Skin-mediated interoception and emotion

•  Supervisors: Dr Laura Crucianelli
• Studentship Funding: 
• Name: SBBS Studentship
• Funder: School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences (SBBS) at QMUL
• Application Deadline: 23:59PM on 15th October 2024
• Expected Start Date: January 2025

Download this document for further details, eligibility criteria and how to apply. [PDF 73KB]

Project Overview

Applications are open for a 3-year funded PhD Studentship in the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences (SBBS) at Queen Mary University of London.

Interoception, the perception of the physiological status of the body, is related to the generation of bodily feelings and the awareness of ourselves as ‘sentient beings’, informing the organism about its bodily needs to guarantee survival. Previous studies have reported links among interoception, emotion processing, and mental health. Interoception is therefore central to our physical and mental wellbeing. For example, the alignment of interoceptive dimensions (i.e., accuracy, sensibility, awareness) can predict emotional symptoms, such as anxiety. 

This project will investigate the relationship between the perception of a certain type of skin-mediated interoceptive signal, i.e., thermosensation, touch, o pain and the experience of emotion in healthy participants. The aim will be to better understand the link between mind, brain and body and to provide novel insight into potential risk factors for the development of mental health conditions. 

As part of this PhD project, you would be mainly using behavioural and psychophysiological methods to answer the research questions. Depending on your interest, there is, however, scope to also engage in electrophysiological recordings (EEG) and computational modelling of behavioural data. If you are interested in the project, please feel free to get in touch with Dr Laura Crucianelli ([email protected]) for an informal discussion.

Find out more about the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences on our website.

Research Environment

How do we integrate signals coming from inside our body (i.e., interoception) with signals coming from outside the body (i.e., exteroception) to create a coherent sense of self? And how do we combine signals from different senses to perceive the world around us, that is constantly changing?

Dr Crucianelli’s lab combines behavioural, psychophysiological, and neuroimaging methods to shed new light on the relationship between mind, brain, and body. To address these research questions, the lab takes advantage of a variety of methods, such as bodily illusions, multisensory integration, somatosensory tasks, interoceptive accuracy tasks, virtual reality, and self-reported questionnaires in both healthy and clinical populations. 

Further details about Dr Crucianelli are available here.

Find out more about the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences on our website. 

Entry Requirements & Criteria

We are looking for candidates to have or expecting to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree and a Master’s degree in an area relevant to the project such as Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Mental health, Physiology. 

Experience in conducting research and in running behavioural experiments is desirable. 

Experience in analysing behavioural data using SPSS, JASP, MATLAB or R would be highly advantageous but is not required.

Find out more about our entry requirements here.

Funding

The studentship is funded by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). It will cover home tuition fees, and provide an annual tax-free maintenance allowance for 3 years at the UKRI rate (£21,237 in 2024/25). 

Please find out more about funding and eligibility via: Crucianelli_QMUL SBBS Studentship Details [PDF 73KB]

Any further queries can be sent to [email protected] 

How to Apply 

Formal applications must be submitted through our online form by the stated deadline for consideration. 

Find out more about our application process on our SBBS website.

Informal enquiries about the project can be sent to Dr Laura Crucianelli at [email protected].

Admissions-related queries can be sent to [email protected].

Further details can be downloaded here: Crucianelli_QMUL SBBS Studentship Details [PDF 73KB]

Apply Online