César Lima

César Lima is an Associate Professor with Habilitation in the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at Iscte - University Institute of Lisbon. His research focuses on the psychology and neuroscience of music, vocal communication, and emotions, particularly through the MUVE Lab. He combines experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience methods to study these topics across diverse populations, including musicians and clinical groups. Dr. Lima holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Porto (2011) and was a postdoctoral researcher at University College London's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (2012-2016). He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles in top journals like Brain and Nature Reviews Neuroscience, and serves on editorial boards for Scientific Reports and Royal Society Open Science.

His research projects include investigating how music training impacts socio-emotional processing and neural plasticity. He currently leads the MUSE project, exploring music's role in developing social skills. Dr. Lima teaches courses in cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and emotional sciences, and directs the Master's program in Emotional Sciences at Iscte. His work has been funded by the British Academy and the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

Key research themes include vocal emotion recognition, musical expertise effects on cognition, and the neural mechanisms underlying socio-emotional processing. He collaborates internationally and has reviewed grants for organizations like the Leverhulme Trust and Swiss National Science Foundation. His recent studies highlight music's potential as a therapeutic tool and its impact on aging populations' cognitive and emotional health.