Lydia Hickman
Research Associate at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit | interoception, cognition & mental health | (she/her)
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sites.google.com/view/dr-lydia-hickman/
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanHow does metabolic learning shape human behaviour? In our recent study www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti..., we found that it shapes flavour preferences but, surprisingly, not action. Thread 🧵
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanAre you curious about electrogastrography, but keep getting chicken-related results when googling "EGG"? We have the preprint for you! In this tutorial, we describe how to acquire and analyse gastric data from human participants. Plus FREE software! Read it here: arxiv.org/abs/2509.17260
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanNew writeup on interoception in Scientific American focusing on its role in mental health: www.scientificamerican.com/article/inte...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanNew preprint 🎉 Psych constructs are complex. Symptoms overlap, people rarely fit neat categories, and patterns are non-linear. Most methods compromise this richness. Self-Organising Maps don't. We provide a step-by-step tutorial with annotated R code to make them accessible. doi.org/10.31234/osf...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanCelebrating brilliance in UK neuroscience! The 2025 BNA Awards highlight the talent and dedication of our members @andrulyte.bsky.social @lng.org.uk and Jaya Sharma. 🏅 Read more: www.bna.org.uk/resource/202...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanCongratulations to MRC CBU’s PhD student Annalise Whines, who won the runner-up prize at the MRC Max Perutz Science Communication Awards in the video category. ‘Does motivation change across the menstrual cycle?’ ukri.org/publications/mrc-ma…
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanPassionate about women's mental health? Interested in brain stimulation? Excited by cutting edge neurotech? Come do a PhD with me! www.findaphd.com/phds/project... (thread)
- Reposted by Lydia Hickman** Recruiting a postdoc ** We are looking for a postdoc to work on emotion, mental health, and interoception, based in London at @ucl.ac.uk in my lab (Clinical and Affective Neuroscience). Part of a large Wellcome Grant (co-led with the brilliant @camillanord.bsky.social)
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanI updated a blog which I wrote a few years ago about PhD applications. There's a mix of reflections and practical tips which should be useful for anyone thinking about applying for a PhD (at predominantly UK institutions). Please share if it could be helpful! timothysandhu.github.io/blog/phd_blog/
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanIn a large, preregistered study (see preprint), we compared InteroMap to emBODY. Overall, InteroMap demonstrated superior construct validity and usability www.researchgate.net/publication/...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanVery happy to see this published! Registered report led by the fantastic Sophie Sowden-Carvalho (and with @thepsychologist.bsky.social & @brainapps.bsky.social) looking at effort-based prosocial decision-making in autistic and non-autistic adults. tinyurl.com/3upvukt2 See thread below for more info⭐️
- Reposted by Lydia Hickman🚨 PhD Opportunity! 🚨 Come investigate the mechanistic role of dopamine in emotion processing with Prof Jennifer Cook - @thechbh.bsky.social @unibirmingham.bsky.social MIBTP-funded PhD, using behavioural, computational and pharmacological approaches. Get in touch and please share!
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanWhat drives the bidirectional relationship between metabolic and mental ill-health? Read our new metabolic psychiatry paper, “An interoceptive model of energy allostasis linking metabolic and mental health” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... led by @saramehrhof.bsky.social @hugofleming.bsky.social
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanDoes what you eat really shape your brain, and mental health? Or is it the other way around? Come discover how metabolism links body, brain, and mood with @camillanord.bsky.social at the Arches London Bridge for a SeedTalk on 30 September www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/metabolism...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanNew qualitative paper! A foray into gastric interception. @lucysta02475610.bsky.social ran a LOT of focus groups, across groups with eating disorders, gastric disorders and neither, to understand how people experience the sensations from their GI system. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanIn this @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social Spotlight, I describe how a recent paper by @leahbanellis.bsky.social, @brainandstomach.bsky.social, et al. opens new avenues in interoception research, including those focussed on the subjective interpretation of internal signals: www.cell.com/trends/neuro...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanA good reminder that THE BRAIN 👏🏼 IS CONNECTED 👏🏼 TO THE BODY 👏🏼 100% OF THE TIME 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 (please repeat loudly for the people in the back) #medsky #neuroskyence 🧠🧪
