Dr Sebastian Korb
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Email
sebastian.korb@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 873929
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Location
1.702, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
I earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from University of Strasbourg, France, and a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, where I also did an internship with Jack van Honk and Dennis Schutter. I went on to get a Ph.D in experimental psychology from Geneva University, under the supervision of Didier Grandjean and Klaus Scherer. A fellowship for prospective researchers from the Swiss National Science Foundation allowed me to do a 2-year postdoc with Paula Niedenthal (and spend time in Richard Davidson‘s lab) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Afterwards I moved to the laboratory of Raffaella Rumiati in the Neuroscience department at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste, Italy. I then spent 3 years as a postdoc in the Psychology department at the University of Vienna, Austria, where I mainly studied the neural bases of primary and social reward in a project with Giorgia Silani and Chris Eisenegger. In 2019 I became PI of a Stand-Alone grant by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) to investigate the role of facial feedback in emotion recognition using neuromuscular electric stimulation. Since January 2020 I am a lecturer at the Department of Psychology of the University of Essex.
Qualifications
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PhD University of Geneva, (2010)
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MSc Utrecht University, (2006)
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BSc University of Strasbourg, (2004)
Appointments
University of Essex
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Lecturer, Psychology, University of Essex (1/1/2020 - present)
Other academic
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Postdoc, Psychology, University of Vienna (16/9/2016 - 31/12/2019)
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Postdoc, Neuroscience, International School for Advanced Studies (1/9/2014 - 15/9/2016)
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Research Associate, Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison (1/4/2014 - 30/6/2014)
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Postdoc, Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison (1/4/2012 - 31/3/2014)
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Postdoc, Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva (1/1/2011 - 31/3/2012)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Embodiment in facial emotion recognition
I am particularly interested in understanding how proprioceptive information about our own body (e.g. facial feedback) is generated and how it contributes to processing, recognition, and awareness of emotions in others (e.g. facial expressions). When focusing on the face, this line of research requires understanding the psychological processes and neural substrates underlying the perception and production of facial expressions, as well as visuo-proprioceptive multisensory integration.
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Discovering Psychology: The Science Behind Human Behaviour (PS111)
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Seeing and Hearing (PS414)
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The Neuroscience of Human Nature (PS495)
Publications
Journal articles (25)
Korb, S. and Massaccesi, C., Angry men and happy women – A pre-registered replication using psychophysics
Massaccesi, C., Chiappini, E., Paracampo, R. and Korb, S., Large gatherings? No, thank you. Devaluation of crowded social scenes during the COVID-19 pandemic
Forbes, PAG., Korb, S., Radloff, A. and Lamm, C., (2021). The effects of self-relevance vs. reward value on facial mimicry. Acta Psychologica. 212, 103193-103193
Silva, F., Gomes, N., Korb, S. and Semin, GR., (2020). Not All Emotions Are Equal: Fear Chemosignals Lower Awareness Thresholds Only for Fearful Faces. Chemical Senses. 45 (7), 601-608
Massaccesi, C., Korb, S., Skoluda, N., Nater, UM. and Silani, G., (2020). Effects of appetitive and aversive motivational states on wanting and liking of interpersonal touch. Neuroscience
Korb, S., Götzendorfer, SJ., Massaccesi, C., Sezen, P., Graf, I., Willeit, M., Eisenegger, C. and Silani, G., (2020). Dopaminergic and opioidergic regulation during anticipation and consumption of social and nonsocial rewards. eLife. 9, 1-22
Korb, S., Massaccesi, C., Gartus, A., Lundström, JN., Rumiati, R., Eisenegger, C. and Silani, G., (2020). Facial responses of adult humans during the anticipation and consumption of touch and food rewards.. Cognition. 194, 104044-104044
Osimo, SA., Korb, S. and Aiello, M., (2019). Obesity, subliminal perception and inhibition: Neuromodulation of the prefrontal cortex. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 119, 103408-103408
