Profile

I live in Barry, not far from the beach, which is where I take my dog most mornings. I’ve studied at Cardiff University for 7 years, starting with a BSc Psychology with a placements year, an MSc in Research Methods, and now starting the 3rd year of my PhD – time definitely flies by!

Part of my research involves studying how the brain responds when we make an error on a task, and to do this we use electroencephalography (short name is EEG) to measure electrical activity on your scalp. We use small sensors called electrodes and in order to detect the small amounts of electrical activity we use some conductive gel, which later has to be washed off. Its a very cool but strange feeling having gel placed on your scalp!

I also really enjoy baking (although prefer the eating of the baked goods), and I’m currently trying to keep up with the bakes from the Great British Bake Off each week.

I”m currently researching how aspects of mental health, such as anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as problematic eating behaviours, are linked to certain types of behaviour and performance in tasks. The research focuses on tasks that require us to use our attention and shift our attention between different things, as well as stop ourselves from making a response on a task when we shouldn’t (inhibit a response). These can be linked to how our brain responds on these tasks and something I’m especially interested in is how our brain responds when we make an error on a task. Some people have been shown to make a larger response to committing an error than others, and this could be linked to whether this person has higher levels of anxiety. We’re interested in whether this is also the case for childen who have higher levels of problematic eating behaviours, such as dieting and restricting their food intake. These behaviours could develop into more serious problems, and even eating disorders, which is why we are interested in whether there is a link earlier on that could be supported. This would then reduce the risk of developing more serious eating problems.