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanI'm looking for ~25 more people with a gastrointestinal disorder to complete an online survey on interoception. You can find this survey here: sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/l... 🙏
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanGot Butterflies in your Stomach? I am super excited to share the first major study of my postdoc @the-ecg.bsky.social - Now out in @natmentalhealth.nature.com! We report a multidimensional mental health signature of stomach-brain coupling in the largest sample to date www.nature.com/articles/s44...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanPeriods at work: not just a nuisance, but a neurological and emotional storm. Grab a cuppa, then read Rebecca’s @beccasue99.bsky.social brilliant take. www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-go-with...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanMaking Sense of Sensation: A model of Interoceptive Attribution and Appraisal with Clinical applications New preprint from @drhannahsavage.bsky.social & @sarahgarf.bsky.social #interoception #neuroskyence 🧠🫀🫁 osf.io/preprints/ps...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanFinally, the amazing Professor Camilla Nord presents on interoception - including some cool lived experience work on body sensations, and work on disgust and gastric rhythms, alongside work on energy conservation. #BAP2025
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanNew paper by @lydiajhickman.bsky.social discusses potential reasons for high rates of Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in the autistic population: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanEver get distracted by your own body? We call this "body-wandering." 🧠🫀 Our latest study uncovers its neural fingerprint and the link to ADHD & depression symptoms. Awesome write-up by our own @leahbanellis.bsky.social, in Psyche Magazine! psyche.co/ideas/how-mu... #neuroscience #research #ADHD
- My new paper with Jennifer Cook sets out potential reasons for high rates of Parkinson's disease (PD) diagnosis in the autistic population: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @mrccbu.bsky.social @thechbh.bsky.social 🧵1/n
- A number of recent studies have evidenced elevated PD diagnosis rates in autism. E.g., Croen et al (2015): 0.93% PD prevalence in autistic sample vs 0.03% in non-autistic sample. Hand et al (2020): 6.6% in autistic sample vs 1.2% in non-autistic sample. 🧵2/n
- Conducting PD assessments in autistic groups also demonstrates high levels of PD traits. Starkstein et al (2015): 32% of their test sample screened positive for parkinsonism via UPDRS. Geurts et al (2022): 17% and 33% positive screening via PSQ in Netherlands and US samples. 🧵3/n
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View full threadHowever, if autistic individuals present parkinsonian symptoms due to their autistic traits alone, clinicians should incorporate this knowledge into diagnostic assessments to prevent misdiagnosis. 🧵10/n
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanOn autism, movement & Parkinson's disease (PD), important, free www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... "If it is the case that older autistic individuals are sometimes falsely diagnosed with PD on the basis of outward appearances... the PD diagnosis procedure must be overhauled to guard against this"
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanFor Nature, women make up around 16% of corresponding authors who submit manuscripts — a percentage unchanged from 2018. Women comprise some 18% of corresponding authors who submit papers to Nature Communications and the Nature-branded research journals. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- New article in @psychmag.bsky.social: What Louise Thompson’s Lucky reveals about the mind-body connection www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanWhat Louise Thompson’s Lucky reveals about the mind-body connection… @lydiajhickman.bsky.social reviews Louise Thompson's book, 'Lucky: Learning to Live Again'. www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanJob claxon! Our fantastic colleague Hélio Cuve is looking for a postdoc with expertise in social or affective neuroscience. His lab does cool work on the role of bodily signals in emotions. Apply now! For more info and/or to apply, see: www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
- Such a wonderful #BNA2025 conference in sunny Liverpool! Really enjoyed everything on offer for ECRs and the particularly amazing conference dinner location. Thanks so much to the organisers!
- Reposted by Lydia Hickmanso, so excited to share our new theory which endeavours to answer why depression and poor metabolic health go hand-in-hand: "An interoceptive model of energy allostasis linking metabolic and mental health" 💪🧠🔋 @saramehrhof.bsky.social @hugofleming.bsky.social osf.io/preprints/ps...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanThrilled to see @lydiajhickman.bsky.social win the BNA Postgraduate Prize @britishneuro.bsky.social in Liverpool. Hard to think of a better start to a conference!
