Research
Here is a list of studies published in peer-reviewed journals and other studies that are currently being prepared for publication. Abstracts (short summaries) are given for most of the studies, and for some you can also download the full published article.
If you would like more information, have a question about a particular study, or would like a full version of an article which isn't available here, then please email me at e.lawrence@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Lawrence, E.J., Allen, G.M., Walshe, M., Allin, M., Murray, R. Rifkin, L. & Nosarti, C. Corpus Callosum Size and Self-Reported Empathy in Adults Born Pre- and Full-Term. Brain and Cognition. Under Review
Lawrence, E.J.,, McGuire, P.K, Allin, M., Walshe, M., Giampietro, V., Andrew, C., O’Carroll, C.R., Murray, R.M.Rifkin, L. Brammer, M., Williams, SCR & Nosarti, C. The Impact of Very Preterm Birth in Adulthood: Brain Activation During An Episodic Memory Task. Cerebral Cortex. Under Review
Gohier, B., Ferracci, L., Surguladze, S. Lawrence, E.J., El Hage, W., Kefi, W., Allain, P., Garre, J., Le Gall, D. Cognitive Inhibition and Working Memory in Unipolar Depression. Journal of Affective Disorders. In press.
Lawrence E.J., Rubia K., Murray R.M., McGuire P.K., Rifkin L., Nosarti C. (2008) The Neural Basis of Response Inhibition as Mediated by Gestational Age. Human Brain Mapping. Published Online 15 April 2008
Lawrence, E.J., Shaw, P., Baker, D., Patel, M.X., Sierra, M., Medford, N. & David, A.S. (2007) Empathy and Enduring Depersonalisation: The Role of Self-Related Processes. Social Neuroscience, 2 (3/4), 292-396. See abstract
Shaw, P., Lawrence, E.J., Brierley, B., Radbourne, C. & David, A.S (2007) A Prospective Study
of the Effects of Anterior Temporal Lobectomy on Emotion Recognition and Theory
of Mind Reasoning. Neuropsychologia, 45 (12), 2783-2790.
Sierra M, Baker D, Medford M, Lawrence E, Patel M, Phillips ML, David AS. (2006) Lamotrigine as an Add-on Treatment for Depersonalization Disorder: A Retrospective Study of 32 Cases. Clinical Neuropharmacology, 29 (5), 253-8.
Lawrence, E. J., Shaw, P., Giampietro, V., Surguladze, S., Brammer, MJ. and David, AS. (2006) The Role of 'Shared Representations' in Social Perception and Empathy: An fMRI study. NeuroImage, 29, 1173-1184. See abstract
Shaw P, Bramham J, Lawrence EJ, Morris R, Baron-Cohen S and David AS. (2005) The Differential Effects of Lesions of the Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex on Decoding Facial Expressions of Complex Emotions. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17 (9) 1410-1419. See abstract
Lawrence, E.J., & Peters, E., (2004) Reasoning in Believers in Paranormal. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 192 (11), 727-733. See abstract
Lawrence E.J., Shaw, P., Baker, D., Baron-Cohen, S., David, A.S. (2004) Measuring Empathy: Reliability and Validity of the Empathy Quotient. Psychological Medicine, 34, 911-919. See abstract
Shaw, P., Lawrence, E.J., Radbourne, C., Bramham, J., & David, A.S (2004) The Impact of Early and Late Damage to the Human Amygdala on 'Theory of Mind' Reasoning. Brain, 127, 1535-1548. See abstract
Baker, D., Hunter, E., Lawrence, E.J., Medford, N., Patel, M, Sierra, Senior, C.M., Lambert, M.V., Phillips, M.L., David, A.S. (2003) Depersonalisation Disorder: Clinical Features of 204 cases. British Journal of Psychiatry, 182, 428-33. See abstract
Medford, N., Baker, D., Hunter, H., Sierra, S., Lawrence, E.J., Phillips, M., David, A.S. (2003) Chronic Depersonalization Following Illicit Drug Use: Review of Forty Cases. Addiction, 98 (12), 1731-1736. See abstract
Abstracts
Lawrence, E.J., & Peters, E., (2004)
Reasoning in Believers in Paranormal.
Reasoning biases have been identified in deluded patients, delusion-prone individuals and believers in the paranormal. This study examined content-specific reasoning and delusional ideation in believers in the paranormal. 174 members of the Society for Psychical Research completed a delusional ideation questionnaire and a deductive reasoning task. The reasoning statements were manipulated for congruency with paranormal beliefs. As predicted, individuals who reported a strong belief in the paranormal made more errors and displayed more delusional ideation than sceptical individuals. However, no differences were found with statements that were congruent with their belief system, confirming the domain-specificity of reasoning. This reasoning bias was limited to people who reported a belief in, rather than experience of, paranormal phenomena. These results suggest that reasoning abnormalities may have a causal role in the formation of unusual beliefs. The dissociation between experiences and beliefs implies such abnormalities operate at the evaluative, rather than the perceptual, stage of processing.
