Dr Livia Tomova
(she/her)
Lecturer
- TomovaL@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 29225 14754
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Social connection is central for health and well-being in humans, especially during the formative developmental period of adolescence. How do experiences of social disconnection, such as social stress, loneliness and social isolation, impact the brain and mind of young people? And how does engagement with digital technologies, such as social media use, impact young people and their social relationships?
My research explores these questions using different methods such as behavioural experiments, neuroimaging in combination with multivariate analysis methods (e.g., multi-voxel pattern analysis, MVPA), and secondary analyses of large-scale longitudinal data.
Publication
2023
- Stijovic, A. et al. 2023. Homeostatic regulation of energetic arousal during acute social isolation: Evidence from the lab and the field. Psychological Science 34(5), pp. 537-551. (10.1177/09567976231156413)
2022
- Towner, E., Tomova, L., Ladensack, D., Chu, K. and Callaghan, B. 2022. Virtual social interaction and loneliness among emerging adults amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology 3, pp. 100058. (10.1016/j.cresp.2022.100058)
- Towner, E., Grint, J., Levy, T., Blakemore, S. and Tomova, L. 2022. Revealing the self in a digital world: a systematic review of adolescent online and offline self-disclosure. Current Opinion in Psychology 45, pp. 101309., article number: 101309. (10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101309)
2021
- Tomova, L., Andrews, J. L. and Blakemore, S. 2021. The importance of belonging and the avoidance of social risk taking in adolescence. Developmental Review 61, article number: 100981. (10.1016/j.dr.2021.100981)
2020
- Tomova, L., Wang, K. L., Thompson, T., Matthews, G. A., Takahashi, A., Tye, K. M. and Saxe, R. 2020. Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger. Nature Neuroscience 23(12), pp. 1597–1605. (10.1038/s41593-020-00742-z)
- Orben, A., Tomova, L. and Blakemore, S. 2020. The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health 4(8), pp. 634-640. (10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30186-3)
- Tomova, L., Saxe, R., Klöbl, M., Lanzenberger, R. and Lamm, C. 2020. Acute stress alters neural patterns of value representation for others. NeuroImage 209, article number: 116497. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116497)
2019
- Tomova, L., Tye, K. and Saxe, R. 2019. The neuroscience of unmet social needs. Social Neuroscience 16(3), pp. 221-231. (10.1080/17470919.2019.1694580)
2018
- Tomova, L. and Pessoa, L. 2018. Information about peer choices shapes human risky decision-making. Scientific Reports 8(1), pp. 1-9., article number: 5129. (10.1038/s41598-018-23455-7)
- Tomova, L., Heinrichs, M. and Lamm, C. 2018. The other and me: effects of oxytocin on self-other distinction. International Journal of Psychophysiology 136, pp. 49-53. (10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.03.008)
2017
- Tik, M. et al. 2017. Towards understanding rTMS mechanism of action: stimulation of the DLPFC causes network-specific increase in functional connectivity. NeuroImage 162, pp. 289-296. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.09.022)
2016
- Tomova, L., Majdandžić, J., Hummer, A., Windischberger, C., Heinrichs, M. and Lamm, C. 2016. Increased neural responses to empathy for pain might explain how acute stress increases prosociality. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 12(3), pp. 401–408. (10.1093/scan/nsw146)
2014
- Tomova, L., von Dawans, B., Heinrichs, M., Silani, G. and Lamm, C. 2014. Is stress affecting our ability to tune into others? evidence for gender differences in the effects of stress on self-other distinction. Psychoneuroendocrinology 43, pp. 95-104. (10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.02.006)
2013
- Pripfl, J., Tomova, L., Riecansky, I. and Lamm, C. 2013. Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex decreases cue-induced nicotine craving and EEG delta power. Brain Stimulation 7(2), pp. 226-233. (10.1016/j.brs.2013.11.003)
- Riečanský, I., Tomova, L., Katina, S., Bauer, H., Fischmeister, F. P. and Lamm, C. 2013. Visual image retention does not contribute to modulation of event-related potentials by mental rotation. Brain and Cognition 83(2), pp. 163-170. (10.1016/j.bandc.2013.07.011)
Articles
- Stijovic, A. et al. 2023. Homeostatic regulation of energetic arousal during acute social isolation: Evidence from the lab and the field. Psychological Science 34(5), pp. 537-551. (10.1177/09567976231156413)
- Towner, E., Tomova, L., Ladensack, D., Chu, K. and Callaghan, B. 2022. Virtual social interaction and loneliness among emerging adults amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology 3, pp. 100058. (10.1016/j.cresp.2022.100058)
- Towner, E., Grint, J., Levy, T., Blakemore, S. and Tomova, L. 2022. Revealing the self in a digital world: a systematic review of adolescent online and offline self-disclosure. Current Opinion in Psychology 45, pp. 101309., article number: 101309. (10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101309)
