Andrew D. Lawrence

Professor

  • Department of Psychology
  • School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences
  • The University of Edinburgh

Contact details

Address

Street

Room S4, Psychology Building
7 George Square

City
Edinburgh
Post code
EH8 9JZ

Availability

Biography

Background

I joined the University of Edinburgh in 2023, having spent 15 years as Professor of Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) at Cardiff University, where I also served as Director of Cognitive Neuroscience and ECR lead at Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), co-director of research in the School of Psychology, and latterly (2021-3) as Dean of Research and Innovation for the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences at Cardiff University. 

Prior to Cardiff, I was a scientist at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit Cambridge, and undertook postdoctoral training at the MRC Cyclotron Unit and Imperial College, London 

My PhD was supervised by Professors BJ Sahakian and Trevor Robbins at the University of Cambridge 

 

Qualifications

PhD (Cantab)

MSc (Sussex)

BSc (1st class hons)  (Leeds) 

Responsibilities & affiliations

I am a lifetime fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge 

I also hold an honorary professorship at Cardiff University 

 

Undergraduate teaching

I currently give tutorials in psychology at pre-honours and honours levels, and supervise on the mini-dissertation and dissertation courses at honours level.

I teach an honours options course on 'emotions: perspectives from social and cultural psychology and neuroscience' (psy10185)  

Postgraduate teaching

I teach on the special topics in neuroscience section of the cognitive neuropsychology MSc (functional and structural MR imaging), and supervise MSc projects on individual differences (in autobiographical memory) and neuroimaging (meta analysis)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

I am interested in supervising students in the following two areas 

(1) Using multi-modal neuroimaging to investigate the role of cortico-hippocampal systems in memory and (social) cognition.  We have access to several unique large-scale multi-modal neuroimaging (fMRI, diffusion MRI, MEG) data sets, combined with deep phenotyping. I would be particularly interested in supervising potential PhD students with a strong quantitative background in imaging/data science or related discipline interested in the secondary analysis of imaging data to address key questions about the role of cortico-hippocampal networks in autobiographical and event/spatial memory, or naturalistic social cognition (movie viewing) . 

(2) Individual differences in autobiographical memory. I would be interested in supervising stiudents with a psychology background and an interest in individual differences on projects looking at individual differences in autobiographical memory, including the link between memory and the imagination, memory and curiosity, and the link between the content and experience of autobiographical memories. 

Some of these projects could be co-supervised with colleagues at Edinburgh and other institutions, e.g. Kim Graham (Edinburgh), Carl Hodgetts (Royal Holloway), Jiaxiang Zhang (Swansea), Matthias Gruber & Lisa Evans (Cardiff)

Current PhD students supervised

Ben Stallard (second supervisor - Ben is based at Royal Holloway, primarily supervised by Carl Hodgetts) 

Past PhD students supervised

 

2019-2023    Aminette D’Souza (VC International PhD Studentship), Cardiff University School of Psychology (jointly with Kim Graham)

2019-2024    Dr Chantelle Wiseman (MRC GW4 Clinical Academic Training Programme) (jointly with Stan Zammit, Bristol)

2019-2022    Lucie Reed (School PhD student), Cardiff University School of Psychology (jointly with Lisa Evans, Cardiff)

2019-2022    Samuel Berry (Wellcome Trust Integrative Neuroscience), Cardiff University School of Psychology) (jointly with Tom Lancaster, Bath)

2018-2021    Rikki Lissaman (School PhD Student), Cardiff University School of Psychology (joint with Graham, Hodgetts)

2017-2021    Samuel Ridgeway (ESRC Wales DTP studentship), Cardiff University School of Psychology

2016-2020    Ashvanti Valji (School PhD student), Cardiff University School of Psychology (jointly with Gruber)

2013-2017    Bethany Coad (WIN ESRC Wales DTC PhD studentship), Cardiff University School of Psychology). Winner Haydn Ellis Prize for Best PhD dissertation

2013-2017    Rebecca Cavill (WIN ESRC Wales DTC PhD studentship), Cardiff University School of Psychology (joint with Graham)

2013-2017    Stephanie Baker (WIN ESRC Wales DTC PhD studentship), Cardiff University School of Psychology

2011-2015    Bonni Crawford (ESRC Wales DTP PhD studentship), Cardiff University School of Psychology

2009-2013    Jennifer Ware (Wellcome Trust PhD studentship), Cardiff University School of Medicine (joint with van den Bree, Munafo, Bristol)

2008-2012    Marcel Meyer (School PhD Studentship), Cardiff University School of Psychology (joint with N Lawrence, Chambers)

2007-2012    Sean O’Sullivan (Parkinson’s UK PhD studentship), University College London (jointly with Lees)

2005-2008    Paula Tavares (Fundacio para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, Portugal), University of Cambridge (jointly with Barnard)

2004-2008    Andrew Evans (Parkinson’s UK PhD studentship), University College London (jointly with Lees)

2002-2006    Anthony Cox (MRC PhD studentship), University of Cambridge (jointly with Calder)

1999-2002    Barnaby Dunn (MRC Studentship), University of Cambridge (jointly with Dalgleish)

1998-2002    Ines Goerendt (Parkinson’s UK PhD studentship), Imperial College London (joint with Brooks)  

Research summary

My research uses converging cognitive neuroscience methods to study the role of cortico-hippocampal systems in memory and (social) cognition. A further major emphasis is on how inter-individual differences in the structure and function of these circuits confer resilience or vulnerability to late life cognitive decline and psychopathology.

