Hello! I’m Amy, and I’m a postdoctoral researcher at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Saitama, Japan.

Earlier this year, I completed my PhD at the University of Melbourne, where I won the 2024 Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research.

My research interests lie at the intersection of clinical conditions and ‘normal’ psychological experiences. My PhD research focused on the subjective experience of Visual Snow Syndrome, and understanding why some people can have VSS with no impacts whereas others find it life-altering.

At RIKEN, I am a researcher in the Cognitive Somnology RIKEN Hakubi Research Team. Click here to visit the lab website.

I was the 2021 Media Manager for Students of Brain Research (SOBR) and the 2022 Media Manager on the early career researcher subcommittee of the Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society (ACNS). I was the 2023 Student Representative on the ACNS executive committee.

You can reach me on amy.thompson@riken.jp