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.

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

• Dr Sophie Hodgetts on Twitter

Chapter in book

• Hodgetts, Sophie & Hausmann, Markus (2022). Sex/Gender Differences in Brain Lateralisation and Connectivity. In Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. 3: 1-29.
• Hodgetts, S. & Hausmann, M. (2020). Sex/Gender Differences in the Human Brain. In Encyclopedia of Behavioral Neuroscience. Della Salla, S. Elsevier. 3: 646-655.

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
• Hodgetts, S. & Hausmann, M. (2020). Antipsychotic effects of sex hormones and atypical hemispheric asymmetries. Cortex 127: 313-332.
• Pearson, Amy & Hodgetts, Sophie (2020). Can cerebral lateralisation explain heterogeneity in language and increased non-right handedness in autism? A literature review. Research in Developmental Disabilities 105: 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.
• Bennett, Francis, Hodgetts, Sophie, Close, Andrew, Frye, Mark, Grunze, Heinz, Keck, Paul, Kupka, Ralph, McElroy, Susan, Nolen, Willem, Post, Robert, Schärer, Lars, Suppes, Trisha & Sharma, Aditya N. (2019). Predictors of psychosocial outcome of bipolar disorder: data from the Stanley Foundation Bipolar Network. International Journal of Bipolar Disorders 7(1).
• Hodgetts, Sophie & Hausmann, Markus (2018). The Neuromodulatory Effects of Sex Hormones on Functional Cerebral Asymmetries and Cognitive Control. Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie 29(3): 127-139.
• 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.
• Hodgetts, Sophie, Gallagher, Peter, Stow, Daniel, Ferrier, I. Nicol & O'Brien, John 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): 247.
• Hausmann, M., Hodgetts, S. & Eerola, T. (2016). Music-induced changes in functional cerebral asymmetries. Brain and Cognition 104: 58-71.
• Hodgetts, Sophie, Hausmann, Markus & Weis, Susanne (2015). High estradiol levels improve false memory rates and meta-memory in highly schizotypal women. Psychiatry Research 229(3): 708-714.
• 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.