![Elisabeth Von Dem Hagen](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/8051?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Elisabeth Von Dem Hagen
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Elisabeth Von Dem Hagen
Senior Lecturer
Overview
Research summary
My research interests involve studying the neural mechanisms behind emotion processing and social cognition more generally. I am also interested in how the processing of social signals, like faces, expression and eye gaze, changes with development, and may differ in neurodevelopmental conditions, including Autism. To address these questions, I use a combination of behavioural and neuroimaging approaches.
Teaching summary
At the UG level, I teach on the Year 2 Thinking, Emotion and Consciousness (PS2023) module and the Final Year Social Perception (PS3215) module. I also supervise Final Year student projects, and act as a personal tutor.
At the PG level, I teach on the MSc Children’s Psychological Conditions course, as well as supervising MSc student dissertation projects and acting as a personal tutor.
Publication
2025
- McGregor, C., von dem Hagen, E., Wallbridge, C., Dobbs, J., Svenson-Tree, C. and Jones, C. R. G. 2025. Supporting autistic children’s participation in research studies: A mixed-methods study of familiarizing autistic children with a humanoid robot. Autism & Developmental Language Impairments 10 (10.1177/23969415251332486)
2024
- Finn, A., Shah, P., de la Rosa, S., Teufel, C. and von dem Hagen, E. 2024. The influence of body posture on facial expression perception in Autism. Scientific Reports 14(1), article number: 27655. (10.1038/s41598-024-79547-0)
2023
- Bowsher-Murray, C., Jones, C. R. G. and von dem Hagen, E. 2023. Beyond simultaneity: temporal interdependence of behaviour is key to affiliative effects of interpersonal synchrony in children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 232, article number: 105669. (10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105669)
- Wallbridge, C. D., McGregor, C., Drozdz, N., Von Dem Hagen, E. and Jones, C. R. G. 2023. A systematic review of familiarisation methods used in human-robot interactions for autistic participants. International Journal of Social Robotics (10.1007/s12369-023-01015-y)
- Ward, I. L., Raven, E. P., de la Rosa, S., Jones, D. K., Teufel, C. and von dem Hagen, E. 2023. White matter microstructure in face and body networks predicts facial expression and body posture perception across development. Human Brain Mapping 44(6), pp. 2307-2322. (10.1002/hbm.26211)
- Pedziwiatr, M. A., von dem Hagen, E. and Teufel, C. 2023. Knowledge-driven perceptual organization reshapes information sampling via eye movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 49(3), pp. 408-427. (10.1037/xhp0001080)
2022
- Bowsher-Murray, C., Jones, C. R. G. and von dem Hagen, E. 2022. Beyond simultaneity: temporal interdependence of behaviour is key to affiliative effects of interpersonal synchrony in children. [Online]. PsyArXiv: Cornell University. Available at: http://psyarxiv.com/tbp68/
- Bowsher-Murray, C., Gerson, S., Von dem Hagen, E. and Jones, C. 2022. The components of interpersonal synchrony in the typical population and in autism: a conceptual analysis. Frontiers in Psychology 13, article number: 897015. (10.3389/fpsyg.2022.897015)
2019
- Teufel, C., Westlake, M. F., Fletcher, P. C. and von dem Hagen, E. 2019. A hierarchical model of social perception: Psychophysical evidence suggests late rather than early integration of visual information from facial expression and body posture. Cognition 185, pp. 131-143. (10.1016/j.cognition.2018.12.012)
2017
- von dem Hagen, E. A. H. and Bright, N. 2017. High autistic trait individuals do not modulate gaze behaviour in response to social presence but look away more when actively engaged in an interaction. Autism Research 10(2), pp. 359-368. (10.1002/aur.1666)
- Ewbank, M. P., Pell, P. J., Powell, T. E., Von dem Hagen, E. A. H., Baron-Cohen, S. and Calder, A. J. 2017. Repetition suppression and memory for faces is reduced in adults with autism spectrum conditions. Cerebral Cortex 27(1), pp. 92-103. (10.1093/cercor/bhw373)
2016
- Ewbank, M. P., von dem Hagen, E. A. H., Powell, T. E., Henson, R. N. and Calder, A. J. 2016. The effect of perceptual expectation on repetition suppression to faces is not modulated by variation in autistic traits. Cortex 80, pp. 51-60. (10.1016/j.cortex.2015.10.011)
- Pell, P. J., Mareschal, I., Calder, A. J., von dem Hagen, E. A. H., Clifford, C. W. G., Baron-Cohen, S. and Ewbank, M. P. 2016. Intact priors for gaze direction in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum conditions. Molecular Autism 7, article number: 25. (10.1186/s13229-016-0085-9)
2014
- Holt, R. J. et al. 2014. 'Reading the mind in the eyes': an fMRI study of adolescents with autism and their siblings. Psychological Medicine 44(15), pp. 3215-3227. (10.1017/S0033291714000233)
