معرفی
Randi Starrfelt is a Professor in Neuropsychology at the Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Social Sciences. She heads the Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab and maintains an active research program focusing on visual perception deficits following brain injury and developmental conditions. Her work bridges clinical practice and cognitive neuroscience, with particular emphasis on understanding the neural basis of face recognition and reading.
Dr. Starrfelt's educational background includes a Doctor Psychologiae (2018), PhD in psychology (2008), Specialist in clinical neuropsychology (2007), and MSc in psychology (2000). She has held progressively senior positions at the University of Copenhagen since 2008, reaching full Professor status in 2022.
Her primary research interests focus on neuropsychological deficits in visual perception, particularly face recognition disorders (prosopagnosia) and reading disorders (alexia). She investigates both acquired conditions following brain injury and developmental forms that emerge without known neurological damage. Her work explores the relationship between face, word, and object recognition systems, examining whether these functions operate independently or share neural resources. Through both qualitative and quantitative approaches, she examines the phenomenological experience of individuals with face recognition difficulties and develops models of visual processing based on patterns of impairment.
Analysis of her recent publications reveals a clear trend toward developmental prosopagnosia research, with multiple studies examining the phenomenology of face blindness and its relationship to other perceptual processes. Her work spans from basic cognitive mechanisms to clinical applications, with increasing attention to assessment methods and cross-lifespan considerations. The most active research areas in her recent work include developmental prosopagnosia, cerebral palsy cognitive functioning, and comparative analyses of word and face recognition systems.
- 2024-2027: Independent Research Fund Denmark grant on improving psychological assessment of face processing across the lifespan
- 2021-2025: Independent Research Fund Denmark grant on the phenomenology of face blindness
- 2015-2022: Sapere Aude starting grant on The Back of the Brain project
- 2014-2022: Danish Research Council grant on relations between face, word and object recognition
As an academic leader, Dr. Starrfelt supervises multiple PhD students working on projects related to face recognition disorders and cognitive functioning in cerebral palsy. She coordinates the MA program in Neuropsychology at the University of Copenhagen and serves in significant administrative roles including membership on the UCPH senate and the Independent Research Fund Denmark | Humanities committee. Her Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab maintains active collaborations with institutions including University College London, University of Cambridge, and University of Southern Denmark, with particular focus on the Nordic Prosopagnosia Project (www.ansigtsblind.dk) and the Back of the Brain project.
