Dr. Fatima Maria Felisberti studied Experimental Psychology at the University of São Paulo (Brazil), where she also completed a PhD in Neuroscience. She subsequently obtained a second PhD in Cybernetics and Neuroscience from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (Germany). Following her doctoral training, she held postdoctoral research positions at the Universities of Nottingham, City, and Royal Holloway. Dr. Felisberti served as Associate Professor and Director of the Art, Creativity, and Emotion Research Group at Kingston University London until 2025. She is currently a Visiting Associate Professorship at the University of Bristol.
Her research spans a broad range of topics, including extraocular photoreception in insects (e.g., ants and beetles), mechanisms of brain anaesthesia, long-range interactions in the primate brain, and human visual perception. At the clinical level, her research examines how cognitive and physical constraints associated with dementia and bipolar disorders influence perception, emotion processing, and aesthetic experience.
Her current work focuses on affective and perceptual processes related to art and nature exposure, mental imagery, and aesthetic experience.