- van der Klaauw, A. A. et al. 2014. Obesity-associated melanocortin-4 receptor mutations are associated with changes in the brain response to food cues. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 99(10), article number: E2101. (10.1210/jc.2014-1651)
- Ewbank, M. P. et al. 2014. Repetition suppression in ventral visual cortex is diminished as a function of increasing autistic traits. Cerebral Cortex (10.1093/cercor/bhu149)
- Bridge, H., Von Dem Hagen, E., Davies, G., Chambers, C., Gouws, A., Hoffmann, M. and Morland, A. B. 2014. Changes in brain morphology in albinism reflect reduced visual acuity. Cortex 56, pp. 64. (10.1016/j.cortex.2012.08.010)
2013
- Lefevre, C. E., Ewbank, M. P., Calder, A. J., Von Dem Hagen, E. and Perrett, D. I. 2013. It is all in the face: carotenoid skin coloration loses attractiveness outside the face. Biology Letters 9(6), article number: 20130633. (10.1098/rsbl.2013.0633)
- Teufel, C., Von Dem Hagen, E., Plaisted-Grant, K. C., Edmonds, J. J., Ayorinde, J. O., Fletcher, P. C. and Davis, G. 2013. What is social about social perception research?. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 6, article number: 128. (10.3389/fnint.2012.00128)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Stoyanova, R. S., Rowe, J. B., Baron-Cohen, S. and Calder, A. J. 2013. Direct gaze elicits atypical activation of the theory-of-mind network in autism spectrum conditions. Cerebral Cortex 24(6), pp. 1485-1492. (10.1093/cercor/bht003)
2012
- Nummenmaa, L., Engell, A. D., Von Dem Hagen, E., Henson, R. N. and Calder, A. J. 2012. Autism spectrum traits predict the neural response to eye gaze in typical individuals. NeuroImage 59(4), pp. 3356-3363. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.10.075)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Stoyanova, R. S., Baron-Cohen, S. and Calder, A. J. 2012. Reduced functional connectivity within and between 'social' resting state networks in autism spectrum conditions. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 8(6), pp. 694-701. (10.1093/scan/nss053)
2011
- Fairchild, G. et al. 2011. Brain structure abnormalities in early-onset and adolescent-onset conduct disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry 168(6), pp. 624-633. (10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10081184)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Passamonti, L., Nutland, S., Sambrook, J. and Calder, A. J. 2011. The serotonin transporter gene polymorphism and the effect of baseline on amygdala response to emotional faces. Neuropsychologia 49(4), pp. 674-680. (10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.12.013)
2010
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Nummenmaa, L., Yu, R., Engell, A. D., Ewbank, M. P. and Calder, A. J. 2010. Autism spectrum traits in the typical population predict structure and function in the posterior superior temporal sulcus. Cerebral Cortex 21(3), pp. 493-500. (10.1093/cercor/bhq062)
2009
- Passamonti, L., Rowe, J. B., Schwarzbauer, C., Ewbank, M. P., Von Dem Hagen, E. and Calder, A. J. 2009. Personality predicts the brain's response to viewing appetizing foods: The neural basis of a risk factor for overeating. Journal of Neuroscience 29(1), pp. 43-51. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4966-08.2009)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Beaver, J. D., Ewbank, M. P., Keane, J., Passamonti, L., Lawrence, A. D. and Calder, A. J. 2009. Leaving a bad taste in your mouth but not in my insula. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 4(4), pp. 379-386. (10.1093/scan/nsp018)
2008
- Neveu, M. M., Von Dem Hagen, E., Morland, A. B. and Jeffery, G. 2008. The fovea regulates symmetrical development of the visual cortex. The Journal of Comparative Neurology 506(5), pp. 791-800. (10.1002/cne.21574)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Hoffmann, M. B. and Morland, A. B. 2008. Identifying Human Albinism: A Comparison of VEP and fMRI. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 49(1), pp. 238-249. (10.1167/iovs.07-0458)
- Crossland, M. D., Morland, A. B., Feely, M. P., Von Dem Hagen, E. and Rubin, G. S. 2008. The effect of age and fixation instability on retinotopic mapping of primary visual cortex. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 49(8), pp. 3734-3739. (10.1167/iovs.07-1621)
2007
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Houston, G. C., Hoffmann, M. B. and Morland, A. B. 2007. Pigmentation predicts the shift in the line of decussation in humans with albinism. European Journal of Neuroscience 25(2), pp. 503-511. (10.1111/j.1460-9568.2007.05303.x)
2005
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Houston, G. C., Hoffmann, M. B., Jeffery, G. and Morland, A. B. 2005. Retinal abnormalities in human albinism translate into a reduction of grey matter in the occipital cortex. European Journal of Neuroscience 22(10), pp. 2475-2480. (10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.04433.x)
