Arvid Guterstam receives research grant from Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation

Arvid Guterstam leads the Social Perception Lab (socialperceptionlab.com) at the Division of Psychology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience. He studies how our brains perceive other people’s mental states, and how these social systems differ in individuals with neuropsychiatric conditions associated with social challenges, such as autism. Arvid Guterstam explains what the support from Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation (MAW) means for his continued research:

“Knowing whether one is the recipient of another’s gaze can be decisive in many social situations. Given how fundamental gaze perception is for social cognition, surprisingly little is known about how we perceive others’ gaze when directed at the self. The support from MAW makes it possible for me and my team to launch an exciting new project to address this issue. We will utilize advanced motion capture and eye tracking technology, which allows us to record participants’ body position and gaze direction in real-time. Using this setup, we will map out people’s ability to perceive others’ gaze when directed at the self versus others, across the entire body surface. By characterizing the brain’s ‘gaze self-perception’ system in neurotypicals and autistic individuals, we will gain new knowledge about this understudied basic aspect of human social cognition”, says Arvid Guterstam.