Prof Sophie Scott

Wellcome Senior Research Fellow in Basic Biomedical Science and Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience

Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience

Div of Psychology & Lang Sciences

Joined UCL: 16th Nov 1998

Research summary

I am interested in the neural basis of vocal communication - how our brains process the information in speech and voices, and how our brains control the production of our voice. Within this, I am interested in the roles of streams of processing in auditory cortex, hemispheric asymmetries, and the interaction of speech processing with attentional and working memory factors. I am also interested in the expression of emotion in the voice, especially laughter.

I have been working with brain imaging technicians since the mid 1990s, and have worked with PET, fMRI, TMS, MEG and fNIRS.

I teach on these topics at UCL and I also run a module for masters students on communication skills for cognitive neuroscience.

Education

University College London: Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy | 1994
Polytechnic of Central London: First Degree, Bachelor of Science (Honours) | 1990

Biography

Professor Sophie Scott FMedSci FBA is Director of the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, and Head of the Speech Communications Group. She did her PhD at UCL between 1990-1993 and worked at for the Medical Research Council between 1993-1998, before returning to UCL to take up a series of Wellcome Trust Fellowships. She was Deputy Director at the ICN from 2014-2019 when she was appointed Director.