![Alice Price BSc (Hons), PhD](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/5422?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Alice Price
(she/her)
BSc (Hons), PhD
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Alice Price
Lecturer and Researcher
Lecturer and Researcher
Overview
‘Sensory overload’ or sensory sensitivity is commonly reported in the general population, and additionally exists within a wide range of clinical diagnoses and areas of neurodivergence (e.g. migraine, persistent perceptual postural dizziness, schizophrenia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism). Despite its prevalence, there is a lack of conceptual clarity of what this term means in itself, and for those who are experiencing it - both as a scientific construct and as a lived experience.
The broad aims of my work are to better understand this concept using a variety of research methods (subjective, neuroimaging and psychophysics) with a view to relating it to models of sensory processing in the brain. Alongside this, I am interested in how sensory sensitivities relate to wellbeing and clinical characteristics including anxiety and depression, how it shapes engagement with public spaces, and how we can understand and address it within healthcare settings. My ultimate aim is to improve outcomes for sensory sensitive individuals.
My recent work includes the identification of four subfactors of visual sensitivity, and the devlopment of a novel measure to assess them (the Cardiff Hypersensitivity Scale; Price, Sumner, & Powell, 2025). I have further demonstrated that these factors are transdiagnostic in nature (Price et al., 2025b). Complementary qualitative work details the substantial impact of sensory differences on wellbeing and participation in public spaces (Price et al., 2025c), and separate longitudinal work has identified hyperacusis (aversion to sounds) as a predictor of later anxiety in adolescence (Tseliou, Collishaw, Price, & Sumner, 2025).
Publication
2026
- Hibbard, P. B. et al., 2026. A cerebral basis for visual discomfort and visual stress. Vision 10 (2) 34. (10.3390/vision10020034)
- Tseliou, F. et al. 2026. Sensory hyperacusis as a predictor of anxiety in adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 67 (5), pp.641-651. (10.1111/jcpp.70027)
- Sumner, P. et al. 2026. Sensory sensitivity and visual discomfort are not associated with altered gamma oscillations; a test of the excitation-inhibition hypothesis. Imaging Neuroscience 4 IMAG.a.1136. (10.1162/imag.a.1136)
2025
- Price, A. et al. 2025. “They impact my life daily and greatly”: a qualitative exploration of how subjective sensory sensitivities are experienced, exacerbated, and coped with. Neurodiversity 3 (10.1177/27546330251383024)
- Price, A. , Sumner, P. and Powell, G. 2025. The subtypes of visual hypersensitivity are transdiagnostic across neurodivergence, neurology and mental health. Vision Research 234 108640. (10.1016/j.visres.2025.108640)
- Price, A. , Sumner, P. and Powell, G. 2025. Understanding the subtypes of visual hypersensitivity: Four coherent factors and their measurement with the Cardiff Hypersensitivity Scale (CHYPS). Vision Research 233 108610. (10.1016/j.visres.2025.108610)
- Price, A. , Powell, G. and Sumner, P. 2025. Low correlation between visual discomfort image ratings and hypersensitivity questions is improved with functional questions. Vision Research 228 108551. (10.1016/j.visres.2025.108551)
2024
- Unwin, K. L. et al. 2024. Patterns of equipment use for autistic children in multi-sensory environments: Time spent with sensory equipment varies by sensory profile and intellectual ability. Autism 28 (3), pp.644-655. (10.1177/13623613231180266)
2023
- Dunn, B. D. et al., 2023. Preliminary clinical and cost effectiveness of augmented depression therapy versus cognitive behavioural therapy for the treatment of anhedonic depression (ADepT): a single-centre, open-label, parallel-group, pilot, randomised, controlled trial. EClinicalMedicine 102084. (10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102084)
- Price, A. J. 2023. Subjective sensory sensitivities as a transdiagnostic experience: characterisation, impact, and the development of the Cardiff Hypersensitivity Scale. PhD Thesis , Cardiff University.
