Cardiff Laboratory of Affective Neuroscience (CLAN)
Work in the Cardiff Laboratory of Affective Neuroscience (CLAN) uses neuroscience techniques to study the structure of human emotion systems, with the ultimate aim of developing a non-arbitrary, biologically based taxonomy of emotions.
Since, in my view, emotions function primarily in a social context, much of my research has examined the extent to which specific neural systems may be relatively dedicated to processing the social signals (e.g. facial expressions) linked with emotion states, and the extent to which other neural systems may play more general roles in emotion.
Linked to this view, I am interested in how emotion states and personality traits can influence our attention to, and perception of, the world. In particular, which aspects of attention and perception are influenced by emotion states, and are such influences amenable to cognitive control? How do such influences interact in shaping vulnerability to ‘internalizing’ and ‘externalizing’ emotional problems?
My work seeks to build theoretical bridges connecting basic emotion and attention research with disciplines including clinical-, social- and personality- psychology, ethology, genetics and medicine.
The methods used in CLAN include fMRI and PET scanning, behavioural testing, patient-based neuropsychology, psychopharmacology and magnetoencephalography and TMS – whatever it takes to address the question at hand.