![Lucy Hiscox](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/8652?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Lucy Hiscox
(she/her)
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Lucy Hiscox
Wellcome Trust Fellow
Overview
I am interested in using advanced neuroimaging techniques to improve our understanding of the mechanisms behind the development of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. Most of my research has involved the application of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to quantify the mechanical properties of the brain non-invasively and in vivo. MRE is highly sensitive to the health of tissue microstructure, where tissue softening of the hippocampus is often observed in Alzheimer's disease, and increased hippocampal viscosity associated with poorer performance in cognitive tasks. In addition, we are only just beginning to realise the impact tissue mechanics has on other biological and chemical systems, and may in fact play a causal role in the development of certain diseases.
Publication
2025
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2025. MR elastography reveals lower hippocampal stiffness in middle-aged APOE ε4 carriers without cognitive impairment. Presented at: International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Hawaii, USA. 10-15 May 2025. Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine - Scientific Meeting and Exhibition. , pp.0791. (10.58530/2025/0791)
- Träuble, J. et al., 2025. Brain age prediction and early neurodegeneration detection using contrastive learning on brain biomechanics: a retrospective, multicentre study. EBioMedicine 121 105996. (10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.105996)
- Tsunga, L. et al., 2025. Violence exposure and cognitive outcomes among children in Low-Middle Income Countries (LMICs): A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse (10.1177/15248380251316232)
- Twohy, K. E. et al., 2025. Mechanical properties of the cortex in older adults and relationships with personality traits. Human Brain Mapping 46 (2) e70147. (10.1002/hbm.70147)
2024
- McIlvain, G. et al., 2024. Acute effects of high-intensity exercise on brain mechanical properties and cognitive function. Brain Imaging and Behavior 18 , pp.863-874. (10.1007/s11682-024-00873-y)
- Träuble, J. et al., 2024. Adaptive neighborhoods in contrastive regression learning for brain age prediction. Presented at: NeurIPS 2024 Workshop: Self-Supervised Learning - Theory and Practice Vancouver, Canada 09 - 15 December 2024.
- Träuble, J. et al., 2024. Contrastive learning with adaptive neighborhoods for brain age prediction on 3D stiffness maps. Transactions on Machine Learning Research
2023
- Delgorio, P. L. et al., 2023. Hippocampal subfield viscoelasticity in amnestic mild cognitive impairment evaluated with MR elastography. NeuroImage: Clinical 37 103327. (10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103327)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2023. Sex differences in the severity and natural recovery of child PTSD symptoms: a longitudinal analysis of children exposed to acute trauma. Psychological Medicine 53 (6), pp.2682-2688. (10.1017/S0033291721004694)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2023. Antenatal maternal intimate partner violence exposure is associated with sex-specific alterations in brain structure among young infants: Evidence from a South African birth cohort. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 60 101210. (10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101210)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2023. Sex-based contributors to and consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder. Current Psychiatry Reports 25 , pp.233-245. (10.1007/s11920-023-01421-z)
- Sanjana, F. et al., 2023. Vascular determinants of hippocampal viscoelastic properties in healthy adults across the lifespan. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism 43 (11), pp.1931-1941. (10.1177/0271678X231186571)
- Tinney, E. M. et al., 2023. Influence of mild cognitive impairment and body mass index on white matter integrity assessed by diffusion tensor imaging. Psychophysiology 60 (9) e14306. (10.1111/psyp.14306)
2022
- Delgorio, P. L. et al., 2022. Structure–function dissociations of human hippocampal subfield stiffness and memory performance. The Journal of Neuroscience 42 (42), pp.7957-7968. (10.1523/jneurosci.0592-22.2022)
- Diamond, P. R. et al., 2022. Change in prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in the two years following trauma: a meta-analytic study. European Journal of Psychotraumatology 13 (1) 2066456. (10.1080/20008198.2022.2066456)
