Department of Psychology

We investigate how psychoactive substances work in the brain, the effects they produce, and how this affects behaviour and broader society.

We work with and deliver education, training and research to reduce suffering and saves lives (in health, law enforcement, security, emergency and defence services).

We conduct and synthesise research to help inform the design and implementation of public health policies related to dietary health and obesity, including evaluations of likely efficacy, cost, barriers to implementation, and impact on health inequalities.

We aim is to further understanding of the neurobiological and psychological foundations of cognitive and sensory functions in the human brain. Our work uses state-of-the-art methods including: psychophysics, eye tracking, electrophysiology, functional and structural brain imaging, computational modeling, Virtual Reality, brain stimulation and neuropsychological studies of patients with acquired cognitive, sensory and motor impairments and neuro-degenerative illnesses.

We use multi-method approaches to study how children learn to communicate with language, how the developing brain supports this process, and how it is affected by cross-linguistic, socio-cultural and individual variation.

Our research seeks to understand the strategies, interventions and policies that are needed to promote better access to healthy and sustainable foods in an equitable way. We design interventions and examine feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness in real-world settings including schools and retailers.

We investigate brain mechanisms by which the conscious experience of pain (both experimental and clinical) is generated and how brain states influence pain-related behaviour.

We are working alongside Merseyside Fire and Rescue examining responses to major incidents to improve emergency response training.

We are working with various forces focusing on multi-agency responses to missing persons, in particular children.