Employment

July 2020 to present: Lecturer in Psychology, University of Stirling, UK

January 2018 to July 2020: Postdoctoral researcher, Brain, Body and Self Laboratory, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Education

2018: PhD Neuroscience, University of Reading, UK

Thesis title: “Brain bases of meaningful and meaningless action imitation: a neurostimulation and two-person motion-tracking approach”

Supervisors: Nicholas Holmes (University of Nottingham), Anastasia Christakou, Peter Scarfe

2014: MSc Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Reading, UK

2013: BSc Psychology, University of Reading, UK

Awards and grants

2019: Vinnova (Sweden’s Innovation Agency) MSCA EF Seal of Excellence program, ‘Understanding the role of body ownership in predictive action’, 1,918,560 SEK

2019: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Seal of Excellence, granted by the European Commission for project proposal ‘Rubbery Expectations’ (0.2% from funding threshold)

2018: Karolinska Institute Research Foundation Grant, ‘Using transcranial magnetic stimulation to understand body ownership in action’, 80,000 SEK

2016: Economic and Social Research Council Overseas Institutional Visit, £2,410

2016: University of Reading Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, ‘Imitating meaningful and meaningless actions: how do they differ?’, £1,320

2013: Economic and Social Research Council PhD studentship (1+3), ‘Imitation and social understanding: comparing face-to-face with video interactions’, £72,104

Organised symposia

September 2018: Reader, A.T. Beyond the video: naturalistic approaches to examining social motor behaviour. International Conference on Spatial Cognition, Rome, Italy

Talks

September 2018: Reader, A.T. Finding meaning in movement: kinematic markers and neurostimulation in different types of action imitation. Invited talk at La Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

June 2017: Reader, A.T. Why and how should we use two-person paradigms in social interaction research? Invited talk at The Brain-Body Gerace Meeting, Gerace, Italy

June 2016: Reader, A.T. Introduction to TMS methodology. Talk at ESRC Brain Reading workshop, Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, Reading, UK

September 2015: Reader, A.T., & Holmes, N.P. Keeping social interaction social: new kinematic methods and analyses for improving validity. Talk at International Conference on Spatial Cognition, Rome, Italy

July 2015: Reader, A.T. Testing the validity of video stimuli in imitation. Talk at Diversity of Social Cognition, Cologne, Germany

February 2015: Reader, A.T. A brief guide to neuroanatomy and measuring the brain. Guest speaker at Wokingham Secondary Federation A-level Psychology Conference, Wokingham, UK

Posters

October 2019: Reader, A.T., & Ehrsson, H.H. Motor interference in the rubber hand illusion correlates with the perception of the real hand disappearing. Neuroscience 2019 (SfN), Chicago, USA

April 2019: Reader, A.T., & Ehrsson, H.H. Motor interference in the rubber hand illusion correlates with the perception of the real hand disappearing. From Skin to Self, London, UK

May 2017: Reader, A.T., & Holmes, N.P. rTMS to left supramarginal area PF reduces digit velocity during imitation of finger gestures. Concepts, Actions, and Objects, Rovereto, Italy

April 2017: Reader, A.T., & Holmes, N.P. rTMS to left supramarginal area PF reduces digit velocity during imitation of finger gestures. Brain Twitter Conference, Twitter

July 2016: Reader, A.T., et al. The effects of rTMS over the inferior parietal lobule on the imitation of meaningful and meaningless actions. Virtual Social Interaction, Salford, UK

August 2014: Reader, A.T., & Holmes, N.P. The effects of face-to-face versus video feedback on imitation. Social Cognition, Surrey, UK

Teaching and supervision

2019: Research assistant (1) training and supervision, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

June 2016: Introduction to TMS methodology. Talk at ESRC Brain Reading workshop, Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, University of Reading, UK

2015 – 2016: Recruitment and supervision of research assistants (4), University of Reading, UK

2015 – 2016: Undergraduate statistics demonstration and research report marking, University of Reading, UK

2014 – 2015: Undergraduate seminar leader: Introduction to Neuroscience, University of Reading, UK

Outreach

October 2017: What is transcranial magnetic stimulation and how does it work? Individual demonstrations for 57 secondary school students, University of Reading, UK

February 2015: A brief guide to neuroanatomy and measuring the brain. Guest speaker at Wokingham Secondary Federation A-level Psychology Conference, Wokingham, UK

Editing and peer review

Editing: Associate editor for Collabra: Psychology

Ad hoc peer review: Brain Sciences, Brain Stimulation, Child Development, Cortex (3), Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Frontiers in Psychology, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Life, Neuropsychologia (5), Neuroscience of Consciousness, PLoS ONE, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Scientific Reports (3)

Ad hoc grant review: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation)

Scientific societies

Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (with Swedish Society for Neuroscience), Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science

Languages

English (native), Italian (intermediate, B1), Swedish (elementary, A2)