About
Jane Aspell is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), affiliated with the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the School of Psychology, Sport and Sensory Science. She serves as Director of Postgraduate Research and REF Convenor for UoA 4 (Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience). Aspell joined ARU in 2011 after postdoctoral positions at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Goldsmiths College (London), and the University of Oxford. She holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Newcastle and an MA in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford.
Her research investigates how multisensory bodily signals form the neurobiological basis of self-consciousness. Using EEG, behavioral experiments, and psychophysical methods, she studies bodily self-perception in neurotypical individuals, autistic populations, and chronic pain patients. Key interests include the integration of exteroceptive (visual/tactile) and interoceptive (e.g., cardiac) signals, and how these processes underpin higher-order self-concepts. Aspell co-leads the Body and Self Research Group within ARU's Centre for Mind and Behaviour.
A review of her recent publications (2020-2024) reveals dominant themes in interoception, body image disorders, autism, and cross-cultural psychology. Her work consistently bridges clinical applications (fibromyalgia, pelvic pain) with fundamental questions about self-consciousness, employing innovative neurophysiological methods and cross-disciplinary collaborations.
- Finalist: Researcher of the Year (2024 Cambridge Independent Science Awards)
- Best PhD Supervisory Team Award (2023 & 2021)
- Vice Chancellor’s Award for Doctoral Supervision (2022)
- Faculty Research Award (2022)
- Vice Chancellor’s Innovation Award (2021)
She actively supervises PhD candidates (e.g., Phaedra Longhurst, Azeezat Aminu) and has mentored 8+ students to completion. Major grants include a Leverhulme Trust Award (£153K, 2022), Versus Arthritis Pain Challenge (£190K, 2020), and Bial Foundation grants (2021, 2014). She directs the Self & Body Lab, pioneering VR/EEG studies on bodily self-consciousness.
