Ellie Maycock
PhD Student

Profile

Biography

I studied for my undergraduate degree in Psychology at Durham University, where I first became fascinated by the cognitive neuroscience of psychosis. While at Durham, I worked on the interdisciplinary ‘Hearing the Voice’ project, which deepened my interest in how different brain processes contribute to experiences like hallucinations. After graduating, I spent five years in various support roles, including as a mental health support worker, healthcare assistant, and crisis intervention worker. This work involved supporting adults with a range of mental health issues, including eating disorders, psychosis, and brain injuries. In particular, my training on trauma therapy prompted a passion for understanding how trauma reshapes brain functioning.

I went on to complete my Master’s degree in Neuroscience at UCL, where I interned at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, working with patients facing complex neuromuscular disorders. I then joined the University of Cambridge as a Clinical Research Assistant on an NIHR international study, coordinating the Cambridge site’s work on Alzheimer’s biomarkers in people with Down’s Syndrome. Alongside my PhD, I work part-time as a Research Assistant at the UCL Centre for Equality in Brain Sciences, contributing to the REPAIR Project, which addresses equity in academic funding processes to improve access for marginalized early-career researchers. I am passionate about widening access to brain science for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, science communication, research co-production, and work that drives meaningful societal impact.

I'm thrilled to have been awarded a departmental scholarship at the University of York to pursue a PhD with Dr Clara Humpston and Professor Rob Dudley exploring the connection between trauma and hallucinations.

Career

• PhD in Psychology - University of York (2024 - present)
• Research Assistant – Centre for Equality in Brain Sciences, UCL (2023-present)
• Research Assistant – Cambridge Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Research Group, University of Cambridge (2023-24)
• MSc Brain & Mind Sciences - University College London (2022-23)
• BSc Psychology - Durham University (2015-18)

Departmental roles

Graduate Teaching Assistant (2024-present)

Research

Overview

Investigating how trauma uniquely shapes cognitive and neural pathways to hallucinations

Projects

Hallucinations are often viewed as a core symptom of psychosis, yet they can also occur in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and those without any mental health diagnoses. My research aims to unravel the cognitive processes behind these experiences by examining how trauma impacts memory and cognitive biases associated with hallucinations. By taking an interdisciplinary approach, I aim to understand how trauma-driven hallucinations differ in PTSD compared to schizophrenia and how these distinctions might inform treatment. My project combines cognitive assessments and structural neuroimaging in clinical populations, alongside cognitive bias mapping in hallucination-prone non-clinical groups. To capture a fuller picture of trauma-related hallucinations, I also draw on qualitative, phenomenological data from individuals with lived experience.

Research group(s)

HATSS (Hallucination, Thought and Self in Schizophrenia) Lab 

Grants

Departmental Scholarship

Collaborators

Supervisors- Dr Clara Humpston & Professor Rob Dudley