Kami earned a dual BA degree in Music and Philosophy at Pomona College in California. After several years teaching children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders, she returned to graduate school and completed a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of California, Davis. She then spent four years as a postdoctoral researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with Nancy Kanwisher. She joined the faculty at Bangor in 2013.

Kami is a Reader in the Department of Psychology in the School of Human and Behavioural Sciences and is part of the Cognitive Neuroscience research group in the school.

Her research interests include: The development of social perception and social cognition across the lifespan, Autism Spectrum Disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders that affect social perception and cognition, and the brain bases of social perception and social cognition.

Co-director of the College Research Institute for the College of Human Sciences

Lead for ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership, Psychology pathway

Co-Director for Research at Tir Na n'Og

Member of the Bangor Imaging Centre Steering Group

Lab Website: https://sites.google.com/view/devsocialvislab/

Google citations

Room 315

Brigantia Building

Penrallt Road

Bangor

LL57 2AS

email: k.koldewyn@bangor.ac.uk

Telephone: +44(0)1248388581

• PhD: Visual Motion Processing in Autism
  University of California, Davis, 2009
• BA: Music and Philosophy
  Pomona College, Claremont, California, 1996
• Professional: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy FHEA

Kami supervises undergraduate and Masters students on projects that encompass a broad range of topics in social perception and social neuroscience.

She is currently supervising two PhD students: Laura Jastzrab and Lois Pierce-Jones.

Her supervision includes one current postdoctoral scholar: Julia Landsiedel

https://sites.google.com/view/devsocialvislab/people 

She teaches a specialist 3rd-year module: Brain Development and Degeneration and co-teachers Biological Bases of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the Masters level.

Our current research program addresses three intertwined questions: 

1. What is the cognitive and neural architecture of social perception in typical adults?
2. How does the social perception system arise and change across typical development?
3. How is social perception and its development altered in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and what are the neural bases of these social differences?

To address these questions, we use a variety of methods, including behavioral and eye-tracking paradigms, visual psychophysics and both structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in individuals with developmental disorders as well as typical children and adults.

Many of the current projects in the lab are focused on the perception and understanding of social interactions viewed from a 3rd-person perspective.

Self-funded (inc. agency-funded) projects: Dr. Koldewyn welcomes informal enquiries from prospective PhD students interested in projects related to Social Perception or Social Neuroscience, especially those that are interested in how social perception, or the social brain, changes across development and/or across the life-span. She would also welcome students interested in research relevant to neurodevelopmental disorders that affect social perception and/or social cognition, including particularly Autism and Fragile X syndrome.

2023

• Accepted/In pressAlternative brain connectivity underscores age-related differences in the processing of interactive biological motion
  Walbrin, J., Almeida, J. & Koldewyn, K., 12 Mar 2023, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Neuroscience.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2022

• E-pub ahead of printAttentional Bias towards Social Interactions during Viewing of Naturalistic Scenes
  Skripkauskaite, S., Mihai, I. & Koldewyn, K., 15 Nov 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• E-pub ahead of printConfigural properties of face portraits change between childhood and adulthood
  Balas, B., Weigelt, S. & Koldewyn, K., 28 Jul 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: International Journal of Behavioral Development.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe role of motion in the neural representation of social interactions in the posterior temporal cortex
  Landsiedel, J., Daughters, K., Downing, P. E. & Koldewyn, K., 15 Nov 2022, In: Neuroimage. 262, 119533.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2021

• PublishedEstablishing a Role of the Semantic Control Network in Social Cognitive Processing: A Meta-analysis of Functional Neuroimaging Studies
  Diveica, V., Koldewyn, K. & Binney, R., 15 Dec 2021, In: Neuroimage. 245, 118702.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedExploring the relationship between anthropomorphism and theory-of-mind in brain and behaviour
  Hortensius, R., Kent, M., Darda, K., Jastrzab, L., Koldewyn, K., Ramsey, R. & Cross, E. S., Sep 2021, In: Human Brain Mapping. 42, 13, p. 4224-4241 18 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2020

• PublishedDevelopmental changes in visual responses to social interactions
  Walbrin, J., Mihai, I., Landsiedel, J. & Koldewyn, K., Apr 2020, In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 42, 100774.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedHead motion during fMRI tasks is reduced in children and adults if participants take breaks
  Meissner, T., Walbrin, J., Nordt, M., Koldewyn, K. & Weigelt, S., Aug 2020, In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 44, 100803.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

