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James Mulcahy

James Mulcahy

PhD Student
E: J.mulcahy@bsms.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1273 873132
Location: Trafford Centre for Medical Research, University of Sussex, BN1 9RY

Areas of expertise: Psychology, neurodevelopmental disorders, neuroimaging, psychophysiology and interacting with clinical populations.

Research areas: The acquisition and maintenance of anxiety disorders and neurodevelopmental disorders, specifically examining the neurobiological differences between adult females with autism and their typically developing counterparts.

Biography

James completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology at Swansea University where he achieved a first Class Honours and, in my final year of study, he received the award for the best final year independent research project entitled ‘Learned, observed and instructed pathways to fear and human threat avoidance’. He then went on to study for an MSc in Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences at King’s College London. Following this, he worked for a year as a caseworker for children with special educational needs and as a part time swimming teacher/coach. James is now pursuing a PhD at BSMS.

Research

James is currently studying for a PhD working on the project entitled ‘Aligning dimensions of Interoceptive Experience (ADIE) to prevent development of anxiety disorders in autism.’ The project aims to investigate the relationship between anxiety and the signalling and perception of bodily arousal in adults with autism. Through the use of an interventional study, autonomic psychophysiology and experimental neuroimaging, he will examine interoception and its contribution to emotional and cognitive symptoms in adults with autism. He will use state of the art neuroimaging to quantify brain signatures relating to interoceptive and emotional processing. The outcome of this research will provide a novel insight into interoceptive abilities in individuals with autism and the relationship this has with anxiety.