[visionlist] PhD studentship – ‘Examining the link between multisensory and emotional processes in anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder’, University of Bath and Exeter, UK

[Karin Petrini]

??A fully-funded 3.5 year PhD studentship from the MRC is available on a competitive basis to work with Dr Karin Petrini (Bath), Dr Anke Karl (Exeter), Prof Krasimira Tsaneva-Atanasova (Exeter) and Dr Chris Ashwin (Bath).



Despite evidence of altered multisensory processes in individuals with socio-emotional deficits (e.g. autism spectrum disorders), no study has examined these processes in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. This project will fill this gap in research and clarify the role of multisensory processing in Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy.



With this PhD project we aim to examine whether:

1) multisensory processing is modulated by levels of anxiety;

2) the effect of anxiety on multisensory processing is mediated by the degree of autistic traits as we know that these traits are often correlated;

3) multisensory processing is affected in PTSD patients;

4) facilitating adaptive multisensory integration using virtual reality (VR) as a safe space for learning new information and behaviours has important therapeutic implications;

5) we can derive and select interpretable features in the data to design a classification algorithm that allows us to discriminate between patients and healthy individuals.



Applications are invited from excellent candidates with at least an upper-second class honours degree and/or Master’s level and/or equivalent professional practice in psychology, neuroscience, computer science, or related areas. Previous research experience (e.g. at Master’s level) would be an advantage. For further information about the project, the requirements and how to apply, please refer to the following link: https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=88834.



The studentship covers UK/EU tuition fees, generous training/research costs and a stipend (currently £14,553 p.a., 2017/18 rate) for 3.5 years. The closing date for applications is 24th November 2017 (interviews are scheduled for late January).



Please do not hesitate to contact Dr Petrini at k.petrini at bath.ac.uk<mailto:m.proulx at qmul.ac.uk> for informal queries and further information.?

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://visionscience.com/pipermail/visionlist_visionscience.com/attachments/20170926/3ecbb772/attachment.html>