I am a Professor in the Department of Psychology, and Head of Department. My Bachelor’s degree was in Cognitive Science from UCLA (1992), after which I completed a PhD in Psychology at Princeton University with Prof Anne Treisman (1998). After postdoctoral work at MIT with Prof Nancy Kanwisher (1998-2000), I was appointed Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Bangor University. In 2010 I was promoted to Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience. From 2008-17, I served as Deputy Head of College (Research) for the College of Health and Behavioural Sciences, and for academic year 17/18 I was acting Dean of the College. As chair of the School’s MRI Steering Group, I oversaw the tender and selection process for our new 3T MRI system, which was installed in October 2019. From September 2020 I have been associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for research at Bangor University. 

My research and teaching interests are focused in the area of "Social Vision". That is, I am interested in using the tools and concepts from vision science to understand how we perceive, understand, and interact with the social world. Specifically, we use neuroimaging, neurostimulation, and behavioural methods to understand how healthy adult observers perceive, categorise, and interpret others' faces, bodies, and actions. My work on these topics has been funded by the BBSRC, Leverhulme Trust, and, currently, the ESRC. More detail is on my website: https://sites.google.com/view/downinglab/home

My interest in social vision also informs a much wider view of the "Social Brain" in my third year undergraduate module of that name. In that module, students engage closely with relevant primary source material, through brief written assignments, oral presentations, and longer written critiques.

One of the tasks that confronts us daily is the requirement to quickly and accurately make sense of the people around us. This involves detecting people in the scene around us, identifying them, perceiving their states (e.g. emotions) and traits (e.g. gender), and interpreting their actions and goals.  Our work has revealed much about the mental processes and brain regions that make it possible for us to perceive this information. Over the years, our projects have been funded by the BBSRC, the ESRC, the Leverhulme Trust, and the DSTL. A new 3-year project, funded by the ESRC, starts in September 2023; it concerns how we are able to rapidly and effortlessly make sense of other people's actions. 

Professor Paul Downing is a member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Institute.

Qualifications

BS Cognitive Science, University of California, Los Angeles 1992

PhD Psychology, Princeton University 1998

The main focus of my teaching is on the Year 3 module entitled "The Social Brain". Humans spend much of their time in the company of other people, whose behaviour is complex, often unpredictable, and highly relevant to our own daily lives. Making sense of all of this places strong demands on the "social brain". We can think of the social brain as a system that continuously (and often unconsciously) seeks answers to questions: Is anyone there? Who is that? What are they looking at? What are they doing? What are they feeling? What are they thinking? How do I feel about them? Modern social-cognitive neuroscience has uncovered a great deal about the brain systems that ask and answer these questions. The module covers important concepts and findings in this area.

Department of Psychology
Adeilad Brigantia
Penrallt Road
Gwynedd LL57 2AS
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 382159
Fax: +44 (0) 1248 382599
Email: [email protected]
Web: https://sites.google.com/view/downinglab/home

Professor Downing welcomes informal enquiries from prospective PhD students interested in projects related to the cognitive neuroscience of person perception. After reviewing relevant information at his lab web page (https://sites.google.com/view/downinglab/home) please get in touch vial email and include a draft research proposal of 1-2 pages.

Competitive scholarship opportunities available: None at present.