- Tomova, L., Andrews, J. L. and Blakemore, S. 2021. The importance of belonging and the avoidance of social risk taking in adolescence. Developmental Review 61, article number: 100981. (10.1016/j.dr.2021.100981)
- Tomova, L., Wang, K. L., Thompson, T., Matthews, G. A., Takahashi, A., Tye, K. M. and Saxe, R. 2020. Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger. Nature Neuroscience 23(12), pp. 1597–1605. (10.1038/s41593-020-00742-z)
- Orben, A., Tomova, L. and Blakemore, S. 2020. The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health 4(8), pp. 634-640. (10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30186-3)
- Tomova, L., Saxe, R., Klöbl, M., Lanzenberger, R. and Lamm, C. 2020. Acute stress alters neural patterns of value representation for others. NeuroImage 209, article number: 116497. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116497)
- Tomova, L., Tye, K. and Saxe, R. 2019. The neuroscience of unmet social needs. Social Neuroscience 16(3), pp. 221-231. (10.1080/17470919.2019.1694580)
- Tomova, L. and Pessoa, L. 2018. Information about peer choices shapes human risky decision-making. Scientific Reports 8(1), pp. 1-9., article number: 5129. (10.1038/s41598-018-23455-7)
- Tomova, L., Heinrichs, M. and Lamm, C. 2018. The other and me: effects of oxytocin on self-other distinction. International Journal of Psychophysiology 136, pp. 49-53. (10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.03.008)
- Tik, M. et al. 2017. Towards understanding rTMS mechanism of action: stimulation of the DLPFC causes network-specific increase in functional connectivity. NeuroImage 162, pp. 289-296. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.09.022)
- Tomova, L., Majdandžić, J., Hummer, A., Windischberger, C., Heinrichs, M. and Lamm, C. 2016. Increased neural responses to empathy for pain might explain how acute stress increases prosociality. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 12(3), pp. 401–408. (10.1093/scan/nsw146)
- Tomova, L., von Dawans, B., Heinrichs, M., Silani, G. and Lamm, C. 2014. Is stress affecting our ability to tune into others? evidence for gender differences in the effects of stress on self-other distinction. Psychoneuroendocrinology 43, pp. 95-104. (10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.02.006)
- Pripfl, J., Tomova, L., Riecansky, I. and Lamm, C. 2013. Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex decreases cue-induced nicotine craving and EEG delta power. Brain Stimulation 7(2), pp. 226-233. (10.1016/j.brs.2013.11.003)
- Riečanský, I., Tomova, L., Katina, S., Bauer, H., Fischmeister, F. P. and Lamm, C. 2013. Visual image retention does not contribute to modulation of event-related potentials by mental rotation. Brain and Cognition 83(2), pp. 163-170. (10.1016/j.bandc.2013.07.011)
Research
Effects of social isolation and loneliness on adolescent cognition
Loneliness and isolation are increasing in societies all around the world (e.g., Victor 2005, 2012). However, the effects of isolation on cognition are not clear. Importantly, while many studies focus on loneliness in elderly people, a recent large survey (Hammond 2019) found that adolescents and young adults report the highest loneliness levels. Using experimentally induced, short-term isolation we are currently assessing : i) the effects of isolation on adolescent cognition; ii) brain markers that predict individual sensitivity to isolation; and iii) interactions between social media usage and the effects of isolation.
Collaborators: Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Stefano Palminteri & Lei Zhang
Effects of social media use on adolescents
Young people have been some of the first large-scale adopters of communicative digital technologies, such as social media and smartphones (Dixon 2022). Yet, the longer-term effects of social media use on young people's brains and minds and their social relationships are unclear. Using a combination of experimental research and secondary analyses of existing large-scale data (e.g., ABCD study), we are assessing the relationship between social media use, changes in brain function and social relationships across adolescent development.
Collaborators: Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Amy Orben, Andrew Przybylski
Neural representation of social craving
Recent work in an animal model suggests one neural system that may be critical in healthy social craving: In mice, dopamine neurons of the dorsal raphe nucleus code for the drive to re-engage in social interactions following acute social isolation. But how is social craving represented in the human brain? And is the neural signature of social craving similar to other forms of motivation (e.g., food craving)? In this study we used fMRI and multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to investigate the neural representation of social craving in the human brain. We found that midbrain regions showed similar responses to food cues after fasting and to social cues after isolation and these responses were correlated with self-reported craving.