Korb, S., Goldman, R., Davidson, RJ. and Niedenthal, PM., (2019). Increased Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Decreased Zygomaticus Activation in Response to Disliked Smiles Suggest Top-Down Inhibition of Facial Mimicry. Frontiers in Psychology. 10 (JULY), 1715-
Cecchetto, C., Korb, S., Rumiati, RI. and Aiello, M., (2018). Emotional reactions in moral decision-making are influenced by empathy and alexithymia. Social Neuroscience. 13 (2), 226-240
Korb, S., Osimo, SA., Suran, T., Goldstein, A. and Rumiati, RI., (2017). Face proprioception does not modulate access to visual awareness of emotional faces in a continuous flash suppression paradigm. Consciousness and Cognition. 51, 166-180
Korb, S., Wood, A., Rychlowska, M. and Niedenthal, P., (2016). The Perils of Boxes and Arrows: Reply to Gallese and Caruana. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 20 (6), 398-399
Wagenmakers, E-J., Beek, T., Dijkhoff, L., Gronau, QF., Acosta, A., Adams, RB., Albohn, DN., Allard, ES., Benning, SD., Blouin-Hudon, E-M., Bulnes, LC., Caldwell, TL., Calin-Jageman, RJ., Capaldi, CA., Carfagno, NS., Chasten, KT., Cleeremans, A., Connell, L., DeCicco, JM., Dijkstra, K., Fischer, AH., Foroni, F., Hess, U., Holmes, KJ., Jones, JLH., Klein, O., Koch, C., Korb, S., Lewinski, P., Liao, JD., Lund, S., Lupianez, J., Lynott, D., Nance, CN., Oosterwijk, S., Ozdoğru, AA., Pacheco-Unguetti, AP., Pearson, B., Powis, C., Riding, S., Roberts, T-A., Rumiati, RI., Senden, M., Shea-Shumsky, NB., Sobocko, K., Soto, JA., Steiner, TG., Talarico, JM., van Allen, ZM., Vandekerckhove, M., Wainwright, B., Wayand, JF., Zeelenberg, R., Zetzer, EE. and Zwaan, RA., (2016). Registered Replication Report. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 11 (6), 917-928
Neufeld, J., Ioannou, C., Korb, S., Schilbach, L. and Chakrabarti, B., (2016). Spontaneous Facial Mimicry is Modulated by Joint Attention and Autistic Traits. Autism Research. 9 (7), 781-789
Korb, S., Wood, A., Banks, CA., Agoulnik, D., Hadlock, TA. and Niedenthal, PM., (2016). Asymmetry of Facial Mimicry and Emotion Perception in Patients With Unilateral Facial Paralysis. JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery. 18 (3), 222-227
Wood, A., Rychlowska, M., Korb, S. and Niedenthal, P., (2016). Fashioning the Face: Sensorimotor Simulation Contributes to Facial Expression Recognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 20 (3), 227-240
Korb, S., Malsert, J., Strathearn, L., Vuilleumier, P. and Niedenthal, P., (2016). Sniff and mimic - Intranasal oxytocin increases facial mimicry in a sample of men.. Hormones and Behaviour. 84, 64-74
Korb, S., Frühholz, S. and Grandjean, D., (2015). Reappraising the voices of wrath. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 10 (12), 1644-1660
Korb, S., Malsert, J., Rochas, V., Rihs, TA., Rieger, SW., Schwab, S., Niedenthal, PM. and Grandjean, D., (2015). Gender differences in the neural network of facial mimicry of smiles – An rTMS study. Cortex. 70, 101-114
Korb, S., With, S., Niedenthal, P., Kaiser, S. and Grandjean, D., (2014). The Perception and Mimicry of Facial Movements Predict Judgments of Smile Authenticity. PLoS ONE. 9 (6), e99194-e99194
Rychlowska, M., Korb, S., Brauer, M., Droit-Volet, S., Augustinova, M., Zinner, L. and Niedenthal, PM., (2014). Pacifiers Disrupt Adults’ Responses to Infants’ Emotions. Basic and Applied Social Psychology. 36 (4), 299-308
Carr, EW., Korb, S., Niedenthal, PM. and Winkielman, P., (2014). The two sides of spontaneity: Movement onset asymmetries in facial expressions influence social judgments. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 55, 31-36
Korb, S., Grandjean, D., Samson, AC., Delplanque, S. and Scherer, KR., (2012). Stop laughing! Humor perception with and without expressive suppression. Social Neuroscience. 7 (5), 510-524
Korb, S., Grandjean, D. and Scherer, KR., (2010). Timing and voluntary suppression of facial mimicry to smiling faces in a Go/NoGo task—An EMG study. Biological Psychology. 85 (2), 347-349
Korb, S., Grandjean, D. and Scherer, K., (2008). Motor Commands of Facial Expressions: The Bereitschaftspotential of Posed Smiles. Brain Topography. 20 (4), 232-238
Book chapters (1)
Niedenthal, PM., Korb, S., Wood, A. and Rychlowska, M., (2016). Revisiting the Simulation of Smiles model: the what, when, and why of mimicking smiles. In: Emotional Mimicry in Social Context. Cambridge University Press. 44- 71. 9781107587595
Conferences (2)
Korb, S., Grandjean, D. and Scherer, K., (2008). Investigating the production of emotional facial expressions: a combined electroencephalographic (EEG) and electromyographic (EMG) approach
Korb, S., Grandjean, D. and Scherer, K., (2008). The neuromotor antecedents of emotion regulation in the face
Reports and Papers (1)
Korb, S., Götzendorfer, SJ., Massaccesi, C., Sezen, P., Graf, I., Willeit, M., Eisenegger, C. and Silani, G., (2019). Dopaminergic and opioidergic regulation of implicit hedonic facial reactions during anticipation and consumption of social and nonsocial rewards
Grants and funding
2019
Neuromuscular electric stimulation and social cognition
FWF Austrian Science Fund (Der Wissenschaftsfonds FWF)