Felicia
Huppert’s longstanding engagement in research on cognitive
neuropsychology is now being augmented by an examination
of the way in which affect (positive and negative mood)
influences cognitive processing. Experimental studies are
using mood induction techniques to establish which aspects
of cognitive processing are enhanced or impaired by different
mood states. Paradigms are being developed which will be
employed to examine patterns of brain activation using functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This work is being undertaken
in collaboration with the Brain Mapping Unit in the Department
of Psychiatry.
A focus of the research on cognitive neuropsychology has
been the examination of age differences in cognitive capability,
and particularly the factors associated with the maintenance
of cognitive function and the concept of ‘successful
ageing’. This will remain a focus of the new work which
combines affective neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience.
Among the questions being addressed is whether positive
and negative emotions have comparable effects on task performance
among older compared with younger individuals, and how mood
state and affective style can moderate age-related responses
to stressful experiences.
Read a chapter by Felicia Huppert which reviews recent
studies on the neuroscience of cognition, intelligence, nootropics and emotion.
(PDF file) Press Release |
