Professor Paul Downing
Professor in Psychology / Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor

Contact info
Department of Psychology
Adeilad Brigantia
Penrallt Road
Gwynedd LL57 2AS
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1248 382159
Fax: +44 (0) 1248 382599
Email: p.downing@bangor.ac.uk
Web: https://sites.google.com/view/downinglab/home
- Published
Bodies capture attention when nothing is expected.
Bray, D. M., Downing, P. E., Bray, D., Rogers, J. & Childs, C., 1 Aug 2004, In: Cognition. 93, 1, p. B27-B38Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
fMRI repetition suppression reveals no sensitivity to trait judgments from faces in face perception or theory-of-mind networks
Butler, E., Ward, R., Downing, P. & Ramsey, R., 14 Aug 2018, In: PLoS ONE. 13, 8, e0201237.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
The effect of viewpoint on body representation in the extrastriate body area.
Chan, A. W., Peelen, M. V. & Downing, P. E., 25 Oct 2004, In: Neuroreport. 15, 15, p. 2407-2410Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Faces and eyes in human lateral prefrontal cortex.
Chan, A. W. & Downing, P. E., 2 Jun 2011, In: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 5, 51, p. 1-10Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
An Exploration of Face Selectivity in Human Inferior Frontal Cortex.
Chan, A. W., Peelen, M. V. & Downing, P. E., 1 Jan 2006.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
Lesions of the Medial Occipito-Temporal cortex affect spatial binding of sensory and memory data
D-Avossa, G. G., Dundon, N. M., Leek, C., D'Avossa, G., Dundon, N., Katshu, M. Z., Roberts, D., Harry, B., Roberts, C., Downing, P. E. & Leek, E. C., 1 Aug 2015, In: Perception. 44, p. 43Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Competition in visual working memory for control of search.
Downing, P. E. & Dodds, C. M., 1 Aug 2004, In: Visual Cognition. 11, 6, p. 689-703Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Competition in Visual Working Memory for Control of Search.
Downing, P. E. & Dodds, C. M., 1 Jan 2003.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
The role of occipitotemporal body-selective regions in person perception
Downing, P. E. & Peelen, M. V., 1 Nov 2011, In: Cognitive Neuroscience. 2, 3-4, p. 186-203Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Interactions between visual working memory and selective attention
Downing, P. E., 1 Nov 2000, In: Psychological Science. 11, 6, p. 467-473Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation of overlapping lateral occipitotemporal activations using multi-voxel pattern analysis.
Downing, P. E., Wiggett, A. J. & Peelen, M. V., 3 Jan 2007, In: Journal of Neuroscience. 27, 1, p. 226-233Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Face perception: broken into parts.
Downing, P. E., 23 Oct 2007, In: Current Biology. 17, 20, p. R888-R889Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
A cortical area specialized for visual processing of the human body.
Downing, P. E., Downing, P. & Kanwisher, N., 1 Jan 2001.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
FMRI-derived maps of discrimination utility for high-level vision.
Downing, P. E., Chan, A. & Dodds, C., 1 Jan 2003.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
A cortical area specialized for visual processing of the human body.
Downing, P. E., Downing, P. & Kanwisher, N., 1 Jan 2001.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
Domain specificity in visual cortex.
Downing, P. E., Chan, A. W., Peelen, M. V., Dodds, C. M. & Kanwisher, N., 1 Oct 2006, In: Cerebral Cortex. 16, 10, p. 1453-1461Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
A cortical area selective for visual processing of the human body.
Downing, P. E., Jiang, Y., Shuman, M. & Kanwisher, N., 28 Sept 2001, In: Science. 293, 5539, p. 2470-2473Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Response-specific effects of pain observation on motor behavior.
Downing, P. E., Morrison, I., Poliakoff, E., Gordon, L. & Downing, P., 1 Aug 2007, In: Cognition. 104, 2, p. 407-416Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Functional Neuroimaging of Human Visual Recognition.
Downing, P. E., Kanwisher, N., Downing, P., Epstein, R., Kourtzi, Z., Cabeza, R. (Editor) & Kingstone, A. (Editor), 1 Jan 2001, Handbook of functional neuroimaging of cognition. 2001 ed. MIT Press, p. 109-152Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
- Published
The role of the extrastriate body area in action perception.
Downing, P. E., Peelen, M. V., Wiggett, A. J. & Tew, B. D., 1 Mar 2006, In: Social Neuroscience. 1, 1, p. 52-62Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Effects of Viewpoint and Identity in Face- and Body-Selective Cortical Areas.
Downing, P. E., Chan, A. W. & Downing, P., 1 Jan 2004.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
Body selectivity in occipitotemporal cortex: Causal evidence
Downing, P. E. & Peelen, M. V., 1 Jun 2015, In: Neuropsychologia. 83, p. 138-148Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Facilitation of voluntary saccades by fMRI guided 1Hz rTMS of the frontal eye field.
Downing, P. E., Rafal, R., Lauder, J., Machado, L., Dodds, C. & Downing, P., 1 Jan 2002.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
Scene representations in the parahippocampal place area are view-point specific.
Downing, P. E., Epstein, R., Graham, K. S., Kanwisher, N. & Downing, P., 1 Jan 2002.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
Cortical Representation of Faces, Bodies and their Parts.
