Dr Francesca Citron

Senior Lecturer

Research Overview

I am a psycholinguist and cognitive neuroscientist.

I am interested in the links between emotion and language, for example how emotional content of verbal material affects language processing, both in terms of behaviour and neural responses. My main focus is currently on the comprehension of figurative language, e.g., metaphors, idioms, and its neural correlates. I am also interested in how people process emotional content and figurative expressions in a second language. Finally, I am currently developing an interest in aesthetic perception, i.e., what makes an artwork, a piece from literature, or a poem beautiful, and what are our emotional and cognitive reactions to it?

I lecture to Psychology undergraduate students on Cognitive Neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology, and to Linguistics undergraduates on Psycho- and Neurolinguistics.

If you are interested in doing your dissertation, collaborating, or working with me, have a look at the EmoComLab website.

Embodied and Situated Language Processing (ESLP) Conference 2026
Participation in conference - Academic

Languages in Science GLOBAL
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Languages in Science GLOBAL 2023 Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Language and Cognition (Journal)
Editorial activity

Lancaster Psychology Research Showcase Series
Participation in conference - Public

Yanxi Lu

Yanxi Lu

PhD student

Cognitive Psychology

Jiaqi Wang

Jiaqi Wang

PhD student

Cognitive Psychology, Neuroscience and Neurocognition

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience and Neurocognition