- Hiscox, L. V. , McGarry, M. D. J. and Johnston, C. L. 2022. Evaluation of cerebral cortex viscoelastic property estimation with nonlinear inversion magnetic resonance elastography. Physics in Medicine & Biology 67 095002. (10.1088/1361-6560/ac5fde)
- Hope, C. et al., 2022. Examining harmful impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic and school closures on parents and carers in the United Kingdom: A rapid review. JCPP Advances 2 (3) e12095. (10.1002/jcv2.12095)
2021
- Delgorio, P. L. et al., 2021. Effect of aging on the viscoelastic properties of hippocampal subfields assessed with high-resolution MR elastography. Cerebral Cortex 31 (6), pp.2799-2811. (10.1093/cercor/bhaa388)
- Giudice, J. S. et al., 2021. Calibration of a heterogeneous brain model using a subject-specific inverse finite element approach. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 9 664268. (10.3389/fbioe.2021.664268)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2021. Sex differences in post-traumatic stress disorder in a high adversity cohort of South African adolescents: an examination of depressive symptoms, age, and trauma type as explanatory factors. European Journal of Psychotraumatology 12 (1) 1978669. (10.1080/20008198.2021.1978669)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2021. Aging brain mechanics: Progress and promise of magnetic resonance elastography. NeuroImage 232 117889. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117889)
- Sanjana F, F. et al., 2021. Blood lipid markers are associated with hippocampal viscoelastic properties and memory in humans. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 41 (6), pp.1417-1427. (10.1177/0271678x20968032)
2020
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2020. Standard-space atlas of the viscoelastic properties of the human brain. Human Brain Mapping 41 (18), pp.5282-5300. (10.1002/hbm.25192)
2019
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2019. Mechanical property alterations across the cerebral cortex due to Alzheimer’s disease. Brain Communications 2 (1), pp.16. (10.1093/braincomms/fcz049)
- Rzechorzek, N. M. et al., 2019. Network analysis of canine brain morphometry links tumour risk to oestrogen deficiency and accelerated brain ageing. Scientific Reports 9 12506. (10.1038/s41598-019-48446-0)
2018
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2018. Hippocampal viscoelasticity and episodic memory performance in healthy older adults examined with magnetic resonance elastography. Brain Imaging and Behavior 14 (1), pp.175-185. (10.1007/s11682-018-9988-8)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2018. High-resolution magnetic resonance elastography reveals differences in subcortical gray matter viscoelasticity between young and healthy older adults. Neurobiology of Aging 65 , pp.158-167. (10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.01.010)
2016
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2016. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) of the human brain: technique, findings and clinical applications. Physics in Medicine & Biology 61 (24), pp.R401-R437. (10.1088/0031-9155/61/24/r401)
2014
- Hiscox, L. , Leonaviciute, E. and Humby, T. 2014. The effects of automatic spelling correction software on understanding and comprehension in compensated dyslexia: improved recall following dictation. Dyslexia 20 (3), pp.208-224. (10.1002/dys.1480)
2012
- FeldmanHall, O. et al., 2012. What we say and what we do: the relationship between real and hypothetical moral choices. Cognition 123 (3), pp.434-441. (10.1016/j.cognition.2012.02.001)
Articles
- Delgorio, P. L. et al., 2021. Effect of aging on the viscoelastic properties of hippocampal subfields assessed with high-resolution MR elastography. Cerebral Cortex 31 (6), pp.2799-2811. (10.1093/cercor/bhaa388)
- Delgorio, P. L. et al., 2022. Structure–function dissociations of human hippocampal subfield stiffness and memory performance. The Journal of Neuroscience 42 (42), pp.7957-7968. (10.1523/jneurosci.0592-22.2022)
- Delgorio, P. L. et al., 2023. Hippocampal subfield viscoelasticity in amnestic mild cognitive impairment evaluated with MR elastography. NeuroImage: Clinical 37 103327. (10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103327)
- Diamond, P. R. et al., 2022. Change in prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in the two years following trauma: a meta-analytic study. European Journal of Psychotraumatology 13 (1) 2066456. (10.1080/20008198.2022.2066456)