2021
- Price, A. , Sumner, P. and Powell, G. 2021. Subjective sensory sensitivity and its relationship with anxiety in people with probable migraine. Headache 61 (9), pp.1342-1350. (10.1111/head.14219)
2020
- Widnall, E. et al., 2020. Routine cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety and depression is more effective at repairing symptoms of psychopathology than enhancing wellbeing. Cognitive Therapy and Research 44 (1), pp.28-39. (10.1007/s10608-019-10041-y)
Articles
- Hibbard, P. B. et al., 2026. A cerebral basis for visual discomfort and visual stress. Vision 10 (2) 34. (10.3390/vision10020034)
- Tseliou, F. et al. 2026. Sensory hyperacusis as a predictor of anxiety in adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 67 (5), pp.641-651. (10.1111/jcpp.70027)
- Sumner, P. et al. 2026. Sensory sensitivity and visual discomfort are not associated with altered gamma oscillations; a test of the excitation-inhibition hypothesis. Imaging Neuroscience 4 IMAG.a.1136. (10.1162/imag.a.1136)
- Price, A. et al. 2025. “They impact my life daily and greatly”: a qualitative exploration of how subjective sensory sensitivities are experienced, exacerbated, and coped with. Neurodiversity 3 (10.1177/27546330251383024)
- Price, A. , Sumner, P. and Powell, G. 2025. The subtypes of visual hypersensitivity are transdiagnostic across neurodivergence, neurology and mental health. Vision Research 234 108640. (10.1016/j.visres.2025.108640)
- Price, A. , Sumner, P. and Powell, G. 2025. Understanding the subtypes of visual hypersensitivity: Four coherent factors and their measurement with the Cardiff Hypersensitivity Scale (CHYPS). Vision Research 233 108610. (10.1016/j.visres.2025.108610)
- Price, A. , Powell, G. and Sumner, P. 2025. Low correlation between visual discomfort image ratings and hypersensitivity questions is improved with functional questions. Vision Research 228 108551. (10.1016/j.visres.2025.108551)
- Unwin, K. L. et al. 2024. Patterns of equipment use for autistic children in multi-sensory environments: Time spent with sensory equipment varies by sensory profile and intellectual ability. Autism 28 (3), pp.644-655. (10.1177/13623613231180266)
- Dunn, B. D. et al., 2023. Preliminary clinical and cost effectiveness of augmented depression therapy versus cognitive behavioural therapy for the treatment of anhedonic depression (ADepT): a single-centre, open-label, parallel-group, pilot, randomised, controlled trial. EClinicalMedicine 102084. (10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102084)
- Price, A. , Sumner, P. and Powell, G. 2021. Subjective sensory sensitivity and its relationship with anxiety in people with probable migraine. Headache 61 (9), pp.1342-1350. (10.1111/head.14219)
- Widnall, E. et al., 2020. Routine cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety and depression is more effective at repairing symptoms of psychopathology than enhancing wellbeing. Cognitive Therapy and Research 44 (1), pp.28-39. (10.1007/s10608-019-10041-y)
Thesis
Research
‘Sensory overload’ or sensory sensitivity is commonly reported in the general population, and additionally exists within a wide range of clinical diagnoses and areas of neurodivergence (e.g. migraine, persistent perceptual postural dizziness, schizophrenia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism). Despite its prevalence, there is a lack of conceptual clarity of what this term means in itself, and for those who are experiencing it - both as a scientific construct and as a lived experience.
The broad aims of my work are to better understand this concept using a variety of research methods (subjective, neuroimaging and psychophysics) with a view to relating it to models of sensory processing in the brain. Alongside this, I am interested in how sensory sensitivities relate to wellbeing and clinical characteristics including anxiety and depression, how it shapes engagement with public spaces, and how we can understand and address it within healthcare settings. My ultimate aim is to improve outcomes for sensory sensitive individuals.
My recent work includes the identification of four subfactors of visual sensitivity, and the devlopment of a novel measure to assess them (the Cardiff Hypersensitivity Scale; Price, Sumner, & Powell, 2025). I have further demonstrated that these factors are transdiagnostic in nature (Price et al., 2025b). Complementary qualitative work details the substantial impact of sensory differences on wellbeing and participation in public spaces (Price et al., 2025c), and separate longitudinal work has identified hyperacusis (aversion to sounds) as a predictor of later anxiety in adolescence (Tseliou, Collishaw, Price, & Sumner, 2025).
Teaching
I teach on the Year 2 Thinking, Emotion, & Consciousness and Year 3 Forensic Psychology modules, as well as delivering Year 2 academic tutorials, final year project supervision, and acting as a personal tutor.
Biography
Academic Positions
2024 - Present: Lecturer, Cardiff University
2017-2018: Research Assistant, Mood Disorders Centre, University of Exeter
Education
2019 - 2023: Wellcome Trust Integrative Neuroscience PhD, Cardiff University
2015 - 2019: BSc Psychology with Professional Placement, Cardiff University
Honours and awards
Awards/External Committees
2024: Hadyn Ellis Prize for Best PhD Thesis, School of Psychology
2022: Junior Researcher of the Year, School of Psychology
2019: Hywell Murrell Prize for best degree result in Psychology with Professional Placement
2019: British Psychological Society Undergraduate Award for highest overall grade
2019: Stuart Dimond Memorial Prize for best undergraduate project (Joint Winner)
2019: British Psychological Society Welsh Branch Prize for best undergraduate project (Joint Winner)