Staff profiles

• Learning, Memory and Cognition (LMC) Research Group
• Sexual Offences, Crime and Misconduct Research Unit

Neural substrates of learning and attention: Christine's research interests are in the role of dopamine and related neural substrates in aberrant associative learning processes with application to schizophrenia and behavioural addictions such as gambling. More recently she has become interested in the role of associative learning, approach/avoidance and reactivity to food in relation to overeating and eating disorders.

Forensic psychology: Christine's particular interests are in the evaluation of anti-libidinal treatment for sex offenders and the effects of head injury on offending behaviour.

Neuropeptides and cognition: Neurotensin has been suggested as both a cognitive enhancer and an antipsychotic. Christine is interested in pre-clinical research exploring both of these areas. 

Collaborators

• Dr Helen Cassaday, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham. Attentional memory and the nucleus accumbens: Effects of dopaminergic drugs and lesions in the rat.  Sponsored by Wellcome Trust.
• Associate Professor Geoff Bennett and Dr Simon Beckett, School of Biomedical Sciences, QMC, University of Nottingham. The role of neurotensin in schizophrenia. Anti-psychotic or psychotomimetic? Sponsored by Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D.
• Dr Jade Ngoc Thai (Clinical Research and Imaging Centre, Bristol) using fMRI to establish neural substrates for a simple prediction task.

• Gambling and cognition: the role of associative learning in gambling
• Eating and cognition: associative learning, approach avoidance and food reactivity in overeating, obesity and eating disorders
• The role of traumatic brain injury in offending behaviour

• 2001-2003: Wellcome Trust Research Council: employed as post doctoral researcher.
• 2003-2005: Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D: employed as post doctoral researcher.
• Occasional reviewer for Schizophrenia Bulletin, Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry and Prentice Hall
• Regular reviewer for International Journal of Psychological Studies
• Awards for achievement in postgraduate study (Dean Moore Scholarship, Gertrude Cropper Scholarship, Heymann Research Scholarship, Tomlin Scholarship)
• Chartered Psychologist

Christine has previously supervised PhD students in pre-clinical work looking at the role of neuropeptides in cognition and the role of dopamine in associative learning. She is currently supervising research students looking at recidivism in offenders from HMP Nottingham and evaluation of the use of anti-libidinals for sex offenders at HMP Whatton.

Christine is interested in supervising projects on traumatic brain injury and its role in offending behaviour or in cognitions relating to offending; the cognition of eating behaviours; cognition of gambling and other behavioural addictions.  

Christine is most comfortable with quantitative research.