 

Current research interests

I am currently working on a BBSRC project on the role of the subiculum in scene and event memory and cognition. This is a joint project, co-led by Dr Carl Hodgetts at Royal Holloway University, London (https://www.connectedmemorylab.com/) . The project involves two post-doctoral research associates Dr Lucie Read (based at Cardiff/Edinburgh) line-managed by me, and Dr Sam Berry (RHUL) line-managed by Carl. For a recent publication from this award see Read, M. L., Berry, S. C., Graham, K. S., Voets, N. L., Zhang, J., Aggleton, J. P., ... & Hodgetts, C. J. (2024). Scene-selectivity in CA1/subicular complex: Multivoxel pattern analysis at 7T. Neuropsychologia, 194, 108783.

Past research interests

I maintain a broad interest in cognitive neuroscience of individual differences and the study of functional brain network disruption in the context of neurodegenerative disease and disease risk . For examples of this research see my publications on Edinburgh Research Explorer

Knowledge exchange

We are working with Ounce Technology (https://ouncetech.co.uk/) on the development of a cognitive assessment app for use in low- and middle-income countries - for an abstract of this work see: 

D'Souza, A., Lawrence, A. D., Alladi, S., & Graham, K. S. (2023). Greater age‐related cognitive decline in perceptual discrimination of objects than scenes: A cross‐cultural study. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 19, e082344.

Project activity

The subiculum lies at the interface between the hippocampus and the rest of the brain, and thus possesses unique significance for understanding human memory and how it emerges via anatomical and functional interactions within a broader neural network supporting scene representation, event memory and navigation. The subiculum's strategic anatomical position in the brain is also thought to confer particular vulnerability to poor later life cognitive outcomes in old age, as well as increased risk of dementia. Despite this, remarkably little is known about the subiculum's functional and connectional neuroanatomy in humans.

We will address this gap in our knowledge in this proposal by applying multimodal 7T imaging to investigate how the human subiculum - via its unique anatomical connectivity within an extended brain network - contributes to scene representation and event memory.

First, we will fuse whole-brain high-resolution diffusion and functional MRI (1.2mm isotropic) to map the extrinsic connections of the subiculum and their topography, thus providing vital new knowledge about how the subiculum is organised in the living human brain.

Second, we will use ultra-high-resolution fMRI (0.8mm isotropic), focused on the hippocampus and posteromedial cortex, to test whether the subiculum integrates scenes into unified representations during perception and memory.

Finally, we will use a naturalistic movie-viewing paradigm to test whether the subiculum's putative role in scene representation underpins a broader role in event perception and memory.

The findings from this proposal have the potential to reveal new insights into the neuroarchitecture of brain circuitry supporting human event memory, and facilitate the development of novel cognitive tools for assessing brain health across the life course.

Current project grants

2022-2025 The subiculum: a key interface between scene representations and event memory? Lead PIs: Lawrence, Hodgetts, Co-Is: Zhang, Aggleton, & Graham. BBSRC.

Past project grants

(recent and relevant only)

2023 - Developing low-cost cognitive tools for dementia assessment in India. PI: Lawrence. UKRI GCRF and Newton Fund Consolidation Accounts (GNCAs)

2016-23 Multi-scale and multi-modal assessment of coupling in the healthy and diseased brain. Lead PI: Jones; Steering Group: Assaf, Chambers, Graham, Jezzard, Linden, Morris, Nutt, Sumner, Singh, Wise, Lawrence. Wellcome Trust.

2020-21 Characterizing the cohort-based individual variability of whole-brain multimodal connectome (PI: Zhang, Co-Is Karahan, Lawrence). Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund

2018 - Descending modulatory control of sensory processing and its impact on wellbeing (PI: Lawrence, Fellow – Dr George Tackley). ESRC All Wales DTP Postdoctoral Fellowship.

2017-2021 Characterising brain network differences during scene perception and memory in APOE-e4 carriers: multi-modal imaging in ALSPAC. Lead PIs: Graham & Lawrence, Co-Is: Saksida, Jones, Wise, Fillippini, Mackay, Kordas. MRC.

2018-2019 How does genetic risk for late onset Alzheimer’s disease affect scene perception and memory in midlife? A cohort study in ALSPAC. PI: Graham; Co-Is: Molloy, Costigan, Timpson, Lawrence. Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund.

2018 Developing low-cost cognitive tools for dementia assessment in India. PI: Lawrence; Co-Is: Umla-Runge, Graham, Costigan, Alladi. GCRF extension fund. £25,260.

2017-2019 Developing low-cost cognitive tools for dementia assessment in low-to-middle-income countries (LMICS). PI: Graham; Co-Is: Lawrence, Umla-Runge, Robertson, Miller, Chan, Li, Possin, Llibre Guerra, Valdes-Sosa, Kramer, Llibre Rodriguez, Bobes. MRC Global Challenges Foundation Award.

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