Johanna Simpson

When I started studying psychology at the University of Mannheim in Germany, it was with the intention of becoming a counseller. But I quickly developed a keen interest in the scientific side of the subject and was even then particularly interested in cognitive psychology. After I gained my Vordiplom in Mannheim I moved to Glasgow, where I started my Master of Social Science in Psychology in 2004. I had the good furtune to be able to experience various ways of doing science in a number of placements and projects, ranging from an eye-tracking study of attentional bias in smokers to an fMRI study of learned helplessness in MD patients.

After graduating from the University of Glasgow in 2008, I began work on my PhD project here in Stirling. My main interest lies in possible genetic influences on emotional memory, that is the enhancing effect of emotion on memory, and its neural correlates. Additionally I am interested in connections between this effect and the disorders of depression and schizophrenia, both of which have been shown to go along with altered emotional memory.