Jens Foell
Ph.D., Neuropsychology, University of Heidelberg, 2012
Diplom in Psychology, University of Tübingen, 2007
Email: foell@psy.fsu.edu
Research Interests
The main focus of my work is the interface between brain activation and perception as well as behavior. For this, I use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and event-related potentials (ERP). For my doctoral thesis, I used fMRI to assess cortical plasticity and reorganization as a result of a 4-week treatment for phantom limb pain. This research led to further investigations into body processing, limb awareness, prosthesis development, and chronic pain treatment. Currently I use the same methods in large-scale fMRI data sets in order to investigate personality traits pertaining to psychopathy (i.e., boldness, meanness, disinhibition). These efforts have led to a new understanding of how study participants high in disinhibition have decreased preparatory activation, leading to an over-activation during feedback that has been reported in prior studies. Another focus is on the influence of psychopathic traits on behavioral performance in an experiment pertaining to cognitive adaptive flexibility in an emotional context. My main goal is to understand the role of brain mechanisms as an endophenotype for the development of psychopathic traits and behaviors. At the same time, I am interested in communicating neuroscientific methods and findings to the general public.
Selected Publications
Foell, J., Bekrater‐Bodmann, R., Diers, M., & Flor, H. (2014). Mirror therapy for phantom limb pain: brain changes and the role of body representation. European Journal of Pain, 18(5), 729-739.
Foell, J., Brislin, S. J., Strickland, C. M., Seo, D., Sabatinelli, D., & Patrick, C. J. (2015). Externalizing proneness and brain response during pre-cuing and viewing of emotional pictures. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(7), 1102-1110.
Foell, J., Andoh, J., Bekrater-Bodmann, R., Diers, M., Fuchs, X., Colloca, L., & Flor, H. (2014). Peripheral origin of phantom limb pain: Is it all resolved?. Pain, 155(10), 2205-2206.
