Rhiannon Corcoran is a cognitive psychologist who obtained her PhD at the Institute of Neurology, UCL. She holds a chair at the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society and co-directs the University of Liverpool’s Heseltine Institute of Public Policy and Practice.

Rhiannon’s main research interests lie in the psychological determinants of mental health where she uses diverse scientific methods to address questions relating to the aetiology, maintenance and recovery from mental distress. In particular she focuses on social cognition, exploring theory of mind, empathy and social decision-making.

Rhiannon has used fMRI to explore how we understand non-literal language like metaphors and poetry. She believes that the cognitive and affective skills required to understand such language overlap with those that we rely on everyday to understand other people’s thoughts intentions and feelings and are thus central to mental health and wellbeing. 

Rhiannon co-directs the innovative interdisciplinary Prosocial Place Programme. The programme aims to address the toxicity of cities for mental health and wellbeing by promoting and facilitating cooperative communities through sympathetic connected design of the urban fabric and best practice collaborative working.