My name is Anouk Keizer and I work as an assistant professor at the department of Experimental Psychology at Utrecht University in the Dijkermanlab. I am a member of the Helmholtz Institute and the Utrecht Research Group for Eating Disorders.

I am interested in (affective) touch perception and the role touch may play in mental health. My work also focuses on how healthy individuals and psychiatric patients experience and perceive their own body and how bodily dimensions may contribute to perception and experience of the environment. Which processes shape the way in which we perceive and use our body? Can we be sure that our appearance in the mirror or in our mind really reflects how we actually look or appear to others?

My PhD thesis focused on disturbed body size experience in patients with anorexia nervosa at the level of perception, action, and bodily illusions. In my current research I aim to use novel and innovative paradigms and technology to study body image disturbances. I have a strong focus on translating science to clinical practice.

You can download a copy of my PhD thesis here, click here for the summary of my thesis in English and here for the summary in Dutch.