- FeldmanHall, O. et al., 2012. What we say and what we do: the relationship between real and hypothetical moral choices. Cognition 123 (3), pp.434-441. (10.1016/j.cognition.2012.02.001)
- Giudice, J. S. et al., 2021. Calibration of a heterogeneous brain model using a subject-specific inverse finite element approach. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 9 664268. (10.3389/fbioe.2021.664268)
- Hiscox, L. , Leonaviciute, E. and Humby, T. 2014. The effects of automatic spelling correction software on understanding and comprehension in compensated dyslexia: improved recall following dictation. Dyslexia 20 (3), pp.208-224. (10.1002/dys.1480)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2023. Sex differences in the severity and natural recovery of child PTSD symptoms: a longitudinal analysis of children exposed to acute trauma. Psychological Medicine 53 (6), pp.2682-2688. (10.1017/S0033291721004694)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2023. Antenatal maternal intimate partner violence exposure is associated with sex-specific alterations in brain structure among young infants: Evidence from a South African birth cohort. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 60 101210. (10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101210)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2021. Sex differences in post-traumatic stress disorder in a high adversity cohort of South African adolescents: an examination of depressive symptoms, age, and trauma type as explanatory factors. European Journal of Psychotraumatology 12 (1) 1978669. (10.1080/20008198.2021.1978669)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2016. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) of the human brain: technique, findings and clinical applications. Physics in Medicine & Biology 61 (24), pp.R401-R437. (10.1088/0031-9155/61/24/r401)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2018. Hippocampal viscoelasticity and episodic memory performance in healthy older adults examined with magnetic resonance elastography. Brain Imaging and Behavior 14 (1), pp.175-185. (10.1007/s11682-018-9988-8)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2019. Mechanical property alterations across the cerebral cortex due to Alzheimer’s disease. Brain Communications 2 (1), pp.16. (10.1093/braincomms/fcz049)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2018. High-resolution magnetic resonance elastography reveals differences in subcortical gray matter viscoelasticity between young and healthy older adults. Neurobiology of Aging 65 , pp.158-167. (10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.01.010)
- Hiscox, L. V. , McGarry, M. D. J. and Johnston, C. L. 2022. Evaluation of cerebral cortex viscoelastic property estimation with nonlinear inversion magnetic resonance elastography. Physics in Medicine & Biology 67 095002. (10.1088/1361-6560/ac5fde)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2020. Standard-space atlas of the viscoelastic properties of the human brain. Human Brain Mapping 41 (18), pp.5282-5300. (10.1002/hbm.25192)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2021. Aging brain mechanics: Progress and promise of magnetic resonance elastography. NeuroImage 232 117889. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117889)
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2023. Sex-based contributors to and consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder. Current Psychiatry Reports 25 , pp.233-245. (10.1007/s11920-023-01421-z)
- Hope, C. et al., 2022. Examining harmful impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic and school closures on parents and carers in the United Kingdom: A rapid review. JCPP Advances 2 (3) e12095. (10.1002/jcv2.12095)
- McIlvain, G. et al., 2024. Acute effects of high-intensity exercise on brain mechanical properties and cognitive function. Brain Imaging and Behavior 18 , pp.863-874. (10.1007/s11682-024-00873-y)
- Rzechorzek, N. M. et al., 2019. Network analysis of canine brain morphometry links tumour risk to oestrogen deficiency and accelerated brain ageing. Scientific Reports 9 12506. (10.1038/s41598-019-48446-0)
- Sanjana, F. et al., 2023. Vascular determinants of hippocampal viscoelastic properties in healthy adults across the lifespan. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism 43 (11), pp.1931-1941. (10.1177/0271678X231186571)
- Sanjana F, F. et al., 2021. Blood lipid markers are associated with hippocampal viscoelastic properties and memory in humans. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 41 (6), pp.1417-1427. (10.1177/0271678x20968032)
