Professor Felicia A Huppert

Professor of Psychology and Fellow of Darwin College

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Personal statement

In the course of researching negative or pathological aspects of human behaviour in the population context (e.g. cognitive ageing, Alzheimer's disease, depression) I have become increasingly interested in the positive end of the continuum. That is, I should like to understand why many people thrive and flourish, retain their cognitive abilities into old age, or show resilience to depression in spite of adversity. This has attracted me to the Positive Psychology movement, to which I bring a multi-disciplinary perspective including cognitive and health psychology, neuropsychology, epidemiology and gerontology. One of the delights of working in psychology for many years, and taking pleasure from interacting with colleagues in many disciplines, is the resulting breadth of interests and the cross-disciplinary publications which arise. I feel very fortunate to have been trained as an experimental and physiological psychologist (Sydney, UCSD, Cambridge), then as a clinical and experimental neuropsychologist (National Hospitals for Nervous Diseases, London; Boston VA Hospital) and then to have applied my skills to epidemiology and gerontology (Australian National University; Cambridge).

My current work covers two broad areas: (1) the factors influencing the successful transition from working life, through retirement into later life, and (2) a life-course perspective on the relationship between risk or protective factors and subsequent outcomes such as health and vitality, psychological well-being, cognitive functioning, social relationships and economic position. The risk/protective factors include early life experiences, education, personality and attributional style, lifestyle and life events. The mediating role of endocrine and immune function in determining health outcomes has also been investigated. Hypotheses derived from the population-based longitudinal studies are being tested using experimental designs. The experimental studies examine the impact of hormones (estrogen, cortisol, DHEA) or cognitive enhancers (e.g. physostigmine) on cognitive or emotional outcomes, using both behavioural measures and functional neuroimaging. Basic research on memory processes that are particularly vulnerable to age-related decline, i.e. source memory and prospective memory, is also continuing, using fMRI to test hypotheses about the neural basis of capability or impairment and the effect of compensatory strategies.

I firmly believe (and the evidence supports this) that positive outcomes are not simply the absence or opposite of negative outcomes, and that this new focus on understanding the positives will yield unprecedented insights into human behaviour. I believe it will also foster the development of interventions that will enhance the lives of ordinary people, not just those with pathology.

Selected publications

CAMDEX-R - The Cambridge examination for mental disorders of the elderly - Revised. Roth, M., Huppert, F.A., Mountjoy, C.Q. and Tym, E. Cambridge University Press, 1999.

High prevalence of prospective memory impairment in the elderly and in early-stage dementia: Findings from a population-based study. Huppert, F.A., Johnson, T. and Nickson, J. In: L. Kvavilashvili & J. Ellis (Eds.), New perspectives in prospective memory. A special issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2001,14,1-19.

Guidelines for assessing the predictive value of neuropsychological measures. Huppert, F.A. Cortex, 2002, 38, 414-416.

Evidence for the independence of positive and negative well-being: implications for quality of life assessment. Huppert, F.A. and Whittington, J.E. British Journal of Health Psychology, 2003, 8, 107-122.

Survival in a population sample is predicted by proportions of lymphocyte subsets. Huppert, F.A., Pinto, E.M., Morgan, K and Brayne, C. In: Special Issue on 'Immunosenescence' (Guest-Eds. G Pawelec & C Caruso), Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, 2003, 124, 449-451.

Designing for Older Users. Huppert, F.A. In: J Clarkson, R Coleman, S Keates & C Lebbon (Eds) Inclusive Design: Design for the whole population. Springer Verlag, London, March 2003

Performance and normative values of a concise neuropsychological test (CAMCOG) in an elderly population sample. Williams, Joanna G., Huppert, Felicia A., Matthews, Fiona E. and Nickson, Judith. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2003, 18, 631-644.

Physical and cognitive function. Steel, N, Huppert, FA, McWilliams, B and Melzer, D. In M Marmot, J Banks, R Blundell, C Lessof & J Nazroo (Eds) Health, wealth and lifestyles of the older population in England: The 2002 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Ch.7, 249-271. Institute for Fiscal Studies, London, 2003.

The Science of Well-being - Integrating neurobiology, psychology and social science. FA Huppert, B Keverne & N Baylis (Eds.) Proceedings of Royal Society Scientific Discussion Meeting, 19-20 November 2003. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society series B, 358, September 2004.

A population approach to positive psychology: The potential for population interventions to promote well-being and prevent disorder. Huppert, F.A. In: PA Linley & S Joseph (Eds.) Positive Psychology in Practice. Ch.41, 693-709, John Wiley & Sons Inc. New Jersey, 2004

Tel: 01223 336970
Fax: 01223 336968
E-mail: fah2@cam.ac.uk

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