Themis Efthimiou

Electrical stimulation of smiling muscles reduces visual processing load and enhances happiness perception in neutral faces - Communications Psychology Facial muscle activity can shape how we recognise emotions. Using electrical stimulation and EEG, the study found that activation of smiling muscles makes people more likely to see neutral faces as ha...

Facial muscle activity can shape how we recognize emotions. Using electrical stimulation and EEG, the study found that activation of smiling muscles makes people more likely to see neutral faces as happy.
@themisefth.bsky.social @sebkorb.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

This has been a long piece of work – the stage 1 registered report was submitted in 2021!

Its been a team effort with @noahsasson.bsky.social @suereviews.bsky.social @sarah-foster.bsky.social @themisefth.bsky.social @michelleldodd.bsky.social, Martin Lages, Charlotte Wilks + Dani Ropar. #DreamTeam

Autistic peer-to-peer information transfer is highly effective - Catherine J Crompton, Danielle Ropar, Claire VM Evans-Williams, Emma G Flynn, Sue Fletcher-Watson, 2020 Effective information transfer requires social communication skills. As autism is clinically defined by social communication deficits, it may be expected that i...

You may have heard me mention that we’ve been doing a follow-up study of our 2020 diffusion chain study which compared how autistic groups, non-autistic groups and mixed groups share information and build rapport (published in @journalautism.bsky.social journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....)

So honoured our work on social motor synchrony and rapport received an INSAR award! While I regret not being there in person tomorrow, the brilliant @sarah-foster.bsky.social will be presenting. Please stop by Poster 442.292 in Hall 4A at 12:30 to chat with her! #INSAR2025

V cool finding showing autistic people are not so dependent on synchrony to feel positive about an interaction (without showing less synchrony overall compared with non-autistic pairs)

Also the first ever registered report published in @journalautism.bsky.social !!

Big thanks to my colleagues
@suereviews.bsky.social,
@noahsasson.bsky.social,
@cjcrompton.bsky.social,
@sarah-foster.bsky.social,
@michelleldodd.bsky.social
Martin Lages, Charlotte Wilks, and Danielle Ropar

This registered report was peer-reviewed before data collection, underscoring our commitment to rigorous, transparent research. Excited to see where this insight into social communication takes us! #AutismResearch #SocialPsychology #RegisteredReport

What It Means: Non-autistic people may rely more on movement synchrony as a key ingredient for social bonding, whereas autistic individuals might use other cues to build connections.

Key Finding #2: However, synchrony has a stronger positive impact on rapport in non-autistic pairs. Non-autistic individuals needed higher synchrony to feel connected, while autistic individuals achieved similar rapport with less synchrony.

Key Finding #1: Contrary to past assumptions, dyads with an autistic person did NOT show less synchrony overall compared to non-autistic pairs.

Our Aims:
Replicate previous findings on reduced synchrony in dyads with at least one autistic person
Examine how synchrony relates to rapport in autistic, non-autistic, and mixed pairs
Compare reliance on synchrony for building rapport between autistic and non-autistic people.

Social Motor Synchrony: It’s that subtle mirroring of body movements during conversations that boosts connection & understanding. But does it play the same role in autistic vs non-autistic interactions?

Social motor synchrony and interactive rapport in autistic, non-autistic, and mixed-neurotype dyads - Themis N Efthimiou, Charlotte EH Wilks, Sarah Foster, Michelle Dodd, Noah J Sasson, Danielle Ropar... In non-autistic populations, social motor synchrony during interactions is linked to increased interpersonal rapport – a friendly connection marked by mutual un...

I'm excited to share my first registered report on social interactions in @journalautism.bsky.social! Our study explores how social motor synchrony – the natural mirroring of movements – impacts rapport between autistic, neurotypical, and mixed dyads. Thread 👇

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Variable selection can't be that hard, right? Right? 🥹

Neurodiversity Can Explain Differences in How People Experience Everyday Life Neurodiversity means that all people’s brains process information differently from each other. In other words, people think and learn in a variety of ways. Being neurodivergent means that the way a pe...

What is neurodiversity? What does it mean for how we each go about our daily activities?

We've written an article for young people, but hopefully a useful primer for all :)

By @aalcorn.bsky.social, @katiecebula.bsky.social, @suereviews.bsky.social and me.

kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10....

This is the way

Can wearables really unlock the secrets of your health?

A discussion on heart rate variability (HRV) +++ with @dsquintana.bsky.social, Marco Altini and Henrik B. Jacobsen.

youtu.be/jASGg7PJc2A

🧵1/5

📌

Ooh good to know ❤️

I’d like to be added! 😁

Electrical smiles spark better moods | BPS The debate on whether facial expressions can influence mood rages on, with new work using electrical stimulation adding a fresh twist.

Does smiling really make you feel happier? 😊

The debate on whether or not facial expressions can influence mood rages on. New work using electrical stimulation, however, adds a fresh twist: www.bps.org.uk/research-dig...

It was so nice to have the Diversity in Social Intelligence team together last week - from Edinburgh, Dallas, Nottingham, Essex & Glasgow!🌍 We spent some time planning our analyses & I'm really excited about the next few months! @noahsasson.bsky.social @themisefth.bsky.social @suereviews.bsky.social

👋 #HiSciSky 🧪

We are very happy to now also be part of this growing community 😀.

We will be posting about our SoNeAt Lab's research on #attachment & caregiving using #fNIRS hyperscanning, fMRI and other neuroimaging & psychology methods.

#neuroskyence #DevSci #DevPsy #PsychSciSky #CogSci

It's out! 🎉
academic.oup.com/scan/advance...

Thank you 😊

Today I successfully defended my PhD thesis!

Thank you to my supervisor for his support throughout this journey @sebkorb.bsky.social!

I'm excited to release the 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 for #RStats ! Convert R dataframes to beautiful tables in HTML, LaTeX, PDF, Quarto, Markdown, etc. Easy to learn; minimalist interface; concise syntax; ultra-customizable tables; and zero dependency. vincentarelbundock.github.io/tinytable/

Ending 2023 on a high! Submitted my PhD thesis ✅, published a paper 📚, and thrilled to start a postdoc at the DART Lab led by cjcrompton.bsky.social and @suereviews.bsky.social. Grateful for the journey and excited for new adventures ahead!

Finally supports Google pixel material you 😍

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohi_Day

Happy Όχι Day. Fascism is not good. People seem to forget.

Germans should pay reparations to Greece. It's been a very long time coming.