To contribute to an improved understanding of the brain and behaviour.  

A vibrant and ambitious department, which is welcoming and supportive to all. We conduct world-leading, translational research spanning basic and fundamental (neuro)science to applied research in industry, health-care, and behaviour change. Our research ethos is multi-disciplinary and collaborative, with a focus on quality, and impact. We are committed to excellence in scholarship, teaching and nurturing students to their full potential.

Our challenges

Multi-agency information sharing and co-ordination

Working with various forces focusing on mutli-agency responses to missing persons, in particular children.

Improving emergency responses

We work alongside Merseyside Fire and Rescue examining responses to major incidents to improve emergency response training.

Maternal Mental Health

We conduct research into factors related to maternal mental health, e.g. drinking during and post-pregnancy, and supporting breastfeeding while protecting emotional wellbeing.

Tackling Food insecurity and socio-economic inequalities in diet

We are examining ways in which ruralising urban areas through greening can create sustainable and resilient food systems. We also examine how population level interventions for obesity can overcome socio-economic inequalities.

Mental health and comorbid substance use

Our research aims to understand how and why problematic alcohol and substance use are more likely in individuals with a mental health problem. Identifying the risk factors for comorbidity as potential targets for intervention

Informing and evaluating government policy around alcohol and obesity

We conduct research examining potential policy changes, their likely benefits, costs, and barriers to implementation.

Pain Research

We investigate brain mechanisms by which the conscious experience of pain (both experimental and clinical) is generated and how brain states influence pain-related behaviour.

The development of language in childhood

We use multi-method approaches to study how children learn to communicate with language, how the developing brain supports this process, and how it is affected by cross-linguistic, socio-cultural and individual variation.

Research centres

Liverpool Centre for Alcohol Research

The Liverpool Centre for Alcohol Research is a collaborative space for research into alcohol use. Its goal is to promote healthier local, national and international populations through alcohol-related research and innovation, by harnessing the skills of current researchers, using the latest technology and testing unique ideas.

Liverpool Obesity Research Network

The Liverpool Obesity Research Network consists of research units and laboratories based across the University of Liverpool, Aintree University Hospital and Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospital Trusts. It promotes inter-disciplinary research with the university and wider region, with a focus on ingestive behaviour, endocrinology and obesity biology.

LuCiD – The ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development

The ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD) is a five year research collaboration working with partners from across the world to transform our understanding of how children learn to communicate with language. It consists of over 40 researchers and 7 PhD students. LuCiD’s work focuses around capacity building, technology development and primary research into language development in children.

Research groups

Addiction

Appetite & Obesity

Forensic, Investigative and Conflict

Perception / Cognitive and Clinical Psychology

Language Development

 

 

 

Case studies

Prioritising Indecent Image Offenders to Prevent the Sexual Abuse of Children

Improving the Effectiveness of Decision Making and Communication in Law Enforcement, Defence, Emergency, and Security Services

Unhealthy food advertising to children: Impacting on a watershed policy

Facilities

Kissilef Laboratory

The Kissilef laboratory is one of the largest dedicated facilities to the study of appetite and ingestive behaviour of its kind. It consists of a research kitchen, assessment room, testing rooms, biological assessment laboratory, bioassay laboratory, a media analysis suite, a social eating laboratory and a participant lounge.

Bar Laboratory

The lab is used for research investigating contextual influences on drinking behaviour, and the acute effects of alcohol on cognitive processes such as the automatic processing of drug-related cues, behavioural control and impulsivity.

EEG Laboratory

The laboratory hosts 2 EGI Geodesics 128 channel EEG systems in electrically shielded rooms, 2 Biosemi 64 channel EEG systems (one with electrical shielding) and 1 Brain Products 64 channel EEG system with a MOVE wireless system. These systems allow for advanced capture of electrical brain signals (Event Related Potentials), as well as other biological markers including heart rate variability, respiration and skin conductance.

Visual and Audio-visual laboratory

This laboratory supports our research in visual and auditory psychophysics, and haptic testing. The research is conducted in the general public but also clinical and neurological patient populations.

Brain and Behaviour Laboratory

This laboratory supports the work of the Department’s Appetite, Addiction and Perception research groups. It contains a flexible number of laboratories and a kitchen, a wetlab, and a cutting-edge 128-channel electroencephalography system