• PublishedDyadic interaction processing in the posterior temporal cortex
  Walbrin, J. & Koldewyn, K., Sep 2019, In: Neuroimage. 198, September, p. 296-302 7 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedElectro-cortical correlates of multisensory integration using ecologically valid emotional stimuli: Differential effects for fear and disgust
  Stefanou, M. E., Dundon, N., Bestelmeyer, P., Koldewyn, K., Saville, C., Fleischhaker, C., Feige, B., Biscaldi, M., Smyrnis, N. & Klein, C., Mar 2019, In: Biological Psychology. 142, p. 132-139
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedRepresentational similarity precedes category selectivity in the developing ventral visual pathway
  Cohen, M. A., Dilks, D. D., Koldewyn, K., Weigelt, S., Feather, J., Kell, A. J., Keil, B., Fischl, B., Zöllei, L., Wald, L., Saxe, R. & Kanwisher, N., 15 Aug 2019, In: Neuroimage. 197, p. 565-574 10 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe influence of prosocial priming on visual perspective taking and automatic imitation
  Newey, R., Koldewyn, K. & Ramsey, R., 23 Jan 2019, In: PLoS ONE. 14, 1, p. e0198867 0198867.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2018

• PublishedAdaptation to vocal expressions and phonemes is intact in autism spectrum disorder
  Bestelmeyer, P., Williams, B., Lawton, J., Stefanou, M-E., Koldewyn, K., Klein, C. & Biscaldi, M., May 2018, In: Clinical Psychological Science. 6, 3, p. 372-381
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedHigh-level language processing regions are not engaged in action observation or imitation
  Pritchett, B. L., Hoeflin, C., Koldewyn, K., Dechter, E. & Fedorenko, E., Nov 2018, In: Journal of Neurophysiology. 120, 5, p. 2555-2570
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedNeural Responses to Visually Observed Social Interactions
  Walbrin, J., Downing, P. & Koldewyn, K., Apr 2018, In: Neuropsychologia. 112, April, p. 31-39
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2017

• PublishedPerceiving social interactions in the posterior superior temporal sulcus
  Isik, L., Koldewyn, K., Beeler, D. & Kanwisher, N., Oct 2017, In: PNAS. 114, 43, p. E9145-E9152
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe neuroscience of people watching: how the human brain makes sense of other people's encounters
  Quadflieg, S. & Koldewyn, K., 26 May 2017, In: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1396, 1, p. 166-182 17 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2016

• PublishedU Can Touch This: How Tablets Can Be Used to Study Cognitive Development
  Semmelmann, K., Nordt, M., Sommer, K., Röhnke, R., Mount, L., Prüfer, H., Terwiel, S., Meissner, T. W., Koldewyn, K. & Weigelt, S., 7 Jul 2016, In: Frontiers of Psychology. 7, 1021.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2015

• PublishedFunctional Organization of Social Perception and Cognition in the Superior Temporal Sulcus
  Deen, B., Koldewyn, K., Kanwisher, N. & Saxe, R., Nov 2015, In: Cerebral Cortex. 25, 11, p. 4596-4609
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedStructural Connectivity of the Developing Human Amygdala
  Saygin, Z. M., Osher, D. E., Koldewyn, K., Martin, R. E., Finn, A., Saxe, R., Gabrieli, J. D. & Sheridan, M., 15 Apr 2015, In: PLoS ONE. 10, 4, p. 1-19
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedStructural connectivity fingerprints predict cortical selectivity for multiple visual categories across cortex
  Osher, D. E., Saxe, R. R., Koldewyn, K., Gabrieli, J. D., Kanwisher, N. & Saygin, Z. M., 26 Jan 2015, In: Cerebral Cortex. 26, 4, p. 1668-1683
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2014

• PublishedDifferences in the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus but no general disruption of white matter tracts in children with autism spectrum disorder
  Koldewyn, K., Yendiki, A., Weigelt, S., Gweon, H., Joshua, J., Richardson, H., Malloy, C., Saxe, R., Fischl, B. & Kanwisher, N., 4 Feb 2014, In: PNAS. 111, 5, p. 1981-1986
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedDomain-specific development of face memory but not face perception
  Weigelt, S., Koldewyn, K., Dilks, D. D., Balas, B., McKone, E. & Kanwisher, N., 1 Jan 2014, In: Developmental Science. 17, 1, p. 47-58
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedFear-Specific Amygdala Function in Children and Adolescents on the Fragile X Spectrum: A Dosage Response of the FMR1 Gene
  Kim, S. Y., Burris, J., Bassal, F., Koldewyn, K., Chattarji, S., Tassone, F., Hessl, D. & Rivera, S. M., Mar 2014, In: Cerebral Cortex. 24, 3, p. 600-613
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedSpurious group differences due to head motion in a diffusion MRI study
  Yendiki, A., Koldewyn, K., Kakunoori, S., Kanwisher, N. & Fischel, B., Mar 2014, In: Neuroimage. 88, p. 79-90
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedUnimpaired Attentional Disengagement and Social Orienting in Children With Autism
  Fischer, J., Koldewyn, K., Jiang, Y. V. & Kanwisher, N., Mar 2014, In: Clinical Psychological Science. 2, 2, p. 214-223
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedVisual adaptation of the perception of “life”: Animacy is a basic perceptual dimension of faces
  Koldewyn, K., Hanus, P. & Balas, B., Aug 2014, In: Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 21, 4, p. 969-975
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2013