- Tinney, E. M. et al., 2023. Influence of mild cognitive impairment and body mass index on white matter integrity assessed by diffusion tensor imaging. Psychophysiology 60 (9) e14306. (10.1111/psyp.14306)
- Träuble, J. et al., 2025. Brain age prediction and early neurodegeneration detection using contrastive learning on brain biomechanics: a retrospective, multicentre study. EBioMedicine 121 105996. (10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.105996)
- Träuble, J. et al., 2024. Contrastive learning with adaptive neighborhoods for brain age prediction on 3D stiffness maps. Transactions on Machine Learning Research
- Tsunga, L. et al., 2025. Violence exposure and cognitive outcomes among children in Low-Middle Income Countries (LMICs): A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse (10.1177/15248380251316232)
- Twohy, K. E. et al., 2025. Mechanical properties of the cortex in older adults and relationships with personality traits. Human Brain Mapping 46 (2) e70147. (10.1002/hbm.70147)
Conferences
- Hiscox, L. V. et al. 2025. MR elastography reveals lower hippocampal stiffness in middle-aged APOE ε4 carriers without cognitive impairment. Presented at: International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Hawaii, USA. 10-15 May 2025. Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine - Scientific Meeting and Exhibition. , pp.0791. (10.58530/2025/0791)
- Träuble, J. et al., 2024. Adaptive neighborhoods in contrastive regression learning for brain age prediction. Presented at: NeurIPS 2024 Workshop: Self-Supervised Learning - Theory and Practice Vancouver, Canada 09 - 15 December 2024.
Biography
- PhD, Clinical Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, UK. Funded by Alzheimer Scotland (2014 - 2018).
- Bachelor of Science, Applied Psychology (1st class), Cardiff University, UK (2008 - 2012).
Honours and awards
- Wellcome Trust Early Career Award. “The Mechanobiology of Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease” (2023 - 2028).
- Rising Star Early Career Award from SINAPSE - Scottish Imaging Network (2021).
Professional memberships
- ISTAART Professional Membership (The Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment).
- Member of the Wellcome Expert Group at Cardiff University.
- Scientist Reviewer for Cardiff University Biobank’s Review Committee.
- Member of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM).
- Trainee Representative of the ISMRM MRE Study Group (2019 - 2020).
Academic positions
- Postdoctoral Research Associate; Department of Psychology, University of Bath, United Kingdom (2020 - 2023).
- Postdoctoral Research Associate; Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, United States (2018 - 2020).
Speaking engagements
Invited talks
- Exploring Brain Mechanics Symposium at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; Erlangen, Germany (Sept 2025). Talk titled: Brain Tissue Mechanics in Dementia: Insights from Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE).
- Interpretable Brain Data (IBD) workshop at KTH Royal Institute of Technology; Stockholm, Sweden (2023).
- ISMRM educational session on “The Nuts and Bolts of MR Elastography in the Brain” during the course: “New Tools for the Neuroradiologist”; London (2022).
- SINAPSE ASM (Scottish Imaging Network Annual Scientific Meeting); Glasgow (2021).
- Alzheimer Scotland Annual Conference; Online (2021).
- International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM); Montreal, Canada (2019).
Committees and reviewing
Journal reviewer
• Imaging Neuroscience • Brain Communications • NeuroImage • Neuroimage: Clinical • Interface Focus • Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology • Frontiers in Human Neuroscience • Journal of Neuroimaging • Human Brain Mapping • Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials • ActaBiomaterialia • Scientific Reports.
Review Editor
• Translational Neuroscience • Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
Supervisions
- Neurodegenerative diseases
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Elastography
Current supervision
Contact Details
[email protected]
+44 29208 74000 ext 20054
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Room 1.031, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
+44 29208 74000 ext 20054
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Room 1.031, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
Research themes
Specialisms
- Elastography
- Neurodegenerative disease
- Neuroimaging
- MRI
- Tissue Mechanics