BIOGRAPHY

Elaine Fox is Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Essex and is a Fellow of the Association of Psychological Science. She was Head of the Department of Psychology and Centre for Brain Science from 2007 until 2010.

Elaine is currently on research leave and is a Visiting Research Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford and Visiting Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.

Her new popular science book RAINY BRAIN SUNNY BRAIN will be published worldwide on 5th June 2012.

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

My overarching research interests focus on the role of cognitive biases in determining emotional vulnerability (anxiety and depression) as well as emotional resilience (wellbeing). Using techniques from cognitive psychology, my work aims to increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying psychopathology as well as human flourishing.  Recent projects take a multimodal approach and I am interested in integrating cognitive psychology and emotion science with approaches from neuroscience and molecular genetics. My research has been funded primarily by the Wellcome Trust.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Ashwin, C., Holas, P., Cahill, S., Kokoszka, A., Georgiou, G.A., & Fox, E. (in press). Differential enhancement of threat detection in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) versus panic disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders

Fox, E., Yates, A., & Ashwin, C. (in press). Trait anxiety and perceptual load as determinants of emotion processing in a fear-conditioning paradigm. Emotion

Fox, E., & Standage, H. (2012). Variation on the serotonin transporter gene and bias in the interpretation of ambiguity. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 24, 106-114. (download pdf)

Wallace, D., Eltiti, S., Ridgewell, A., Garner, K., Russo, R., Sepulveda, F., Walker, S., Quinlan, T., Dudley, S., Maung, S., Deeble, R., & Fox, E. (2012). Cognitive and physiological responses in humans exposed to a TETRA base station signal in relation to perceived electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Bioelectromagnetics, 33, (Issue 1), 23-39. (link to paper)

Fox, E., Zougkou, K., Ridgewell, A., & Garner, K. (2011). The serotonin transporter gene alters sensitivity to attention bias modification: Evidence for a plasticity gene. Biological Psychiatry, 70, (Issue 11), 1049-105. (link to paper)

Commentary on Fox et al (2011 – Biological Psychiatry) by Britton & Rauch (Biological Psychiatry 2011) ‘Attentional bias modification and the serotonin transporter: Personalized treatment implications of gene interactions with learning’. (link)

Further Commentary by Beevers & McCreary (2011 – Trends in Cognitive Sciences). (link)

Fox, E., & Zougkou, K. (2011). Influence of personality traits on processing of facial expressions. In Gill Rhodes, Jim Haxby, Mark Johnson, & Andy Calder (Eds). Handbook of Face Perception. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fox, E., Derakshan, N., & Standage, H. (2011). The assessment of human attention. In Karl Christophe Klauer, Christoph Stahl, and Andreas Voss (Eds) Cognitive Methods in Social Psychology. Guilford Press. pp. 15-47.

Alan Yates, Chris Ashwin, and Elaine Fox (2010) Does Emotion Processing Require Attention? The Effects of Fear Conditioning and Perceptual Load. Emotion, Vol. 10, No. 6, 822– 830. (download pdf)

Fox, E, Cahill, S., & Zougkou, K. (2010). Preconscious processing biases predict emotional reactivity to stress. Biological Psychiatry, 67, 371-377. (link to paper)

Ewbank, M.P., Fox, E. & Calder, A. (2010). The interaction between gaze and facial expression in the amygdala and extended amygdala is modulated by anxiety. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 4, 1-11. (link to paper)

Standage, H., Ashwin, C., & Fox, E. (2010). Is manipulation of mood a critical component of cognitive bias modification procedures? Behavior Research & Therapy, 48, 4-10. (link to paper)

Fox, E., Ridgewell, A., & Ashwin, C. (2009). Looking on the bright side: Biased attention and the human serotonin transporter gene. Proceedings of the Royal Society (Biological Sciences), 276, 1747-1751. (link to paper)

Commentary on Fox et al (2009 – Proceedings of the Royal Society) by Nisimura et al (Molecular Psyhciatry) ‘ The human serotonin transporter gene explains why some people are more optimistic that others’. (link)

See also Wellcome Trust (link)

Standage, H., Ashwin, C., & Fox, E. (2009). Comparing auditory and visual presentation for the modification of interpretation bias. Journal of Behavior Therapy & Experimental Psychiatry, 40, 558-570. (link to paper)

MacLeod, C., Koster, E., & Fox, E. (2009). Whither cognitive bias modification research? Commentary on the special section articles. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118, 89-100. (link to paper)

Fox, E., Derakshan, N., & Shoker, L. (2008). Trait anxiety modulates the electrophysiological indices of rapid spatial orienting towards angry faces. NeuroReport, 19, 259-263. (link to paper)

Book

A critically acclaimed book summarizes the scientific understanding of the nature of human emotions and emotional disorders. This book attempts to integrate the complex literature on emotions and their related disorders using cognitive, neuroscienctific, and molecular genetic approach.

Fox, E.  (2008). Emotion Science: Neuroscientific and Cognitive Approaches to Understanding Human Emotions. Palgrave Macmillan. (link)