Paul Bays is a Professor of Computation and Cognition in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He investigates the nature of the internal representations our brains construct and sustain to interact with the world and the computations performed on them to achieve behavioural goals.
Estherina Trachtenberg is a Blavatnik Postdoctoral Fellow in the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge and is currently working in the lab of Prof. Duncan Astle. She studies social connectedness and its impact on health, cognition, and the underlying brain networks.
Illusion involving a hidden thumb confounds capuchin and squirrel monkeys for the same reason as humans – it misdirects the expected outcomes of actions they can carry out.
Early-life adversity has long-term effects on children’s mental health, which in turn affects cognitive functioning as teenagers, say researchers. However, if mental health improves over time this outcome can be alleviated.
Children in West Africa with cognitive difficulties are going undiagnosed because the tests used to assess their mental health are based on Western norms. Kwabena Kusi-Mensah is working with communities in Nigeria and Ghana to develop assessments that are culturally appropriate.
Seven hours is the ideal amount of sleep for people in their middle age and upwards, with too little or too much sleep associated with poorer cognitive performance and mental health, say researchers from the University of Cambridge and Fudan University.
Cambridge-led computerised cognitive assessments transform early detection and treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Scientists have mapped an underlying “psychological signature” for people who are predisposed to holding extreme social, political or religious attitudes – and support violence in the name of ideology.
Latest research shows that reduced cognitive flexibility is associated with more 'extreme' beliefs and identities at both ends of the political spectrum. Researchers say that “heightening our cognitive flexibility might help build more tolerant societies”.
Latest research combining social and political surveys with objective cognitive testing suggests that “cognitive flexibility” contributes to formation of ideology. The study finds correlations between cognitive thinking styles and support for Brexit.
© 2025 University of Cambridge