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RESEARCH INTERESTS

I study how people build connection — how we come to feel what others feel, understand what they think and how these processes are shaped by who we are and whom we engage with, including the role of neurodiversity.


I investigate these questions through neuroimaging, behavioural data and machine learning, with current projects centred on emotion recognition and social interaction in both real‑world settings and virtual reality.


Equally important to me is doing science that is rigorous, transparent, and reproducible. I preregister my studies, share scripts and data whenever possible and prioritise publishing in Open Access journals to make my work accessible to all.

SOCIAL INTERACTION

Our social lives often revolve around interactions with others. These moments can serve many purposes, from sharing ideas to deepening relationships. The success of social interactions isn’t always easy to measure. What makes an interaction feel rewarding? It often comes down to connection. When two people are truly ‘in sync,’ understanding flows more easily, and the relationship grows stronger.

EMOTION RECOGNITION

Recognising emotions is the first step to truly connecting with others. Humans are remarkably skilled at reading feelings in a glance—whether joy, anger, or even complex, mixed emotions. Yet this ability isn’t universal. Neurodiversity and life experiences such as motherhood can shape how we perceive and interpret emotional cues. Exploring these differences helps us understand what makes human connection so unique.

VIRTUAL INTERACTIONS

The way we connect with others is changing fast. Today, many conversations take place in virtual spaces, whether on social media or in immersive virtual reality. These environments share some similarities with face-to-face interactions, but they also introduce new challenges. Fragmented information and added uncertainty can make it harder to read intentions or emotions. And sometimes, we are not even interacting with humans at all. Artificial agents can blend seamlessly into these spaces, often without us realising.

NEURODIVERSITY

Not everyone experiences social and emotional cues in the same way. Neurodiversity reminds us that differences in perception and processing are part of the human spectrum. For some, recognising emotions or staying ‘in sync’ during interactions can feel effortless, while for others it may require more conscious effort. These variations are not deficits—they shape unique ways of connecting and communicating, both in real life and in virtual spaces. Understanding neurodiversity helps us appreciate the richness of human interaction.

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METHODS & SKILLS

STATISTICS

  • brms

  • lme4

  • model comparison

  • simulation-based calibration

  • computational modelling, e.g., hierarchical drift diffusion models, hierarchical gaussian filters

DATA TYPES

  • (f)MRI

  • EEG

  • Psychophysiological data (EDA, BVP)

  • Gaze and pupillometry

  • Automated extraction from video and audio recordings

  • Synchrony computation

TOOLBOXES

  • SPM12

  • CONN

  • CAT12

  • FSL

  • Fieldtrip

MACHINE LEARNING

  • scikit-learn: classification and clustering

  • NeuroMiner: classification and stacking

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