basolateral amygdala glutamatergic neurons maintain aversive emotional salience, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/186072

Australian Research Council

Discovery Project (2022-2024). “Brain circuits for parsing aversion” [Lead investigator, AU$340,023]

 

2025     Early Faculty Travel Award, International Behavioral Neuroscience Society

2025     D. G. Marquis Behavioral Neuroscience Award, American Psychological Association

2024     Best Paper Award - General Category, Biological Psychiatry Australia

2023     Millennium Science Fellowship: "Identifying transcriptomic signatures of adaptive versus maladaptive learning about adverse action consequences”

2023     Translation Launchpad Program, UNSW Sydney

2022     Early Career Achievement Award, International Behavioral Neuroscience Society

2022     D. G. Marquis Behavioral Neuroscience Award, American Psychological Association

2015     The Paxinos Neuroscience Prize, UNSW Sydney

2011     Istvan Tork Neuroscience Prize, UNSW Sydney

 

 

 

Chair, Education & Training Committee, International Behavioral Neuroscience Society

Editorial Board: Journal of Neuroscience; Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

Faculty, Australasian Course in Advanced Neuroscience (ACAN), Australasian Neuroscience Society

Guest Editor, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Special Issue: Mechanisms for punishment learning and decision-making

 

Media

Study sheds light on why some people keep self-sabotaging (2025). Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica 

ABC NSW Drive w/ Jess McGuire (2025). ABC Radio

Knowing better, doing worse: the science behind self-sabotaging behaviour (2025). Lachlan Gilbert, UNSW Newsroom

Why don’t some of us learn from punishment? (2025). Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel & Zeng, SpringerNature Research Communities 

Understanding Punishment Learning (2024). Nesh Nikolic, Better Thinking Podcast

Self-destructive behaviour — the enemy within (2023). ABC | Future Tense

Temptation is everywhere we look. Here's how we can stop returning to self-destructive habits (2023). Antony Funnell, ABC | Future Tense

Research sheds new light on self-destructive behaviour (2023). Lachlan Gilbert, UNSW Newsroom

Punishment only works on some, here's why (2021). Education Today

Why punishment may work on some, but not all people (2021). Lachlan Gilbert, UNSW Newsroom

Mesolimbic dopamine activity signatures of relapse (2020). TDT Talks | Fiber Photometry Series, Tucker-Davis Technologies

My Research Supervision

PhD:

Bixuan Lin

Luke Keevers

Min Lou