Alice

Alice Thompson, Ph.D., is a cognitive scientist and literature enthusiast. She explores the fascinating overlaps between storytelling and brain science. In her unique research, Alice delves into how both scientific minds and creative writers portray memory, personality, feelings, and cognition. Her latest venture, Narrative Neuroscience, investigates the methods authors use to craft words that can transport readers into vivid mental landscapes of sensations and actions. Alice's work has earned her prestigious accolades including Rockefeller, Rhodes, Fulbright, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowships, and she was recently inducted as an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Alice completed her B.A. in Cognitive Science at Oxford University, her M.Sc. in Psychology from University College London, her Ph.D. in English Literature from Princeton University, and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. She now holds the position of Distinguished Professor Emerita at McGill University. As a visiting scholar, she has undertaken research at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development in London and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, USA.

Alice is the author of numerous books such as The Storytelling Mind (2003), Characters and Consciousness (2008), Neural Narratives (2012), The Writer's Brain (2017), and Emotions Unveiled (2022). She translated psychologist William James’s essays on exceptional mental states into modern English and edited a collection titled The Intersection of Literature and Psychology: A Nineteenth Century Perspective (2005). Besides being a scholar, Alice is also a novelist, having written several novels like Echoes of Thought, The Perception Paradox, Shadows of Reality, The Cognition Chronicles, The Synapse Series, and the short story anthology Mindscapes.

In her free time, Alice enjoys mentoring young researchers and participating in international conferences where she shares insights into the future of narrative studies and cognitive science.