MRI data from this study is publicly available here: OpenNeuro
Code used to analyze this data is publicly available here: OSF
Collaborators: Rebecca Saxe & Kay Tye
In this project we were investigating the effects of acute stress on behavioral and neural measures of social cognition. We used a combination of neuroimaging, behavioral paradigms, endocrinological measures (e.g. cortisol, testosterone) and pharmacological administration (oxytocin) to study these effects.
In a behavioral study, we found that self-other distinction is affected by acute stress, but differently in men and women: while women showed increases in self-other distinction, men showed decreases. Our findings suggest that women flexibly disambiguate self and other under stress, enabling accurate social responses, while men respond with increased egocentricity and less adaptive regulation. This might have implications for explaining gender differences in social skills such as empathy and prosociality. [Paper]
Using pharmacological administration of oxytocin in a male sample we found improved self-other distinction during perspective taking suggesting that oxytocin might represent a modulating factor in the effects of stress on self-other distinction. [Paper]
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we showed that stress increased activation in brain areas associated with the automatic sharing of others’ pain, such as the anterior insula, the anterior midcingulate cortex, and the primary somatosensory cortex. In addition, we found increased prosocial behavior under stress. Furthermore, activation in the anterior midcingulate cortex mediated the effects of stress on prosocial behavior. This research suggests that acute stress may increase prosocial behavior by intensifying the sharing of others’ emotions. [Paper]
Using multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data we found that acute stress increases the dissimilarity of neural patterns underlying high and low value representation for others. Participants who showed higher dissimilarity also played more favorably for the other. Thus, our results suggest that stressed individuals differentiate more between potential high and low rewards for others suggesting that acute stress increases sensitivity for other people’s rewards. [Paper]
Collaborators: Claus Lamm, Markus Heinrichs, Christian Windischberger, Rupert Lanzenberger and Rebecca Saxe
Biography
EDUCATION
• PhD in Psychology, with distinction, July 2016, University of Vienna
Thesis: Effects of stress on empathy – a social neuroscience approach
Received Award of Excellence for Best Austrian Dissertations in 2016
• M.Sc. in Psychology, with distinction, November 2011, University of Vienna
Honours and awards
- Project grant (Co-PI): Isolationtracker: Social distancing, lockdowns and adolescent mental health during Covid-19, Jacobs Foundation, 2020
- Cambridge Philosophical Society Henslow Research Fellowship, Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, 2020
- Erwin Schroedinger Fellowship (Host department: Department for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT), FWF Austrian Science Fund, 2019
- Max-Kade Postdoctoral Research Exchange Grant (Host department: Department for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT), 2017
- Award of Excellence Price for Best Austrian Dissertations 2016, Austrian Ministry of Science, Research and Economy, 2016
- L’Oréal Austria Fellowship for Young Female Scientists in Basic Research, L’Oréal/UNESCO, 2016
- Marietta-Blau Exchange Fellowship, Austrian Ministry of Science, Research and Economy, 2014
Academic positions
• Lecturer (Assistant Professor), Cardiff University , March 2024 – present
• Director of Studies, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, October 2021 – 2023
• Henslow Research Fellow, Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, October 2020 – 2024
• Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, September 2017 – July 2020
• Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Maryland Neuroimaging Center, University of Maryland, October 2016 – August 2017
Speaking engagements
Invited academic talks (selection)
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Saxelab meeting (12/2023)
- MSN Seminars Series, Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA (02/2023)
- Flux Developmental CognitiveNeuroscience Congress, Paris, FR (09/2022)
- NYU SPiNES Seminar Series, NYU Langone Health, New York, USA (04/2022)
- Institute of Philosophy, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Brain Week Keynote (03/2021)
- Computational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Imperial College London, UK, Brain Meetings seminar series (02/2021)
- Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, USA, Brainmap Seminar (01/2021)
- MIT Media Lab, MIT, Cambridge Massachusetts, USA, City Science Lecture (01/2021)
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, UK,
Affective Brain Lab Seminar (10/2020) - Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Cog Lunch speaker series (06/2020)
- Boston Children’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Nelson lab meeting (05/2020)
- McLean Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Center for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Research (CDASR) Speaker Series (02/2020)
- Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, USA, Seminar Series in Biomedical Imaging (05/2020)
Public media talks (selection)
- Keynote speaker at National Convention of Youth Drama 2023, Edinburgh, UK
- Speaker at World Academic Forum, Stockholm, SE
- Ask an expert Webinar Series: Pressure in the lives of children and adolescents, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, OECD, FR
- Stockholm Explorative Talks: Growing up during a pandemic, Stockholm Akademiska Forum, SE
- Simply Science: The Brain and Loneliness, CUNY TV, US
- Mental Help Series: Coping with loneliness and social isolation, Chicago Council on Science and Technology, US
- Psychology in Action Podcast: Psychological effects of COVID-19 (together with Prof. Diana Tamir and Dr. Katie Young), UCLA, US