Ailish Byrne
Papers
1
Total Citations
4
H-Index
1
About
Ailish Byrne’s research delves into the cognitive neuroscience of social perception, with a particular focus on the unsettling phenomenon known as the uncanny valley effect. Her most-cited work, “Neural correlates of the uncanny valley effect for robots and hyper-realistic masks,” investigates the brain’s response to artificial human-like stimuli—specifically androids and hyper-realistic masks. By using still images, Byrne and her team identified distinct neural signatures that correlate with the sense of unease, revealing how the brain processes near-human appearances. This foundational study, already garnering 4 citations shortly after its 2025 publication, has quickly become a key reference for researchers exploring human-robot interaction and social cognition. Byrne’s work bridges robotics, psychology, and neuroscience, offering critical insights into why hyper-realistic artificial agents can trigger discomfort. Her contributions are shaping how engineers design more acceptable social robots and how neuroscientists understand the boundaries of human face perception. For students and researchers, Byrne’s research illuminates the delicate line between the familiar and the eerie in artificial intelligence.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1