November 1, 2024 by Sanne Franzen
I was very pleased to be visit my colleagues from Université Paris Cité and the Avicenne hospital in Paris in September/October of 2024. Over the past few years, I have been working with PhD student Renelle Bourdage and Prof. Pauline Narme on research into social cognition in people with diverse backgrounds. As culture and language have an enormous impact on social cognition and on the tests we use to measure it, this is a particularly challenging topic of study. Researchers at the university in Paris are increasingly using Virtual Reality tools to design tests that can be adapted to the the diverse experiences and cultures represented in diverse cities such as Paris and Rotterdam. The design of avatars, the environment, virtually everything can be tailored to the person undergoing the testing. This visit was a great learning experience for me and was funded by the University of Paris. I am inspired to continue our joint line of research and strengthen our collaboration. Our ultimate goal is to improve diagnostic accuracy for all patients, regardless of their cultural, linguistic or educational background.