• PublishedEarly visual ERP sensitivity to the species and animacy of faces
  Balas, B. & Koldewyn, K., 1 Nov 2013, In: Neuropsychologia. 51, 13, p. 2876-2881
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedFace Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific
  Weigelt, S., Koldewyn, K. & Kanwisher, N., 11 Sep 2013, In: PLoS ONE. 8, 9, p. e74541
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedFragile X Syndrome and Autism
  Farzin, F. & Koldewyn, K., 13 Nov 2013, Comprehensive Guide to Autism. 2014 ed. p. 2743-2754
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
• PublishedGlobal/Local Processing in Autism: Not a Disability, but a Disinclination
  Koldewyn, K., Jiang, Y. V., Weigelt, S. & Kanwisher, N., 1 Oct 2013, In: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 43, 10, p. 2329-2340
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMale carriers of the FMR1 premutation show altered hippocampal-prefrontal function during memory encoding
  Wang, J. M., Koldewyn, K., Hashimoto, R. I., Schneider, A., Le, L., Tassone, F., Cheung, K., Hagerman, P., Hessl, D. & Rivera, S. M., 30 Oct 2013, In: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 6, p. 297
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMultiple Object Tracking in Autism Spectrum Disorders
  Koldewyn, K., Weigelt, S., Kanwisher, N. & Jiang, Y., 1 Jun 2013, In: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 43, 6, p. 1394-1405
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2012

• PublishedAnatomical connectivity patterns predict face selectivity in the fusiform gyrus
  Saygin, Z. M., Osher, D. E., Koldewyn, K., Teynolds, G., Gabrieli, J. D. & Saxe, R. R., 1 Feb 2012, In: Nature Neuroscience. 15, 2, p. 171-337
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedFace identity recognition in autism spectrum disorders: A review of behavioral studies
  Weigelt, S., Koldewyn, K. & Kanwisher, N., 1 Mar 2012, In: Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 36, 3, p. 1060-1084
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2011

• PublishedDecreased Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein Expression Underlies Amygdala Dysfunction in Carriers of the Fragile X Premutation
  Hessl, D., Wang, J. M., Schneider, A., Koldewyn, K., Le, L., Iwahashi, C., Cheung, K., Tassone, F., Hagerman, P. J. & Rivera, S. M., 1 Nov 2011, In: Biological Psychiatry. 70, 9, p. 859-865
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedInvestigation of amygdala volume in men with the fragile X premutation
  Selmeczy, D., Koldewyn, K., Wang, J. M., Lee, A., Harvey, D., Hessl, D. R., Tassone, F., Adams, P., Hagerman, P. J. & Rivera, S. M., 1 Dec 2011, In: Brain Imaging and Behavior. 5, 4, p. 285-294
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedNeural correlates of coherent and biological motion perception in autism
  Koldewyn, K., Whitney, D. & Rivera, S. M., 1 Sep 2011, In: Developmental Science. 14, 5, p. 1075-1088
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2010

• PublishedCross-Category Adaptation Reveals Tight Coupling of Face and Body Perception
  Weigelt, S., Koldewyn, K. & Doerhrmann, O., 1 Aug 2010, In: Journal of Neurophysiology. 104, 2, p. 581-583
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedPsychological symptoms correlate with reduced hippocampal volume in fragile X premutation carriers
  Adams, P. E., Adams, J. S., Nguyen, D. V., Brunberg, J. A., Tassone, F., Zhang, W., Koldewyn, K., Rivera, S. M., Grigsby, J., Zhang, L., DeCarli, C., Hagerman, P. J. & Hagerman, R. J., 1 Apr 2010, In: American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics. 153B, 3, p. 775-785
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe psychophysics of visual motion and global form processing in autism
  Koldewyn, K., Whitney, D. & Rivera, S. M., 1 Feb 2010, In: Brain: A journal of Neurology. 133, 2, p. 599-610
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2008