Lawrence E.J., Shaw, P., Baker, D., Baron-Cohen, S., David, A.S. (2004)
Measuring
Empathy: Reliability and Validity of the Empathy Quotient.
Background. Empathy plays a key role in social understanding, however, its empirical measurement has proved difficult. The Empathy Quotient - EQ (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004) is a self-report scale designed to do just that. This series of 4 studies examined the reliability and validity of the EQ and determined its factor structure. Method. In Study 1, 53 people completed the EQ, Social Desirability Scale - SDS (Crowne and Marlow, 1960) and a non-verbal mental state inference test - the Eyes Task (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001). In Study 2, a principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted on data from 100 healthy individuals and 62 people reporting depersonalisation (DPD). Approximately 1 year later, Study 3, involved the re-administration of the EQ (n=24) along with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index - IRI - (n=28) (Davis, 1980). In the last study, the EQ scores of those with DPD, a condition that includes a subjective lack of empathy, were examined in depth. Results. An association was found between the Eyes task and EQ, and only 3 EQ items correlated with the SDS. PCA revealed 3 factors: 1) 'cognitive empathy' 2) 'emotional reactivity' and 3) 'social skills'. Test-retest reliability was good and moderate associations were found between the EQ and IRI subscales, suggesting concurrent validity. People with DPD did not show a global empathy deficit, but reported less social competence. Conclusions The EQ is a valid, reliable scale and the different subscales may have clinical applications.
Shaw, P., Lawrence, E.J., Radbourne, C., Bramham, J., & David, A.S (2004)
The impact of early and late damage to the human amygdala on 'theory of mind' reasoning.
There is a burgeoning interest in the neural basis of the ability to attribute mental states to others; a capacity referred to as 'theory of mind' (ToM). We examined the effects of lesions of the amygdala which arise at different stages of development on this key aspect of social cognition. Tests of ToM, executive and general neuropsychological function were given to subjects with lesions of the amygdala arising congenitally or in early childhood ('early damage', n = 15), subjects who acquired damage to the amygdala in adulthood ('late damage' n = 11) and matched clinical (n = 14) and healthy comparison groups (n = 38). Subjects with early damage to the amygdala, particularly if the lesion was associated with childhood onset of seizures, were impaired relative to all other groups on more advanced tests of ToM reasoning, such as detecting tactless or ironic comments or interpreting non-literal utterances. These deficits held for subjects with either left or right early amygdala damage and encompassed the understanding of both the beliefs and emotional states of others. In contrast, subjects who acquired damage to the amygdala in adulthood (usually as part of an anterior temporal lobectomy) were not impaired in ToM reasoning relative to both clinical and healthy controls, supporting the position that the amygdala is not part of the neural circuitry mediating the 'on-line' performance of ToM reasoning. In line with theories which claim that ToM is an independent faculty of cognition, we found that the pattern of results held after co-varying for measures of executive function, memory and general intellectual functioning. We discuss the results in the light of recent theories which link early developmental insults to the amygdala with the ToM impairments which are thought to be a core neurocognitive deficit found in disorders such as autism. We conclude that the amygdala may play an important role in the neural systems supporting the normal development of ToM reasoning.
Baker, D., Hunter, E., Lawrence, E.J., Medford, N., Patel, M, Sierra, Senior, C.M., Lambert, M.V., Phillips, M.L., David, A.S. (2003)
Depersonalisation Disorder: Clinical Features of 204 cases.
Background Depersonalisation disorder is a poorly understood and underresearched syndrome. Aims To carry out a large and comprehensive clinical and psychopathological survey of a series of patients who made contact with a research clinic. Method A total of 204 consecutive eligible referrals were included: 124 had a full psychiatric examination using items of the Present State Examination to define depersonalisation/derealisation and 80 had either a telephone interview (n=22) or filled out a number of self-report questionnaires. Cases assessed were diagnosed according to DSM—IV criteria. Results The mean age of onset was 22.8 years; early onset was associated with greater severity. There was a slight male preponderance. The disorder tended to be chronic and persistent. Seventy-one per cent met DSM—IV criteria for primary depersonalisation disorder. Depersonalisation symptom scores correlated with both anxiety and depression and a past history of these disorders was commonly reported. ‘Dissociative amnesia’ was not prominent. Conclusions Depersonalisation disorder is a recognisable clinical entity but appears to have significant comorbidity with anxiety and depression. Research into its aetiology and treatment is warranted.
Medford, N., Baker, D., Hunter, H., Sierra, S., Lawrence, E.J., Phillips, M., David, A.S. (2003)
Chronic Depersonalization following illicit drug use: Review of Forty Cases.
