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A researcher in cognitive psychology, I can speak on the part played by certain life contexts — mood, depression, burnout — in the way we perceive. In English and in French.

Contact me for an interview

Dr Eric Laurent

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High resolutionsquare 1200 px · portrait 4:5 · banner 16:9.Photo: © Eric Laurent. Reproduction permitted in articles, broadcasts or communications about my work, provided the credit is given. Any other use — in particular commercial or advertising use, or any use involving modification of the image — requires my written consent. Use of this photograph for the training, fine-tuning or evaluation of generative artificial intelligence systems is expressly excluded.


Topics

Six questions I can speak to

Each rests on peer-reviewed, published work.

Does mood change what we see?

Tracking eye movements over portraits shows that mood steers the gaze. Seeing is not a neutral act: we perceive what our affective state prepares us to perceive.

Psychonomic Society · Attention, Perception & Psychophysics

What can be read in an eye movement?

Saccadic eye movements contribute to characterising disorders of attentional control in Alzheimer's disease and late-life depression. A non-invasive measure that adds to clinical assessment — rather than replacing it.

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology · PLoS ONE

Does depression shrink the world?

People with depressive symptoms judge objects to be less reachable, seats less usable. The possibilities for action they perceive around them are reduced.

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · Attention, Perception & Psychophysics

Why does yellow feel joyful — and not everywhere?

A study across 55 countries shows that the yellow–joy association depends on climate: it is stronger where it rains more. Colours do not speak the same language everywhere.

Journal of Environmental Psychology · covered by Science Magazine

What exactly does emotional intelligence cover?

A ubiquitous notion, often poorly defined. I edited a collective volume that takes stock: what it covers, what it enables, and where our knowledge stops.

Emotional Intelligence (IntechOpen, 2024) — edited volume

Is burnout anything other than depression?

The distinction, widely taken for granted in public debate, holds up poorly under empirical scrutiny. A question that bears directly on the workplace and on health policy.

The Lancet · American Journal of Psychiatry · Clinical Psychology Review

Coverage

Some work picked up by the press

Other resources

81peer-reviewed articles
2edited books
55countries studied
20+years of research

Practical

Useful information

Colour, gaze, mood: three doors into a single question — how our affective states manufacture the world we perceive.

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