2002
- Von Dem Hagen, E. and Henkelman, R. M. 2002. Orientational diffusion reflects fiber structure within a voxel. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 48(3), pp. 454-459. (10.1002/mrm.10250)
Articles
- McGregor, C., von dem Hagen, E., Wallbridge, C., Dobbs, J., Svenson-Tree, C. and Jones, C. R. G. 2025. Supporting autistic children’s participation in research studies: A mixed-methods study of familiarizing autistic children with a humanoid robot. Autism & Developmental Language Impairments 10 (10.1177/23969415251332486)
- Finn, A., Shah, P., de la Rosa, S., Teufel, C. and von dem Hagen, E. 2024. The influence of body posture on facial expression perception in Autism. Scientific Reports 14(1), article number: 27655. (10.1038/s41598-024-79547-0)
- Bowsher-Murray, C., Jones, C. R. G. and von dem Hagen, E. 2023. Beyond simultaneity: temporal interdependence of behaviour is key to affiliative effects of interpersonal synchrony in children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 232, article number: 105669. (10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105669)
- Wallbridge, C. D., McGregor, C., Drozdz, N., Von Dem Hagen, E. and Jones, C. R. G. 2023. A systematic review of familiarisation methods used in human-robot interactions for autistic participants. International Journal of Social Robotics (10.1007/s12369-023-01015-y)
- Ward, I. L., Raven, E. P., de la Rosa, S., Jones, D. K., Teufel, C. and von dem Hagen, E. 2023. White matter microstructure in face and body networks predicts facial expression and body posture perception across development. Human Brain Mapping 44(6), pp. 2307-2322. (10.1002/hbm.26211)
- Pedziwiatr, M. A., von dem Hagen, E. and Teufel, C. 2023. Knowledge-driven perceptual organization reshapes information sampling via eye movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 49(3), pp. 408-427. (10.1037/xhp0001080)
- Bowsher-Murray, C., Gerson, S., Von dem Hagen, E. and Jones, C. 2022. The components of interpersonal synchrony in the typical population and in autism: a conceptual analysis. Frontiers in Psychology 13, article number: 897015. (10.3389/fpsyg.2022.897015)
- Teufel, C., Westlake, M. F., Fletcher, P. C. and von dem Hagen, E. 2019. A hierarchical model of social perception: Psychophysical evidence suggests late rather than early integration of visual information from facial expression and body posture. Cognition 185, pp. 131-143. (10.1016/j.cognition.2018.12.012)
- von dem Hagen, E. A. H. and Bright, N. 2017. High autistic trait individuals do not modulate gaze behaviour in response to social presence but look away more when actively engaged in an interaction. Autism Research 10(2), pp. 359-368. (10.1002/aur.1666)
- Ewbank, M. P., Pell, P. J., Powell, T. E., Von dem Hagen, E. A. H., Baron-Cohen, S. and Calder, A. J. 2017. Repetition suppression and memory for faces is reduced in adults with autism spectrum conditions. Cerebral Cortex 27(1), pp. 92-103. (10.1093/cercor/bhw373)
- Ewbank, M. P., von dem Hagen, E. A. H., Powell, T. E., Henson, R. N. and Calder, A. J. 2016. The effect of perceptual expectation on repetition suppression to faces is not modulated by variation in autistic traits. Cortex 80, pp. 51-60. (10.1016/j.cortex.2015.10.011)
- Pell, P. J., Mareschal, I., Calder, A. J., von dem Hagen, E. A. H., Clifford, C. W. G., Baron-Cohen, S. and Ewbank, M. P. 2016. Intact priors for gaze direction in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum conditions. Molecular Autism 7, article number: 25. (10.1186/s13229-016-0085-9)
- Holt, R. J. et al. 2014. 'Reading the mind in the eyes': an fMRI study of adolescents with autism and their siblings. Psychological Medicine 44(15), pp. 3215-3227. (10.1017/S0033291714000233)
- van der Klaauw, A. A. et al. 2014. Obesity-associated melanocortin-4 receptor mutations are associated with changes in the brain response to food cues. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 99(10), article number: E2101. (10.1210/jc.2014-1651)
- Ewbank, M. P. et al. 2014. Repetition suppression in ventral visual cortex is diminished as a function of increasing autistic traits. Cerebral Cortex (10.1093/cercor/bhu149)
- Bridge, H., Von Dem Hagen, E., Davies, G., Chambers, C., Gouws, A., Hoffmann, M. and Morland, A. B. 2014. Changes in brain morphology in albinism reflect reduced visual acuity. Cortex 56, pp. 64. (10.1016/j.cortex.2012.08.010)
- Lefevre, C. E., Ewbank, M. P., Calder, A. J., Von Dem Hagen, E. and Perrett, D. I. 2013. It is all in the face: carotenoid skin coloration loses attractiveness outside the face. Biology Letters 9(6), article number: 20130633. (10.1098/rsbl.2013.0633)