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanWhilst I'm on a roll posting to Bluesky, I'd like to share a recent pre-print that's now under review! We looked at how people with eating disorders, a gastric disorder, or neither disorder experience sensations from their gastrointestinal system (gastric interoception). 1/⬇️ osf.io/preprints/os...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanBreaking through the mind-body divide: patient priorities for interoception research This broad scoping study establishes new, transdiagnostic, patient-led priorities for the developing field of #interoception in #psychiatry www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl... #MedSky
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanFab new pub setting lived experience priorities for interoception research in mental health. Congrats @lydiajhickman.bsky.social & team 👏
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanVery excited to congratulate Ning Li and @clairelavalley.bsky.social on their new paper published in Molecular Psychiatry. "Directed exploration is reduced by an aversive interoceptive state induction in healthy individuals but not in those with affective disorders" (nature.com/articles/s41...) 🧵👇
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanHickman & Mackie et al report ten patient-led priorities for interoception research in psychiatry: doi.org/10.1016/j.ec... @lydiajhickman.bsky.social
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanI’m so grateful for the opportunity to present my Frith Prize talk at the EPS meeting yesterday — it was such an honour and a delight! I had some fascinating questions and conversations that will definitely help shape my next projects. Huge thanks to @exppsychsoc.bsky.social for the fab conference!
- Reposted by Lydia Hickman🎉 New paper alert! 🧠 The velocity-curvature power law is one of the 'kinematic laws of nature' (Flash 2021), a 'fundamental law of human control' (Zago et al. 2016), and one of the 'kinematic regularities' (Frith & Frith 2023) thought to underlie all biological motion.
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanSo awesome to see a community-based-participatory approach to interoception research in practice. Major kudos to this team for publishing on patient priorities!
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanPatient priorities for interoception research, just out in Lancet eClinicalMedicine 🧠🫁🫀 ⬇️⬇️⬇️ — the first pub from our @wellcometrust.bsky.social Mental Health Award Led by the brilliant @gabmackie.bsky.social & @lydiajhickman.bsky.social
- 🚨 New paper 🚨 How do people with mental health conditions experience bodily signals, and what are their priorities for interoceptive research? These questions are what @lydiajhickman.bsky.social and my new paper in eClinicalMedicine tries to answer. 🧵 1/8 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Reposted by Lydia Hickman🚨 New paper 🚨 How do people with mental health conditions experience bodily signals, and what are their priorities for interoceptive research? These questions are what @lydiajhickman.bsky.social and my new paper in eClinicalMedicine tries to answer. 🧵 1/8 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- How is the body experienced in mental health conditions? 🧠🫀🫁 Our (@gabmackie.bsky.social) new paper in eClinicalMedicine explores lived experiences and patient priorities for interoception research. 🧵1/n www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- We hosted a workshop with 25 people diagnosed with mental health conditions. Through small group discussions and text-based responses, we generated both qualitative and quantitative insight into how the body is experienced in mental health. 🧵2/n
- Quantitative insights were expanded with an online sample (N = 47). These contributors also validated the research priorities generated by the workshop sample. 🧵3/n
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View full threadA huge thank you to our contributors and co-authors Beth Longley @drhannahsavage.bsky.social @emilybagley.bsky.social @hugofleming.bsky.social Rachel Knight Isabel Lau @annalisewhines.bsky.social @sarahgarf.bsky.social @camillanord.bsky.social 🧵9/n
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanIs interoceptive sensing unified across internal organs? 🫀🫁 Our high-powered psychophysical study (N=241) suggests not. Bayesian evidence indicates interoceptive processes are largely modality-specific—challenging the idea of a unitary interoceptive sense. 🔗 Read here: osf.io/preprints/ps...
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanOur new qualitative paper exploring similarities and differences in quality of life of autistic/non-autistic folk in midlife and older age (led by 2 former students, with @proffrancescahappe.bsky.social and @goldage.bsky.social) is now out! Free access here: doi.org/10.1016/j.re... #AutRes 1/8
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanWe are recruiting postdocs! Please apply if you'd like to study the health profiles of autistic people using large population registries at the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. Funding available until January 2027. jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50393/
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanCan what you eat change your mind? 🍎 My first piece in @theguardian.com on why we like what we like, and the role the gut might play in mental health. Hint: it’s probably not all about the microbiome.
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanWe’re recruiting participants for the Em-Body study! Check your eligibility and sign up here: shorturl.at/AEelF
- Reposted by Lydia HickmanHappy Christmas to the best lab in the world, and commiserations to my team for a truly stunning 💫loss at “real or fake Christmas paper titles” (designed by @lydiajhickman.bsky.social, copyright pending) 🎄 🎄🎄
