Amy Orben | |
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Alma mater | University of Cambridge University of Oxford |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Emmanuel College, Cambridge MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit |
Thesis | Teens, screens and well-being : an improved approach. (2019) |
Website | Amy Orben |
Amy Orben is a British experimental psychologist who is a group leader at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. Her research considers how digital technologies impact adolescent mental health. Orben was awarded the British Neuroscience Association Researcher Credibility Prize in 2021 and the inaugral Medical Research Council Impact Prize in 2023.
Orben was an undergraduate student at the University of Cambridge where she studied natural sciences. She moved to the University of Oxford for graduate studies, where she specialised in experimental psychology. [1] During her doctoral research, she was a visiting researcher at the University of Tübingen and Eindhoven University of Technology. After completing her doctorate Orben was made a Cambridge Research Fellow at Emmanuel College. [2]
In 2021, Orben was appointed a programme leader at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. [3] Her research considers novel methodologies to understand how screen time and use of social media impacts psychological well-being in adolescents. [4] Post-millennial mental health (in particular stress, depression and anxiety) is reportedly worse than in previous generations, which is often attributed to social media. Orben showed that this wasn't the entire story: statistically speaking, eating a potato every day had a worse impact on well-being. [5] She argued that social media can be helpful in times of anxiety and loneliness. [6] Orben believes that significant quantities of high quality data about how children engage with technology could be provided by technology giants such as Google and Facebook. [7] [8]
Orben has criticised several of the methodologies currently being used, which largely rely on self-report methods and generate incorrect results. [9] [7] She is also an advocate for open science, and created ReproducibiliTea, [10] an international journal club for researchers to discuss improving science. [11]
Susan Adele Greenfield, Baroness Greenfield, is an English scientist, writer, broadcaster and member of the House of Lords. Her research has focused on the treatment of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. She is also interested in the neuroscience of consciousness and the impact of technology on the brain.
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Trevor William Robbins CBE FRS FMedSci is a Professor of cognitive neuroscience and former Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. Robbins interests are in the fields of cognitive neuroscience, behavioural neuroscience and psychopharmacology.
Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, is Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Research Council (MRC)/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge. She is also an Honorary Clinical Psychologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. She has an international reputation in the fields of cognitive psychopharmacology, neuroethics, neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry and neuroimaging.
Francesca Gabrielle Elizabeth Happé is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Director of the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London. Her research concerns autism spectrum conditions, specifically the understanding social cognitive processes in these conditions.
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The relationships between digital media use and mental health have been investigated by various researchers—predominantly psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and medical experts—especially since the mid-1990s, after the growth of the World Wide Web. A significant body of research has explored "overuse" phenomena, commonly known as "digital addictions", or "digital dependencies". These phenomena manifest differently in many societies and cultures. Some experts have investigated the benefits of moderate digital media use in various domains, including in mental health, and the treatment of mental health problems with novel technological solutions.
Adriana Galván is an American psychologist and expert on adolescent brain development. She is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she directs the Developmental Neuroscience laboratory. She was appointed the Jeffrey Wenzel Term Chair in Behavioral Neuroscience and the Dean of Undergraduate Education at UCLA.
A systematic review notes that children with COVID-19 have milder effects and better prognoses than adults. However, children are susceptible to "multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children" (MIS-C), a rare but life-threatening systemic illness involving persistent fever and extreme inflammation following exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
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