Lab Director

Patricia is a Professor of Decision Neuroscience, Sir Henry Dale Fellow and Jacobs Foundation Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham. She was previously a Junior Research Fellow at Christ Church and Somerville College, University of Oxford, and a Medical Research Council Fellow at the Univeristy of Birmingham, University of Oxford and University of Zurich. She holds a PhD in Psychology from University College London and a BSc in Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Bristol. Outside of the lab, she enjoys spending time with her very fluffy cat SoftMax, socialising with friends, and eating nice food.

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Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Jo researches prosocial decisions to help other people and why we are curious about what is happening to others. Jo is currently a Wellcome Trust Early Career Fellow. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the SDN Lab at the University of Oxford then University of Birmingham. Jo completed her PhD in Psychology and MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, and has a BSc in Psychology from the University of Leeds. Outside of the lab, Jo enjoys exploring Birmingham, learning salsa, and visiting new places.

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Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Todd is a postdoctoral research fellow investigating how our environment affects decisions to help (or hurt) others. He holds a PhD and MSc in Psychology from McGill University, and a BSc in Psychology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Outside of the lab, Todd enjoys catching up with friends, playing guitar, watching movies, and failing at crosswords.

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Medical Research Council IMPACT PhD Student

Margot is a PhD student funded by the MRC IMPACT DTP at the University of Birmingham. She is supervised by Prof. Patricia Lockwood, Prof. Stephane De Brito and Dr. Jo Cutler at the University of Birmingham, and Dr. Mark Haselgrove at the University of Nottingham. She holds an MSc in Forensic Mental Health from King’s College London and a Liberal Arts and Sciences BSc from Amsterdam University College.

Margot is interested in the computational and brain mechanisms underlying the development of antisocial behaviours and psychopathy. She is currently using computational techniques to investigate social learning in patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex damage, in adolescents with conduct disorder, and in typical development.

In her free time, Margot enjoys yoga, having good food with friends, and learning new arts and crafts.

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Economic and Social Research Council DTP 1+3 PhD Student

Paul is an ESRC DTP 1+3 PhD student studying the psychological, computational and neural mechanisms of prosocial behaviour. He is supervised by Dr Patricia Lockwood and Professor Ian Apperly at the University of Birmingham. After a BA in Chemistry from the University of Oxford, Paul had a 25-year career in business and NGO sectors including 10 years with Oxfam. This led him to an interest in studying the psychological drivers of pro-sociality and altruism, particularly how they manifest in real-world situations. He has an MSc in Psychology from Oxford Brookes University and an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Reading. In his spare time Paul likes running (specifically the feeling after finishing a run), drinking wine (specifically not the feeling after), and is currently working towards creating the world's best cricket-based board game.

CV • Twitter: @PaulVanags

PhD Student

Zhilin is a second-year PhD student in Psychology funded by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. He is supervised by Dr Patricia Lockwood, Dr Matthew Apps and Dr Todd Vogel at the University of Birmingham. He holds an MSc in Brain and Mind Sciences and a BSc in Psychology from National Taiwan University. Zhilin is intrigued by the behavioural, computational and neural mechanisms underlying social learning and decision-making in health, disease, and development. He is currently using Bayesian computational modelling to explore the causal role of vmPFC in people’s susceptibility to social influence. Outside of the lab, he enjoys doing gymnastics, playing volleyball, and eating chocolate chip cookies.

CV • Twitter: @su_zhilin

BBSRC MIBTP PhD Student

Janine holds a BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience and an MSc in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience from Maastricht University. In the course of her Masters, she completed a research internship at the School for Mental Health and Neuroscience in which she focused on instrumental learning and effort-based decision making in individuals with motivational deficits. She also worked as a research assistant at the University of Amsterdam where she used psychometric network analysis to model the development and interaction of symptoms. Janine is particularly interested in the computational and neural mechanisms underlying social learning and decision making – and how these are altered in psychiatric and neurological disorders. Outside of the lab, Janine enjoys yoga, discovering new music, and a good cup of coffee.

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Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council PhD Student

Eden is a PhD student funded by the ERC/UKRI. She is interested in the psychological, computational, and neural processes underlying social interaction during both positive and negative interactions. Eden holds both a BSc and an MSc in Psychology from National Taiwan University. Currently, she is researching how focal lesions to the medial prefrontal cortex impact strategic social interactions under the supervision of Prof. Patricia Lockwood and Dr. Lei Zhang at the University of Birmingham. Outside of her studies in psychology and neuroscience, Eden enjoys exploring music, beverages, and cats from around the world.

CV • Twitter: @EdenHsiehTaiwan

Research Assistant / Lab Manager

Elizabeth has a BSc in Neuroscience from Aston University, which included a placement year as a Research Assistant at the University of Birmingham and two summer studentships. Elizabeth is interested in creating impactful research that enables better understanding of how neural mechanisms underpin behaviour and how this might change over the lifespan, particularly in individuals with complex needs and neurodevelopmental conditions. In her previous role she led a longitudinal project looking at behavioural and emotional outcomes in individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions and aided in using this dataset to create a large scale rare genetic syndrome database. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling to new places, cooking new recipes and attempting to crochet.

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