- Teufel, C., Von Dem Hagen, E., Plaisted-Grant, K. C., Edmonds, J. J., Ayorinde, J. O., Fletcher, P. C. and Davis, G. 2013. What is social about social perception research?. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 6, article number: 128. (10.3389/fnint.2012.00128)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Stoyanova, R. S., Rowe, J. B., Baron-Cohen, S. and Calder, A. J. 2013. Direct gaze elicits atypical activation of the theory-of-mind network in autism spectrum conditions. Cerebral Cortex 24(6), pp. 1485-1492. (10.1093/cercor/bht003)
- Nummenmaa, L., Engell, A. D., Von Dem Hagen, E., Henson, R. N. and Calder, A. J. 2012. Autism spectrum traits predict the neural response to eye gaze in typical individuals. NeuroImage 59(4), pp. 3356-3363. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.10.075)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Stoyanova, R. S., Baron-Cohen, S. and Calder, A. J. 2012. Reduced functional connectivity within and between 'social' resting state networks in autism spectrum conditions. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 8(6), pp. 694-701. (10.1093/scan/nss053)
- Fairchild, G. et al. 2011. Brain structure abnormalities in early-onset and adolescent-onset conduct disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry 168(6), pp. 624-633. (10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10081184)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Passamonti, L., Nutland, S., Sambrook, J. and Calder, A. J. 2011. The serotonin transporter gene polymorphism and the effect of baseline on amygdala response to emotional faces. Neuropsychologia 49(4), pp. 674-680. (10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.12.013)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Nummenmaa, L., Yu, R., Engell, A. D., Ewbank, M. P. and Calder, A. J. 2010. Autism spectrum traits in the typical population predict structure and function in the posterior superior temporal sulcus. Cerebral Cortex 21(3), pp. 493-500. (10.1093/cercor/bhq062)
- Passamonti, L., Rowe, J. B., Schwarzbauer, C., Ewbank, M. P., Von Dem Hagen, E. and Calder, A. J. 2009. Personality predicts the brain's response to viewing appetizing foods: The neural basis of a risk factor for overeating. Journal of Neuroscience 29(1), pp. 43-51. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4966-08.2009)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Beaver, J. D., Ewbank, M. P., Keane, J., Passamonti, L., Lawrence, A. D. and Calder, A. J. 2009. Leaving a bad taste in your mouth but not in my insula. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 4(4), pp. 379-386. (10.1093/scan/nsp018)
- Neveu, M. M., Von Dem Hagen, E., Morland, A. B. and Jeffery, G. 2008. The fovea regulates symmetrical development of the visual cortex. The Journal of Comparative Neurology 506(5), pp. 791-800. (10.1002/cne.21574)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Hoffmann, M. B. and Morland, A. B. 2008. Identifying Human Albinism: A Comparison of VEP and fMRI. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 49(1), pp. 238-249. (10.1167/iovs.07-0458)
- Crossland, M. D., Morland, A. B., Feely, M. P., Von Dem Hagen, E. and Rubin, G. S. 2008. The effect of age and fixation instability on retinotopic mapping of primary visual cortex. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 49(8), pp. 3734-3739. (10.1167/iovs.07-1621)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Houston, G. C., Hoffmann, M. B. and Morland, A. B. 2007. Pigmentation predicts the shift in the line of decussation in humans with albinism. European Journal of Neuroscience 25(2), pp. 503-511. (10.1111/j.1460-9568.2007.05303.x)
- Von Dem Hagen, E., Houston, G. C., Hoffmann, M. B., Jeffery, G. and Morland, A. B. 2005. Retinal abnormalities in human albinism translate into a reduction of grey matter in the occipital cortex. European Journal of Neuroscience 22(10), pp. 2475-2480. (10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.04433.x)
- Von Dem Hagen, E. and Henkelman, R. M. 2002. Orientational diffusion reflects fiber structure within a voxel. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 48(3), pp. 454-459. (10.1002/mrm.10250)
Websites
- Bowsher-Murray, C., Jones, C. R. G. and von dem Hagen, E. 2022. Beyond simultaneity: temporal interdependence of behaviour is key to affiliative effects of interpersonal synchrony in children. [Online]. PsyArXiv: Cornell University. Available at: http://psyarxiv.com/tbp68/
Research
Research topics and related papers
My research is broadly concerned with social information processing, and particularly the brain systems underlying the processing of social signals, including faces and eye gaze. Specifically, ongoing projects are investigating how context affects the processing of social signals, and how the brain combines information from these different signals (e.g. Teufel et al, 2019; Ward et al, 2023). I'm particularly interested in how emotion information from the face and body are integrated, and what this can tell us about principles governing social information processing in the brain.