Aims To examine
demographic and clinical features of a group of patients reporting chronic depersonalization
(DP) following illicit drug use, and to assess whether depersonalization arising
in these circumstances constitutes a distinct clinical syndrome. Design
Case-control comparison using self-reports, standardized questionnaires and
clinical assessments in a specialized clinic. Setting A tertiary referral
depersonalization clinic and research unit affiliated to a psychiatric hospital
and research centre. Participants A total of 164 individuals with chronic DP
symptoms who had been in contact with the clinic. Forty of these individuals
related the onset of symptoms to an episode of illicit drug use. Measurements
A wide range of demographic and clinical variables measured using questionnaires
and standardized rating scales. Findings The drug-induced DP group were
significantly younger and had a preponderance of males compared to the non-drug
group. Certain clinical and phenomenological differences were found between
these groups, but in general the groups are strikingly similar. This is reinforced
by the fact that when the drug-induced group was compared with an age and sex-matched
subset of the non-drug group, differences between groups largely disappeared.
Conclusions Drug-induced DP does not appear to represent a distinct clinical
syndrome. The neurocognitive mechanisms of the genesis and maintenance of DP
are likely to be similar across clinical groups, regardless of precipitants.
Shaw P, Bramham J, Lawrence EJ, Morris R, Baron-Cohen S and David AS. (2005)
The differential effects of lesions of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex on decoding facial expressions of complex emotions.
Humans can detect facial expressions of both simple, basic emotions and expressions reflecting more complex states of mind. The latter includes emotional expressions that regulate social interactions ('social expressions' such as looking hostile or friendly) and expressions that reflect the inner thought state of others ('cognitive expressions' -such as looking pensive). To explore the neural substrate of this skill we examined performance on a test of detection of such complex expressions in patients with lesions of the temporal lobe (N=54) or frontal lobe (N=31). Of the temporal group, 18 had unilateral focal lesions of the amygdala and of the frontal group, 14 patients had unilateral lesions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex- two regions held to be pivotal in mediating social cognitive skills. Damage to either the left or right amygdala was associated with impairment in the recognition of both social and cognitive expressions, despite an intact ability to extract information relating to invariant physical attributes. Lesions to all of the right prefrontal cortex- not just the ventromedial portions- led to a specific deficit in recognizing complex social expressions with a negative valence. The deficit in the group with right prefrontal cortical damage may contribute to the disturbances in social behavior associated with such lesions. The results also suggest that the amygdala has a role in processing a wide range of emotional expressions.
Lawrence, EJ., Shaw, P., Giampietro, V., Surguladze, S., and David, AS. (2006)
The
Role of 'Shared Representations' in Social Perception and Empathy:
An fMRI study.
Evidence suggests we use the same mechanisms for both producing and perceiving actions. Such 'shared representations' may also underlie social perception and empathy. However, this idea raises some important and as yet unresolved questions: i) how do we distinguish other-orientated empathic responses from a self-orientated ones such as personal distress? and, ii) what are the neural substrates underpinning these processes? We employed event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore whether 'shared representations' were recruited to decode dynamic social stimuli in 12 healthy volunteers. We used an adapted version of the Profile of Non-Verbal Sensitivity (Rosenthal et al, 1979) which taps social perception using brief silent video clips. Participants chose one of two words that best described the state conveyed by the actor, or in the control condition using the same clips, the word describing which parts of the body were visible (non-social perception). Off-line self-report measures of empathy and personal distress engendered by thoughts about others, were also given along with an experimentally-derived index of the degree of self-other overlap during social perception. Brain activation specific to the main experimental condition was found in the inferior frontal gyrus and premotor areas consistent with the use of 'shared representations'. Somatasensory areas such as the insula and supramarginal gyrus were also activated suggesting participants constructed a qualitative representation of the target state. Activity in the rostral anterior cingulate was associated with self-reports of personal distress and increased blood flow to the anterior cingulate and inferior parietal cortex was related to self-other overlap.
Lawrence, E.J., Shaw, P., Baker, D., Patel, M.X., Sierra, M., Medford, N. & David, A.S. (2007)
Empathy and Enduring Depersonalisation: the Role of Self-Related Processes
Empathy has two key components: affective and cognitive. It relies on 'embodied' processes such as the generation, representation and perception of feeling states. People diagnosed with Depersonalisation Disorder (DPD) report disturbances in affective experience, such as emotional numbing, alongside aberrations in 'body image' such as increased self-focus and feelings of 'disembodiment'. DPD therefore provides a testbed for the role of such self-related processes in empathy. We tested 16 participants diagnosed with DPD and 48 control volunteers on measures of cognitive and affective empathy. We used self-report measures (EQ: Baron-Cohen et al., 2004), an objective measure of cognitive empathy - the 'Eyes' task (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001), and a novel task tapping affective empathy, utilising speech rate as an implicit measure of physiological arousal. We also measured participant's tendency to use mental representations that relate to the self during the affective empathy task. The DPD group showed intact performance on the cognitive empathy task. However, there was a disruption in the physiological component of affective empathy alongside a more pronounced reliance on mental representations of the self. These findings suggest affective empathy to be reliant on intact emotional experience in the observer. In addition, excessive self-focus may be detrimental to an empathic response.