Dr Elisabeth von dem Hagen
Senior Lecturer
- vondemhagene@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 0151
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Research summary
My research interests involve studying the neural mechanisms behind emotion processing and social cognition more generally. I am also interested in how the processing of social signals, like faces and eye gaze, changes with development, and may differ in Autism Spectrum Disorders. To address these questions, I use a combination of behavioural and neuroimaging approaches, including various structural and functional MRI techniques.
Teaching summary
At the UG level, I teach on and am module coordinator for the Year 2 Thinking, Emotion and Consciousness (PS2023) module. I also teach on and am module coordinator for the Final Year module Social Perception (PS3215). I also give Year 2 academic tutorials, supervise Final Year projects, and act as a personal tutor.
At the PG level, I teach on the MSc Children’s Psychological Disorders course, as well as supervising dissertation projects.
Biography
Undergraduate education
BSc in Physics and Physiology, McGill University, Canada
Postgraduate education
MSc in Medical Physics, University of Toronto, Canada
Thesis: High angular resolution diffusion Magnetic Resonance for the determination of fibre structure
PhD in Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, UK
Thesis: Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the visual system in humans with albinism
Employment
- 2020-Present - Senior Lecturer, Cardiff University
- 2015-2020 - Lecturer, Cardiff University
- 2006-2014 - Investigator Scientist, then Senior Investigator Scientist, MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge
- 2010-2014 - Guest Lecturer, Dept of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience, University of Cambridge
- 2007-2014 - Associate Lecturer, Open University
- 2006 - Post-doctoral Researcher, Dept of Psychology, University of York
Publications
We are currently unable to retrieve the list of publications. Visit our institutional repository.Teaching
Modules:
- PS2023 Thinking, Emotion and Consciousness
- PS3215 Social Perception
- PST704 Neurodevelopmental Disorders I: Neurobiology
- PST706 Child Assessment Methods II: Developmental Neuroimaging Workshop
Project/Dissertation Supervision:
- Final Year Project supervision
- MSc Children's Psychological Disorders dissertation supervision
Personal & Academic tutor for UG and MSc students
Research topics and related papers
My research is broadly concerned with social information processing, and particularly the brain systems underlying the processing of social signals, like faces and eye gaze. Specifically, current projects are investigating how context affects the processing of social signals, and how the brain combines information from these different signals (e.g. Teufel et al, 2019; Ward et al, 2022). I'm particularly interested in how emotion information from the face and body are integrated, and what this can tell us about principles governing social information processing in the brain.
I am also interested in how social information processing changes during development (e.g. Ward et al, 2022), and how it might differ in people with Autism (e.g. von dem Hagen et al, Cerebral Cortex, 2014; von dem Hagen et al, Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, 2013). Current projects include exploring social synchrony (e.g. Bowsher-Murray et al, 2022) and emotion recognition difficulties in children, and investigating the use of humanoid robots in social interactions with autistic children.
My research involves a combination of behavioural and neuroimaging approaches, including psychophysics, eyetracking, functional MRI, and diffusion MRI.
Research Funding
2020-2021 - Wellcome Trust ISSF Cross-Disciplinary Award, £48,069
2012-2013 - MRC Centenary Award, £52,530
Research collaborators
GW4 Neurodevelopmental Neurodiversity Network
Neurodevelopment Assessment Unit (NDAU)
Christoph Teufel (School of Psychology/CUBRIC, Cardiff University)
Catherine Jones (School of Psychology/CUCHDS/WARC, Cardiff University)
Stephanie van Goozen (School of Psychology/CUCHDS, Cardiff University)
Punit Shah (University of Bath)
Stephan de la Rosa (MPI, Tuebingen)
Supervision
Postgraduate research interests
If you are interested in applying for a PhD, or for further information regarding my postgraduate research, please contact me directly (contact details available on the 'Overview' page), or submit a formal application.
Current students
Claire Bowsher-Murray (start date October 2018; jointly supervised with C. Jones)
Abigail Finn (start date October 2019; jointly supervised with C. Teufel)
Özge Gezer (start date October 2020; jointly supervised with S. van Goozen)
Carly McGregor (start date October 2021; jointly supervised with C. Jones, C. Wallbridge)
Past projects
- Isobel Ward PhD 2021. Information processing in the social brain.
- Marek Pedziwiatr PhD 2021. Investigating the role of image meaning and prior knowledge in human eye movements control’.