Event overview
Psychology Department Research Seminars
Abstract
In this seminar I will give an overview of the opportunities and findings that have emerged from my arts science collaboration, funded by the Wellcome Trust.
The work has centered around “Claire”, a 50 year-old woman with amnesia, and some striking parallels with St Kilda, an island that was evacuated in 1930. Martin Conway and I have worked closely with artist Shona Illingworth and also Claire herself, who is a formal member of the collaborative team.
One key aim of the project was to find a new way to help people understand the experience of amnesia, through the production of a series of artworks that reflect and are informed by (1) our scientific understanding of amnesia and (2) Claire’s personal experience of amnesia.
The rationale behind this project is that artworks are a poetic approach to stimulate questions and the work is currently being exhibited as part of the “States of Mind” exhibition at the Wellcome Collection. A second and equally important aim was to produce new experimental and qualitative research into the nature of amnesia.
The collaboration has indeed produced some very interesting results so far, and there is EEG work that is ongoing. I hope to provoke some discussion about the potential advantages of such a collaboration and to convince some of you that this approach has real scientific worth.
Biography
Catherine Loveday is a graduate of the University of Westminster (formerly PCL) She began her career with a PhD in the neuropsychology of memory and ageing, supervised by Alan Parkin (University of Sussex) & Brenda Walter (University of Westminster) and continues to focus on the nature of normal and impaired memory, in particular autobiographical memory.
Her particular area of expertise lies in cognitive assessment (especially memory and executive function) and the use of cognitive profiling for the diagnosis and clinical management of hydrocephalus, Anorexia Nervosa, traumatic brain injury and dementia.
Catherine has also published papers across an eclectic range of other topics including the relationship between stress hormones and attachment in adolescence as well as the psychology of music. Catherine is an active member of the BPS, as Deputy Chair to the Standing Conference Committee, a member of the editorial committee for The Psychologist and a member of the Research Board.
She has a passion for public engagement with science, is regularly invited to give public lectures and has also appeared as an expert psychologist in a number of television and radio programmes.
Dates & times
Date | Time | Add to calendar |
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27 Oct 2016 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm |
Accessibility
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