My research explores self-representation, self-awareness and embodiment. My recent work has focussed on the representation of our own bodies, from two complementary perspectives; first, from the outside, in terms of our physical appearance, and second, from the inside, in terms of our interoceptive sensitivity to internal bodily sensations. An important aspect of my work is to understand how the self is represented in relation to others, and how this determines the way we ‘share’ the embodied experiences of others, such as during empathy for pain, motor mimicry or emotional contagion. I am also interested in how our bodily self-representations interact with more abstract, conceptual self-beliefs to provide a rich, multimodal and coherent experience of the self.

Email: l.maister@bangor.ac.uk

Email: l.maister@bangor.ac.uk

Tel. 01248 383657

Office: Room 366, Brigantia.

Self-funded (inc. agency-funded) projects: Dr. Maister welcomes informal enquiries from prospective PhD students interested in projects related to self-representation, body representation, and/or interoception. Please submit a draft research proposal (1-2 pages) to the above email address.

Competitive scholarship opportunities available: 

The Body in the Mind: Exploring Perceptual Self-Representations - Provisional Start Date Sept 2020.  

2025

• E-pub ahead of printSelf-portrait of a Stranger: Self-face Representation and Interoception in Depersonalization Experiences
  Maister, L. & Ciaunica, A., 1 Dec 2025, In: Cognition. 265, 106261.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2024

• E-pub ahead of printRespiratory and Cardiac Interoceptive Sensitivity in the First Two Years of Life
  Tunte, M., Hohl, S., Wunderwald, M., Bullinger, J., Boyadziheva, A., Maister, L., Elsner, B., Tsakiris, M. & Kayhan, E., 18 Dec 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Elife.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2023

• PublishedCan attentional focus and physical exertion affect interoception?
  Forster, K., Maister, L., Wimpory, D., Cooke, A. & Gallicchio, G., 28 Jun 2023.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster
• Published‘Interoceptive Awareness Opportunities’ during Outdoor Education for children with a history of complex trauma.
  Forster, K., Maister, L. & Wimpory, D., 21 Dec 2023, In: International Journal of Adventure Therapy.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2022

• PublishedInteroceptive Awareness Opportunities during Outdoor Education: Developing an Adventure Therapy programme for children with a history of complex trauma
  Forster, K., Maister, L. & Wimpory, D., 18 Jul 2022.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster › peer-review
• PublishedRhesus monkeys have an interoceptive sense of their beating hearts
  Charbonneau, J., Maister, L., Tsakiris, M. & Bliss-Moreau, E., 11 Apr 2022, In: PNAS. 119, 16, 8 p., e2119868119.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2021

• PublishedEmbodying an invisible face shrinks the cone of gaze
  D'Angelo, M., Maister, L., Tucciarelli, R., Frassinetti, F. & Longo, M., Jun 2021, In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 150, 6, p. 1132-1146
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe Self in the Mind’s Eye: Revealing how we truly see ourselves through reverse correlation
  Maister, L., De Beukelaer, S., Longo, M. & Tsakiris, M., 1 Dec 2021, In: Psychological Science. 32, 12, p. 1965–1978
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2020

• PublishedSelf or (M)other? Infants’ Sensitivity to Bodily Overlap with their Mother Reflects their Dyadic Coordination
  Maister, L., Hodossy, L., Tsakiris, M. & Shinskey, J., Sept 2020, In: Child Development. 91, 5, p. 1631-1649
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe Erogenous Mirror: Intersubjective and Multisensory Maps of Sexual Arousal in Men and Women
  Maister, L., Fotopoulou, A., Turnbull, O. & Tsakiris, M., Nov 2020, In: Archives of Sexual Behavior. 49, 8, p. 2919-2933 15 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2017

• PublishedCan the self become another? Investigating the effects of self-association with a new facial identity
  Payne, S., Tsakiris, M. & Maister, L., 1 Jun 2017, In: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 70, 6, p. 1085-1097 13 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedNeurobehavioral evidence of interoceptive sensitivity in early infancy
  Maister, L., Tang, T. & Tsakiris, M., 8 Aug 2017, In: Elife. 6
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedYou Fill My Heart: Looking at One's Partner Increases Interoceptive Accuracy
  Maister, L., Hodossy, L. & Tsakiris, M., Jun 2017, In: Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. 4, 2, p. 248-257 10 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2016

• PublishedIntimate imitation: Automatic motor imitation in romantic relationships
  Maister, L. & Tsakiris, M., Jul 2016, In: Cognition. 152, p. 108-113 6 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2015

• PublishedAttending to the bodily self
  Maister, L. & Farmer, H., 15 Aug 2015, In: Cognitive Neuroscience. 7, 1-4, p. 28-9 2 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedChanging bodies changes minds: Owning another body affects social cognition
  Maister, L., Slater, M., Sanchez-Vives, M. V. & Tsakiris, M., Jan 2015, In: Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 19, 1, p. 6-12 7 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
• PublishedHeartfelt empathy? No association between interoceptive awareness, questionnaire measures of empathy, reading the mind in the eyes task or the director task
  Ainley, V., Maister, L. & Tsakiris, M., 1 May 2015, In: Frontiers in Psychology. 6, p. 554
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedYour place or mine: shared sensory experiences elicit a remapping of peripersonal space
  Maister, L., Cardini, F., Zamariola, G., Serino, A. & Tsakiris, M., Apr 2015, In: Neuropsychologia. 70, p. 455-61 7 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2014

• PublishedChange my body, change my mind: the effects of illusory ownership of an outgroup hand on implicit attitudes toward that outgroup
  Farmer, H., Maister, L. & Tsakiris, M., 13 Jan 2014, In: Frontiers in Psychology. 4, p. 1016
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMy face, my heart: cultural differences in integrated bodily self-awareness
  Maister, L. & Tsakiris, M., Jan 2014, In: Cognitive Neuroscience. 5, 1, p. 10-16 7 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2013

• PublishedExecutive functions are employed to process episodic and relational memories in children with autism spectrum disorders
  Maister, L., Simons, J. S. & Plaisted-Grant, K., Nov 2013, In: Neuropsychology. 27, 6, p. 615-27 13 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedExperiencing ownership over a dark-skinned body reduces implicit racial bias
  Maister, L., Sebanz, N., Knoblich, G. & Tsakiris, M., Aug 2013, In: Cognition. 128, 2, p. 170-8 9 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedI feel your fear: shared touch between faces facilitates recognition of fearful facial expressions
  Maister, L., Tsiakkas, E. & Tsakiris, M., Feb 2013, In: Emotion. 13, 1, p. 7-13 7 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMirror-touch synaesthesia changes representations of self-identity
  Maister, L., Banissy, M. J. & Tsakiris, M., Apr 2013, In: Neuropsychologia. 51, 5, p. 802-8 7 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMore of myself: Manipulating interoceptive awareness by heightened attention to bodily and narrative aspects of the self
  Ainley, V., Maister, L., Brokfeld, J., Farmer, H. & Tsakiris, M., Dec 2013, In: Consciousness and Cognition. 22, 4, p. 1231-8 8 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2011

• PublishedTime perception and its relationship to memory in Autism Spectrum Conditions
  Maister, L. & Plaisted-Grant, K. C., Nov 2011, In: Developmental Science. 14, 6, p. 1311-22 12 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• The Body in the Mind’s Eye: Reverse correlating the body image

  24/06/2019 – 31/05/2021 (Finished)