I am also interested in how social information processing changes during development (e.g. Ward et al, 2023), and how it might differ in autistic individuals (e.g. Finn et al, 2024). Ongoing projects include exploring social synchrony (e.g. Bowsher-Murray et al, 2022; 2023) and emotion recognition difficulties (e.g. Gezer-Flannigan et al, in press) in children, and investigating the use of humanoid robots in social interactions with autistic children (e.g. MacGregor et al, 2025).
My research involves a combination of behavioural and neuroimaging approaches, including psychophysics, behavioural testing, eyetracking, functional MRI, and diffusion MRI.
Research Funding
2020-2021 - Wellcome Trust ISSF Cross-Disciplinary Award, £48,069
2012-2013 - MRC Centenary Award, £52,530
Research collaborators
GW4 Neurodevelopmental Neurodiversity Network
Neurodevelopment Assessment Unit (NDAU)
Christoph Teufel (School of Psychology/CUBRIC, Cardiff University)
Catherine Jones (School of Psychology/CUCHDS/WARC, Cardiff University)
Stephanie van Goozen (School of Psychology/CUCHDS, Cardiff University)
Punit Shah (University of Bath)
Stephan de la Rosa (MPI, Tuebingen)
Teaching
Modules:
- PS2023 Thinking, Emotion and Consciousness
- PS3215 Social Perception
- PST704 Neurodevelopmental Disorders I: Neurobiology
- PST706 Child Assessment Methods II: Developmental Neuroimaging Workshop
Project/Dissertation Supervision:
- Final Year Project supervision
- MSc Children's Psychological Conditions dissertation supervision
Personal tutor for UG and MSc students
Biography
Undergraduate education
BSc in Physics and Physiology, McGill University, Canada
Postgraduate education
MSc in Medical Physics, University of Toronto, Canada
Thesis: High angular resolution diffusion Magnetic Resonance for the determination of fibre structure
PhD in Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, UK
Thesis: Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the visual system in humans with albinism
Employment
- 2020-Present - Senior Lecturer, Cardiff University
- 2015-2020 - Lecturer, Cardiff University
- 2006-2014 - Investigator Scientist, then Senior Investigator Scientist, MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge
- 2010-2014 - Guest Lecturer, Dept of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience, University of Cambridge
- 2007-2014 - Associate Lecturer, Open University
- 2006 - Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept of Psychology, University of York
Supervisions
Postgraduate research interests
If you are interested in applying for a PhD, or for further information regarding my postgraduate research, please contact me directly (contact details available on the 'Overview' page), or submit a formal application.
Current students
Nina Attard Montalto (start date October 2025)
Laura Dixon (start date October 2022)
Current supervision
Laura Dixon
Nina Attard Montalto
Past projects
- Dr Carly McGregor, PhD 2025. 'Exploring Interpersonal Synchrony in Neurotypical and Autistic Children using Humanoid Robots'
- Dr Özge Gezer, PhD 2024. 'A Transdiagnostic Approach to Emotion Recognition: Behavioural and Neural Markers'
- Dr Abigail Finn, PhD 2024. 'Integration of Emotion from Face and Body in the Human Brain'
- Dr Claire Bowsher-Murray, PhD 2023. 'Interpersonal Synchrony and Affiliation in Typically Developing Children
and Children with Emerging Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties' - Dr Isobel Ward, PhD 2021. 'Information Processing in the Social Brain'
- Dr Marek Pedzwiatr, PhD 2021. 'Investigating the role of image meaning and prior knowledge in human eye movement control'
Contact Details
[email protected]
+44 29208 70151
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
+44 29208 70151
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