Downing, P. E. & Peelen, M., 1 Jan 2005.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
Testing cognitive models of visual attention with fMRI and MEG.
Downing, P. E., Downing, P., Liu, J. & Kanwisher, N., 1 Jan 2001, In: Neuropsychologia. 39, 12, p. 1329-1342Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Selectivity for the human body in the fusiform gyrus.
Downing, P. E. & Peelen, M., 1 Jan 2004.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
Strong category-selectivity is rare in human visual cortex.
Downing, P. E., Dodds, C. M., Chan, A. W. & Turnbull, O., 1 Jan 2003.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
- Published
Why does the gaze of others direct visual attention?
Downing, P., Dodds, C. M. & Bray, D. M., 1 Jan 2004, In: Visual Cognition. 11, 1, p. 71-79Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Human parahippocampal cortex supports spatial binding in visual working memory
Dundon, N., Katshu, M. Z. U., Harry, B., Roberts, D., Leek, C., Downing, P., Sapir, A., Roberts, C. & D-Avossa, G., 15 Sept 2017, In: Cerebral Cortex. 2017, p. 1-11Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Viewpoint-specific scene representations in human parahippocampal cortex.
Epstein, R., Graham, K. S. & Downing, P. E., 6 Mar 2003, In: Neuron. 37, 5, p. 865-876Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Converging evidence that left extrastriate body area supports visual sensitivity to social interactions
Gandolfo, M., Abassi, E., Balgova, E., Papeo, L., Downing, P. & Koldewyn, K., 4 Jan 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Current Biology. 34, 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Boosting forward connectivity between primary visual and body selective cortex reduces interference between sex and emotion judgements of bodies
Gandolfo, M., D'Argenio, G., Downing, P. & Urgesi, C., 15 Apr 2025, In: Neuroimage. 310, p. 121102Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Perceiving emotion and sex from the body: evidence from the Garner task for independent processes
Gandolfo, M. & Downing, P., 25 Jun 2019, In: Cognition and Emotion. 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Asymmetric visual representation of sex from human body shape
Gandolfo, M. & Downing, P., Dec 2020, In: Cognition. 205, 104436.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Asymmetric visual representation of sex from facial appearance
Gandolfo, M. & Downing, P., Apr 2023, In: Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 30, 2, p. 585-595 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Causal Evidence for Expression of Perceptual Expectations in Category-Selective Extrastriate Regions
Gandolfo, M. & Downing, P., 5 Aug 2019, In: Current Biology. 29, 15, p. 2496-2500Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Extracting social information from the visual image of bodies
Greven, I. M., Downing, P. E. & Ramsey, R., 1 Aug 2015, p. 34.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › peer-review
- Published
Linking person perception and person knowledge in the human brain
Greven, I. M., Downing, P. E. & Ramsey, R., 25 Feb 2016, In: Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 11, 4, p. 641-651Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Neural networks supporting social evaluation of bodies based on body shape
Greven, I., Downing, P. & Ramsey, R., May 2019, In: Social Neuroscience. 14, 3, p. 328-344Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Evidence for integrated visual face and body representations in the anterior temporal lobes
Harry, B. B., Umla-Runge, K., Lawrence, A. D., Graham, K. S. & Downing, P. E., Aug 2016, In: Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 28, 8, p. 1178-1193Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Evidencing a place for the hippocampus within the core scene processing network
Hodgetts, C., Shine, J., Lawrence, A., Downing, P. & Graham, K., Nov 2016, In: Human Brain Mapping. 37, p. 3779–3794Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Dissecting the visual perception of body shape with the Garner selective attention paradigm
Johnstone, L. & Downing, P., Jul 2017, In: Visual Cognition. 25, 4-6, p. 507-523Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Dissociation of extrastriate body and biological-motion selective areas by manipulation of visual-motor congruency.
Kontaris, I., Wiggett, A. J. & Downing, P. E., 1 Dec 2009, In: Neuropsychologia. 47, 14, p. 3118-3124Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Reflections on the hand: The use of a mirror highlights the contributions of interpreted and retinotopic representations in the rubber-hand illusion
Kontaris, I. & Downing, P. E., 14 Dec 2011, In: Perception. 40, 11, p. 1320-1334Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
The role of motion in the neural representation of social interactions in the posterior temporal cortex
Landsiedel, J., Daughters, K., Downing, P. E. & Koldewyn, K., 15 Nov 2022, In: Neuroimage. 262, 119533.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Mapping brain activation and information during category-specific visual working memory
Linden, D., Oosterhof, N., Klein, C. & Downing, P. E., 1 Jan 2012, In: Journal of Neurophysiology. 107, 2, p. 628-639Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
The lateral occipitotemporal cortex in action
Lingnau, A. & Downing, P. E., 3 Apr 2015, In: Trends in Cognitive Science. 19, 5, p. 268-277Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Action Understanding
Lingnau, A. & Downing, P., 9 May 2024, Cambridge Elements : Elements in Perception. Cambridge University Press, 76 p. (Elements in Perception).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
- Published
Representation of Sex from the Face and Body: Evidence from a Visual Adaptation Task
Mitev, D., Koldewyn, K. & Downing, P., Aug 2024.Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster