people | academic and research staff | support staff | PhD students

Dr Angela Attwood

Research Associate/Lecturer

telephone: +44 (0)117 33 17814 email: Angela.Attwood@bris.ac.uk

Room 5D10



Biographical details



I graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2002 with a BSc in Psychology. I went on to complete a Ph.D. at Birmingham that examined the effects of conditioning to psychostimulant drugs.

Research Interests

My research interests are in the effects of social drugs and drug-related stimuli, and the psychological and biological factors that underlie addiction and continued drug use. More specifically, my recent research has included the effects of acute alcohol consumption on various aspects of social cognition, including ratings of attractiveness and the perception of emotion in facial cues. We have ongoing work examining cognitive bias to drug-related cues and the effects of attentional retraining procedures on biases and cue reactivity, and I am currently conducting a series of studies investigation the relationship between smoking and anxiety, using a carbon dioxide challenge in smokers. In addition, I have ongoing work examining pharmacological augmentation of cue exposure techniques in smokers.

Teaching

Research Methods L1, MSc; Individual Differences L2, Psychobiology L1, L2; Neuroimaging and Psychobiology MSc.


Publications

Penton-Voak I. S., Attwood A. S., Roberts R., Munafò M. R. (2010) Effects of Acute Alcohol Consumption on the Perception of Eye Gaze Direction. Journal of Psychopharmacology (in press)

Attwood A., Terry P., Higgs S. (2010) Conditioned effects of caffeine on performance in humans. Physiology and Behavior 99: 286-93

Clarke H., Flint J., Attwood A. S., Munafò M. R. (2010) Association of the 5-HTTLPR genotype and unipolar depression: a meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine 12: 1-12

Attwood A. S., Ataya A., Benton C. P., Penton-Voak I. S., Munafò M. R. (2009) Effects of alcohol and expectancy on the miscategorisation of facial cues of emotional expression. Psychopharmacology 204: 327-34

Attwood A. S., Penton-Voak I. S., Munafò M. R. (2009) Effects of acute nicotine administration on ratings of attractiveness of facial cues. Nicotine and Tobacco Research 11: 44-8

Attwood A. S., O’Sullivan H., Leonards U., Mackintosh B., Munafò M. R. (2008) Attentional bias training and cue reactivity in cigarette smokers. Addiction 103: 1875-82

Parker LLC, Attwood AS, Penton-Voak I, Munafo MR (2008) Effects of Acute Alcohol Consumption on Ratings of Attractiveness of Facial Stimuli: Evidence of long-term encoding. Alcohol and Alcoholism 43: 636-40

Attwood A. S., Ohlson C., Benton C. P., Penton-Voak I. S., Munafò M (2009) Effects of acute alcohol consumption on processing of perceptual cues of emotional expression. Journal of Psychopharmacology 43: 636-40

Higgs S. Stafford L.D., Attwood A.S., Walker S.C. and Terry P. (2008) Cues that signal the alcohol content of a beverage and their effectiveness at altering drinking rates in young social drinkers. Alcohol and Alcoholism 43: 630-5

Craig L., Attwood A. S., Benton C. P., Penton-Voak I. S., Munafò. (2008) Effects of acute alcohol consumption and alcohol expectancy on processing of perceptual cues of emotional expression Journal of Psychopharmacology 23: 258-65

Higgs S. Williamson A.C. and Attwood A.S. (2008) Recall of recent lunch and its effect on subsequent snack intake. Physiology & Behavior 94: 454-62

Munafò MR, Attwood AS, Flint J (2008) Bias in Genetic Association Studies:
Effects of research location and resources. Psychological Medicine 38: 1213-4

Munafò M. R., Attwood A. S. & Flint J. (2008) Neuregulin 1 genotype and schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin 34: 9-12

Attwood A. S., Higgs S. & Terry P. (2007) Differential responsiveness to caffeine and perceived effects of caffeine in moderate and high regular caffeine consumers. Psychopharmacology 190: 469-477

Funding:

Attwood, A.S. (P.I.), Munafò, M.R., Williams, T. A placebo-controlled study of the effectiveness of D-cycloserine in reducing cue reactivity during cue-exposure therapy in daily cigarette smokers. Global Research Awards for Nicotine Dependence (2010-2011), Project Grant $64,646 (non-fEC).

Attwood A. S., Scott-Samuel N., Munafò M. R. (2010) Effect of glass shape on drinking rate and drinking topography in social alcohol drinkers. Alcohol Education and Research Council £3,670

Attwood A. S., Rogers P. J., Munafò M. R. (2009) Combined effects of acute alcohol and caffeine on cognitive performance and inhibitory control. Funded by UoB, Experimental Psychology small grants £1,180

Book chapters:

Munafò M.R., Attwood A. S. Human Development In. Puri B. K, Treasaden I. Psychiatry: and evidence-based text. Hodder Arnold, UK.

Presentations:

Attwood A. S., Bailey J. E., Nutt D. J., Ataya A. F., Munafò M. R. Effects of nicotinized and denicotinized cigarette smoking on response to 7.5% carbon dioxide anxiety challenge. Paper presented at the European meeting of Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Bath September 2010

Attwood A. S., Bailey J. E., Nutt D. J., Ataya A. F., Munafò M. R. Effects of nicotinized and denicotinized cigarette smoking on response to 7.5% carbon dioxide anxiety challenge. Poster presented at the British Association for Psychopharmacology, Harrogate, July 2010.

Attwood A. S., Saeed F., Bailey J., Nutt D., Munafò M. R. Effects of carbon dioxide challenge on anxiety in cigarette smokers. Paper presented at the UKCTCS Young Researcher Conference, Nottingham March 2010

Attwood A. S., Saeed F., Bailey J., Lightman S., Munafò M. R. Effects of carbon dioxide challenge on anxiety respose in cigarette smokers. Poster presented at the British Association for Psychopharmacology, Oxford, July 2009.

Attwood A. S., Saeed F., Bailey J., Nutt D., Munafò M. R. Effects of carbon dioxide challenge on anxiety in cigarette smokers. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Dublin, April 2009

Attwood A. S., Saeed F., Bailey J., Nutt D., Munafò M. R. Effects of carbon dioxide challenge on craving and anxiety in abstinent and non-abstinent cigarette smokers. Poster presented at the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Rome, September 2008

Attwood, A., S., Penton-Voak I., Munafò M. R. Effects of smoking on ratings of facial attractiveness. Poster presented at the British Association for Psychopharmacology, Harrogate, July 2008.

Attwood A. S., Benton C. P., Penton-Voak I. S., Munafò M. R. Effects of acute alcohol consumption on the processing of cues of emotional expression. Paper presented at European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Workshop for Young Scientists, Nice, France, March 2008.

Attwood A. S., Munafò M. R. Effects of smoking on ratings of facial attractiveness. Poster presented at the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Portland, Oregon, February 2008

Attwood, A., S., Terry, P., Higgs, S. Conditioning of caffeine’s behavioural effects to previously-neutral contextual stimuli in humans. Poster presented at the British Association for Psychopharmacology, Oxford, July 2006.

Attwood, A., S., Terry, P., & Higgs, S. Conditioned Cognitive and Psychomotor Effects of Caffeine in Humans. Poster presented at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, Scottsdale, Arizona, June 2006.

Attwood, A., S., Terry, P., & Higgs, S. Exploring factors mediating the responsiveness to caffeine. Poster presented at the British Feeding and Drinking Group (BFDG), Birmingham, April 2006.

Attwood, A., S., Terry, P., & Higgs, S. Effects of two doses of caffeine on performance of selected Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Poster presented at the British Feeding and Drinking Group (BFDG), Wageningen, The Netherlands, April, 2005.

Attwood, A., S., Terry, P., & Higgs, S. Conditioned psychomotor effects of caffeine in humans. Paper presented at the British Feeding and Drinking Group (BFDG), Bristol, April, 2004.

people | academic and research staff | support staff | PhD students