About me
Professor Merle Fairhurst is a cognitive neuroscientist with strong interdisciplinary ties that facilitate cross-talk with philosophers. She studies the interaction between sensory signals that allow us to make sense of the world around us and to successfully interact with others. Her projects range from trying to understand what makes touch special to identifying factors that make interacting in a group different to interacting in pairs. As a classical singer, she is passionate about the special cases of sensory perception in music and art. And, as a mother of four, she strongly believes in promoting women in academia.
Publications
- Fairhurst M.T., Janata P., Keller P.E. Distinguishing self from other in a dynamic synchronization task with an adaptive virtual partner. Submitted
- Tajadura-Jiménez A., Vakali M., Fairhurst M.T., Mandrigin A., Bianchi-Berthouze N., Deroy O. Auditory Pinocchio: Rising pitch changes the mental representation of one’s finger length. In press
- Fairhurst M. T. Scott M., Deroy O. Matching face-voices pairings affect recall: Evidence from a real-life context. 2017
- Gallotti, M., Fairhurst M. T., Frith, C. Alignment in social interactions. Consciousnes and Cognition 2017
- Fairhurst M.T., Deroy O. Testing the shared spatial representation of magnitude of auditory and visual intensity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. 2017
- Koehne, S., Behrends, A.,Fairhurst, M.T., Dziobek, I. Fostering Social Cognition through an Imitation- and Synchronization-Based Dance/Movement Intervention in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Controlled Proof-of-Concept Study. 2016
- Fairhurst, M.T., Pritchard, D., Ospina, D., Deroy, O. Bouba-Kiki in the plate: combining crossmodal correspondences to change flavour experience. Flavour 2015
- van der Steen, M.C., Jacoby, N., Fairhurst, M.T., & Keller, P.E. Sensorimotor synchronization with tempo-changing auditory sequences: Modeling temporal adaptation and anticipation. Brain Research 2015
- Tajadura-Jimenez, A, Basia, M, Deroy, O, Fairhurst, M, Marquardt, Berthouze, N. As light as your footsteps: altering walking sounds to change perceived body weight, emotional state and gait. Computer Human Interface 2015
- Fairhurst, M.T., Löken, L.S., Grossman, T. Physiological and behavioral responses reveal human infants’ sensitivity to pleasant touch. Psychological Science 2014
- Ragert M., Fairhurst M.T., Keller P.E. Segregation and integration of complex auditory streams. PloS One 2014
- Fairhurst M.T., Janata P., Keller P.E. Leading the follower: an fMRI investigation of dynamic cooperativity and leader-follower strategies in synchronization with an adaptive virtual partner. Neuroimage 2013
- Uhlig M., Fairhurst M.T., Keller P.E. The importance of integration and top-down salience when listening to complex multi-part musical stimuli. Neuroimage 2013
- Hove M.J., Fairhurst M.T., Kotz S.A., Keller P.E. Synchronizing with auditory and visual rhythms: an fMRI assessment of modality differences and modality appropriateness. Neuroimage 2012
- Fairhurst M.T., Janata P., Keller P.E. Being and feeling in sync with an adaptive virtual partner: brain mechanisms underlying dynamic cooperativity. Cerebral Cortex 2012
- Fairhurst M., Fairhurst K, Berna Renella C, Tracey I.A. Simulated and physical pain produce overlapping brain network of activity except for posterior insular cortex. Plos One 2012
- Fairhurst M., Wiech K., Dunckley P., Tracey I. Anticipatory brainstem activity predicts neural processing of pain in humans. PAIN 2007
- Fairhurst M.. Neurogenetic Imaging. Book chapter in: Gene Therapy – Prospective assessment in its societal context. Niewohner & Tannert (Eds), Elsevier (pub). 2006.
- Dunckley P., Wise R.G., Fairhurst M., Hobden P., Aziz Q., Chang L., Tracey I. A comparison of visceral and somatic pain processing in the human brainstem using functional magnetic resonance imaging. J Neurosci 2005
CVBE Projects
Museums visitors touch artworks they should not. We touch our phone on the table, even though we don’t need it. Why do we want to touch objects that we can clearly see? What is it that touch provides that vision does not?
When we interact with others, we coordinate our thoughts, intentions and behavior through back-and-forth exchange: from exchanging casual smiles on the U-bahn to deep philosophical discussions about the state of the world. But why are we compelled to do things together? The answer, is almost certainly not simply only to achieve things we can do together, as there is a great deal we can do alone. The answer perhaps lies in how we do things together. In the examples of team sports, dance or group music making, we see richer ways in which individuals temporally coordinate and adapt to one another over longer periods of time. One individual might slow down their actions. Their partners in turn will adapt their behaviour to a greater or lesser extent.