• Question: What made you want to go into your field of work

    Asked by Shayla to Andy, Diana, James, Mary Jane, Wil on 6 Mar 2017. This question was also asked by 664dech29.
    • Photo: Wilhelmiina Toivo

      Wilhelmiina Toivo answered on 6 Mar 2017:


      For me it was a personal interest in my topic in combination with having a curious mind and a keen interest in languages and psychology. When I first moved to Scotland to study at university I noticed it was really easy for me to swear and talk about awkward topics in English – I wanted to know why. This is what I’m studying at the moment: bilinguals feel less in their second language, and as a result it might be easier for them to use some words or talk about emotional topics. I did my final dissertation on this topic and it lead to me wanting to do more research on it.

    • Photo: Mary Jane Spiller

      Mary Jane Spiller answered on 6 Mar 2017:


      My interest in neuropsychology started when I was at uni. I started reading a book called ‘The man who mistook his wife for a hat’ by Oliver Sacks, and I was intrigued – it’s amazing that someone who is seemingly okay in every other way, can suddenly as result of brain damage become unable to recognise objects / people who should be familiar to them.

      I was also fascinated by descriptions of people who could see colours whenever they hear music, or taste things when they hear words – and that’s when I learnt about something called synaesthesia, when people’s senses are mixed. This isn’t due to brain damage – it’s just the way some people’s brains work. It’s amazing that people can experiences their senses in so many different ways.

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