• PublishedBrief Report: Aggression and Stereotypic Behavior in Males with Fragile X Syndrome—Moderating Secondary Genes in a “Single Gene” Disorder
  Hessl, D., Tassone, F., Cordeiro, L., Koldewyn, K., McCormick, C., Green, C., Wegelin, J., Yuhas, J. & Hagerman, R. J., 1 Jan 2008, In: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 38, 1, p. 184-189
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedReduced Hippocampal Activation During Recall is Associated with Elevated FMR1 mRNA and Psychiatric Symptoms in Men with the Fragile X Premutation
  Koldewyn, K., Hessl, D., Adams, J., Tassone, F., Hagerman, P. J. & Hagerman, R. J., 1 Jun 2008, In: Brain Imaging and Behavior. 2, 2, p. 105-116
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2007

• PublishedIndependent coding of object motion and position revealed by distinct contingent aftereffects
  Bulakowski, P. F., Koldewyn, K. & Whitney, D., Mar 2007, In: Vision Research. 47, 6, p. 810-817 8 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedVolumetric brain changes in females with fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS)
  Adams, J. S., Adams, P. E., Nguyen, D., Brunberg, J. A., Tassone, F., Zhang, W., Koldewyn, K., Rivera, S. M., Grigsby, J., Zhang, L., DeCarli, C., Hagerman, P. J. & Hagerman, R. J., 28 Aug 2007, In: Neurology. 69, 9, p. 851-9 9 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

• Social Interaction in the Brain

  29 Apr 2019

  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• External Examiner for PhD Thesis: "Mentalizing during communicative acts"

  5 Apr 2019

  Activity: Examination (Examiner)
• Social Interaction Perception in the Social Brain

  8 Mar 2019

  Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)
• Grant Review

  2019 →

  Activity: Other (Reviewer)
• Grant Review for British Academy

  2019 →

  Activity: Other (Reviewer)

2018

• Social Interaction and Social Cognition: the brain bases

  30 Oct 2018

  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• The Science of Social Interaction

  11 Sep 2018 – 12 Sep 2018

  Activity: Participation in workshop, seminar, course (Organiser)
• Vision Sciences Society. Florida

  18 May 2018 – 23 May 2018

  Activity: Participation in conference (Speaker)
• Perspectives in Neuroscience, the case of social perception

  8 Mar 2018

  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• External Examiner for PhD Thesis: "Development of face recognition and category representations in human ventral temporal cortex"

  25 Jan 2018

  Activity: Examination (Examiner)

2017

• Vision Sciences Society. Florida

  18 May 2017 – 25 May 2017

  Activity: Participation in conference (Participant)
• Joint UK/Iran Mental Health and Resilience Workshop

  24 Apr 2017 – 27 Apr 2017

  Activity: Participation in workshop, seminar, course (Speaker)
• Social Interactions in the Social Brain

  14 Feb 2017

  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• Boosting social skills with brain scanning

  2017

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
• Grant Review

  2017 – 2019

  Activity: Other (Reviewer)

2016

• Social Perception and the Brain

  Public Lecture

  28 Apr 2016

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition (Speaker)

2015

• Social Interaction Perception

  27 Aug 2015 – 28 Aug 2015

  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• Fresh Perspectives on Social Perception: Social Interaction

  28 Mar 2015 – 31 Mar 2015

  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• Understanding Attention in Autism Spectrum Disorder

  12 Feb 2015

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Contributor)
• Brain's social 'river' carries clues about autism

  2015

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)

2014

• Soapbox Science, Swansea Edition

  5 Jul 2014

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition (Speaker)
• Social Perception and Attention in Autism Spectrum Disorder

  Talk given at at Durham University, UK

  May 2014

  Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)
• Social Perception in Autism

  29 Apr 2014

  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• Excellent science should not have to be a solitary pursuit

  Online article

  2014

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)

• GWMF - Social interaction perception and the social brain in Autism and Fragile X

  01/10/2020 – 21/09/2022 (Finished)

• Social Interaction Perception and the Social Brain Across Typical and Atypical Development - Becoming Social (Grant No. 716974)

  30/03/2017 – 31/12/2199 (Active)

• Developmental Change in the Posterior Superior Temporal Sulcus

  01/11/2014 – 01/08/2019 (Finished)

• Person perception in typical and atypical development

  01/10/2014 – 28/02/2023 (Finished)

Social Interaction Perception and the Social Brain Across Typical and Atypical Development - Becoming Social 

ERC Starting Grant: £1,157,461.00

30/03/17 - 30/03/22

Developmental Change in the Posterior Superior Temporal Sulcus

Royal Society: £14,929.00

1/11/14 → 31/10/15

Person Perception in Typical and Atypical Development

British Academy: £9,681.00

1/10/14 → 30/09/16