Dr Kathleen Taylor

My research focus is the human brain, which I've studied at many levels, from neuroimmunology and neuroanatomy, to cognitive neuroscience, to social psychology.

One major interest is the neuroscience of belief and its pathologies: how do beliefs form, what factors affect strong beliefs, and when do such beliefs become dangerous? I'm particularly interested in the role of belief in severe forms of ideologically-motivated human harm-doing such as terrorism, genocides and destructive cults.

Another focus is emotions, and particularly the emotion of disgust. There's been a lot of fascinating work on disgust's role in moral psychology recently, and I argue in Cruelty that disgust is important in some kinds of vicious behaviour, though not all.

I'm also increasingly interested in the societal impact of science and scientists, particularly the ethical implications thrown up by neuroscience. Science writers often portray scientists as heroes (occasionally heroines) and science as the pursuit of truth. They're less keen to remind people of the terrible consequences which have resulted from mixing science with power.

If you'd like to explore some further reading, or want to know more about the books that have shaped my writing, click here.

Academic background

Until 2002 I worked on the neurobiological basis - neuroscience, immunology, biochemistry and epidemiology - of developmental dyslexia. Among other things, my research suggested negative associations between dyslexia and having a family history of high blood pressure and cancer (papers available here and here). I proposed a theoretical model of neuroinflammation involving platelet-activating factor to explain these findings and other puzzling observations, including the apparently beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acids on neurodevelopmental disorders. I have also done theoretical work in cognitive neuroscience, e.g. on consciousness.

Prior to this postdoctoral work I did a D.Phil. in computational neuroscience at Oxford, a research Master's in neuropharmacology at Stirling, and a B.A. in physiology and philosophy (PPP) at Oxford. This is the rarest version of PPP - I was the only student on that course listed for my year in the final exam results - but also the most interesting!

I left the dyslexia project at the end of 2002 to work on a book on the science of brainwashing, thought control and interpersonal influence. Brainwashing: the science of thought control was published by Oxford University Press in November 2004. Since then I have been writing full time, giving talks, acting as a consultant on a new A-level textbook, and helping colleagues write grant applications.

Writing achievements

My books explore questions of interest to many people who will never study neuroscience or psychology:

• how are some people able to make others change their beliefs, sometimes very radically, and sometimes at great cost to themselves? (Brainwashing)
• how is it that some people can be exceptionally cruel, even to the extent of torturing and murdering a lover, friend, or innocent child? (Cruelty)

My training is in the brain sciences, but although both books contain neuroscience and psychology, I have taken care to explain the relevant concepts with as little jargon as possible. In addition, my attitude to science has always been that scientists can learn much from other disciplines, so I have drawn from philosophy, history and literature where it seemed helpful to do so. (There are even a few jokes.) I've also considered not just the science but also the social and individual impact of such research. Neither book is intended as an authoritative last word. Instead I hope to encourage debate on these extremely important topics.

My first book, Brainwashing, was published by Oxford University Press in 2004. Brainwashing was long-listed for the 2005 Aventis Science Prize and short-listed for the MIND Book of the Year Award. It was featured on national and international radio and television, and translations into eight languages are extant or in process. I was also short-listed and highly commended in the 2005 Times Higher Educational Supplement Young Academic Author awards. For more about the book, click here.

In March 2002 I won the Times Higher Educational Supplement / Oxford University Press Science Writing Prize. The essay, on nutrition and dyslexia, was printed in the THES, and is available in PDF format here.

In October 2002 I won the Times Higher Educational Supplement / Palgrave Macmillan Social Sciences and Humanities Writing Prize. The essay, on the relationship between imagination and knowledge, was published in edited form in the THES, and the full version is available in PDF format here.

I have given numerous academic presentations, as well as talking at literary festivals including Hay-on-Wye and the Cheltenham Science Festival.

My second book, Cruelty, was published, again by OUP, in February 2009.

For a list of publications click here for HTML or here for PDF.

Find Cruelty on Amazon.co.uk	Find Cruelty on Amazon.com	Learn more about Cruelty	Citation for Cruelty: Taylor, K. (2009), Cruelty: human evil and the human brain. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Find Brainwashing on Amazon.co.uk	Find Brainwashing on Amazon.com	Learn more about Brainwashing	Citation for Brainwashing: Taylor, K. (2004), Brainwashing: the science of thought control. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

taylorsciencewriter.com was set up by Kathleen Taylor. Copyright Kathleen Taylor 2009. Last modified 29 May 2009.