Staff profile

I joined Durham University as an Assistant Professor in September 2022. Before this, I worked as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Sunderland, where I was also the programme leader for the BSc Clinical Psychology degree programme. I have previously worked as a Research Assistant and Trial Co-ordinator in the both the Institute of Neuroscience and the Academic Psychiatry Department at Newcastle University. 

I completed my PhD at Durham University in 2016, and since then have maintained an active research interest in the neuromodulatory properties of sex hormones (primarily estrogen and progesterone), with a particular focus on functional brain organisation and cognition. I also have an interest in how these factors can interact with social influences, within a psychobiosocial approach to understanding sex/gender differences in the brain, behaviour, and cognition.

I am keen for my research to have clinically-relevant applications, and as such, I often focus my studies on non-clinical models of psychiatric disorder (eg schizotypy/psychosis-proneness, mood induction). More recently, I became interested in mental illnesses that are directly affected by sex hormones (e.g., premenstrual dysphoric disorder), and have begun to develop a series of research projects alongside my collaborators at the International Association for Premenstrual Disorders. 

Since my Research Assistant and Trial Co-ordinator roles, I have continued my collaborations with the Specialist Adolescent Mood Disorders Service of the Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. At present, we are working to develop a new measure of daily functioning that is appropriate for young people that are experiencing mental health difficulties.

• Biopsychosocial study of sex/gender differences
• Hemispheric asymmetries and interhemispheric interaction
• Neuromodulatory properties of sex hormones
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
• Sex/gender sensitive psychiatry

Chapter in book

• Hodgetts, S., & Hausmann, M. (2022). Sex/Gender Differences in the Human Brain. In S. Della Salla (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Behavioral Neuroscience, 2nd edition (Second Edition) (646-655). (2nd ed.). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-809324-5.24103-5
• Hodgetts, S., & Hausmann, M. (2022). Sex/Gender Differences in Brain Lateralisation and Connectivity. In Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences (1-29). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2022_303

Journal Article

• Pearson, A., & Hodgetts, S. (2023). Comforting, reassuring, and...hot: A qualitative exploration of engaging in BDSM and Kink from the perspective of autistic adults. Autism in Adulthood, https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2022.0103
• Hodgetts, S., Butler, J., & Patrick Williams, G. (2023). Time spent playing video games during periods of isolation has no effect on loneliness or mental health. Behaviour and Information Technology, https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2023.2272201
• Hodgetts, S., & Hausmann, M. (2020). Antipsychotic effects of sex hormones and atypical hemispheric asymmetries. Cortex, 127, 313-332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.02.016
• Pearson, A., & Hodgetts, S. (2020). Can cerebral lateralisation explain heterogeneity in language and increased non-right handedness in autism? A literature review. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 105, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103738
• Weis, S., Hodgetts, S., & Hausmann, M. (2019). Sex differences and menstrual cycle effects in cognitive and sensory resting state networks. Brain and Cognition, 131, 66-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2017.09.003
• Bennett, F., Hodgetts, S., Close, A., Frye, M., Grunze, H., Keck, P., …Sharma, A. N. (2019). Predictors of psychosocial outcome of bipolar disorder: data from the Stanley Foundation Bipolar Network. International Journal of Bipolar Disorders, 7(1), https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-019-0169-5
• Hodgetts, S., & Hausmann, M. (2018). The Neuromodulatory Effects of Sex Hormones on Functional Cerebral Asymmetries and Cognitive Control. Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie, 29(3), 127-139. https://doi.org/10.1024/1016-264x/a000224
• Hodgetts, S., Weis, S., & Hausmann, M. (2017). Estradiol-related variations in top-down and bottom-up processes of cerebral lateralization. Neuropsychology, 31(3), 319-327. https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000338
• Hodgetts, S., Gallagher, P., Stow, D., Ferrier, I. N., & O'Brien, J. T. (2017). The impact and measurement of social dysfunction in late‐life depression: an evaluation of current methods with a focus on wearable technology. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32(3), https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.4632
• Hausmann, M., Hodgetts, S., & Eerola, T. (2016). Music-induced changes in functional cerebral asymmetries. Brain and Cognition, 104, 58-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2016.03.001
• Hodgetts, S., Hausmann, M., & Weis, S. (2015). High estradiol levels improve false memory rates and meta-memory in highly schizotypal women. Psychiatry Research, 229(3), 708-714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2015.08.016
• Hodgetts, S., Weis, S., & Hausmann, M. (2015). Sex hormones affect language lateralisation but not cognitive control in normally cycling women. Hormones and Behavior, 74, 194-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.06.019