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Associate Professor Jess Taubert
Associate Professor

Jess Taubert

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Overview

Background

Associate Professor Jess Taubert was awarded the ARC Future Fellowship and moved to the University of Queensland in 2021. She is now a UQ Amplify Principal Research Fellow and the director of the BRISbrain lab, which focuses on understanding the neural and cognitive basis of social intelligence and face perception in humans and other animals.

She completed a Bachelor of Science Degree with Honours at Macaquarie University (2005) and a PhD in Psychology at the University of Sydney (2009) where she trained in psychophysics and cognitive science. In 2009 she accepted a postdoctoral position as a comparative psychologist at Emory University (GA, USA). Here she worked jointly with Lisa Parr at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Philippe Rochat in the Department of Psychology. In 2011 A/Prof Taubert was awarded a FSR incoming postdoctoral fellowship by UCLouvain and moved to Belgium to train as a neurophysiologist (supervised by Rufin Vogels, Wim Vanduffel, and Bruno Rossion). After briefly returning to Australia, A/Prof Taubert was appointed as an Intramural Research Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health in the US (2016 – 2021). During this time she worked with Leslie Ungerleider, Chris Baker, David Leopold, and Elisabeth ("Betsy") Murray among others and she mastered neuroimaging techniques including task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Availability

Associate Professor Jess Taubert is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sydney

Research interests

  • Social intelligence in primates and other animals

  • Face detection and the face pareidolia illusion

  • Organisation and function of the ventral visual cortex

  • The recognition of social signals in everyday life

Works

Search Professor Jess Taubert’s works on UQ eSpace

85 works between 2007 and 2025

1 - 20 of 85 works

Featured

2025

Journal Article

Distortions of lip size bias perceived facial attractiveness

Alais, David, Stephens, Jacqueline and Taubert, Jessica (2025). Distortions of lip size bias perceived facial attractiveness. Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences, 292 (2044) 20250202, 20250202. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2025.0202

Distortions of lip size bias perceived facial attractiveness

Featured

2025

Journal Article

One object with two identities: The rapid detection of face pareidolia in face and food detection tasks

Stuart, Greta, Saurels, Blake W., Robinson, Amanda K. and Taubert, Jessica (2025). One object with two identities: The rapid detection of face pareidolia in face and food detection tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 51 (6), 1-12. doi: 10.1037/xhp0001296

One object with two identities: The rapid detection of face pareidolia in face and food detection tasks

Featured

2025

Journal Article

Face pareidolia minimally engages macaque face selective neurons

Koyano, Kenji W., Taubert, Jessica, Robison, William, Waidmann, Elena N. and Leopold, David A. (2025). Face pareidolia minimally engages macaque face selective neurons. Progress in Neurobiology, 245 102709, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2024.102709

Face pareidolia minimally engages macaque face selective neurons

Featured

2024

Journal Article

Real face value: the processing of naturalistic facial expressions in the macaque inferior temporal cortex

Taubert, Jessica and Japee, Shruti (2024). Real face value: the processing of naturalistic facial expressions in the macaque inferior temporal cortex. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 36 (12), 2725-2741. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_02108

Real face value: the processing of naturalistic facial expressions in the macaque inferior temporal cortex

Featured

2024

Journal Article

The face pareidolia illusion drives a happy face advantage that is dependent on perceived gender

Lipp, Ottmar V. and Taubert, Jessica (2024). The face pareidolia illusion drives a happy face advantage that is dependent on perceived gender. Emotion, 24 (7), 1781-1787. doi: 10.1037/emo0001346

The face pareidolia illusion drives a happy face advantage that is dependent on perceived gender

Featured

2024

Journal Article

Inactivation of face-selective neurons alters eye movements when free viewing faces

Azadi, Reza, Lopez, Emily, Taubert, Jessica, Patterson, Amanda and Afraz, Arash (2024). Inactivation of face-selective neurons alters eye movements when free viewing faces. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 121 (3) e2309906121, e2309906121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2309906121

Inactivation of face-selective neurons alters eye movements when free viewing faces

Featured

2023

Journal Article

Preliminary evidence of an increased susceptibility to face pareidolia in postpartum women

Taubert, Jessica, Wally, Samantha and Dixson, Barnaby J. (2023). Preliminary evidence of an increased susceptibility to face pareidolia in postpartum women. Biology Letters, 19 (9) 20230126, 20230126. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0126

Preliminary evidence of an increased susceptibility to face pareidolia in postpartum women

Featured

2022

Journal Article

A broadly tuned network for affective body language in the macaque brain

Taubert, Jessica, Japee, Shruti, Patterson, Amanda, Wild, Hannah, Goyal, Shivani, Yu, David and Ungerleider, Leslie G. (2022). A broadly tuned network for affective body language in the macaque brain. Science Advances, 8 (47) eadd6865, eadd6865. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.add6865

A broadly tuned network for affective body language in the macaque brain

Featured

2022

Journal Article

Illusory faces are more likely to be perceived as male than female

Wardle, Susan G., Paranjape, Sanika, Taubert, Jessica and Baker, Chris I. (2022). Illusory faces are more likely to be perceived as male than female. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119 (5) e2117413119, e2117413119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2117413119

Illusory faces are more likely to be perceived as male than female

Featured

2020

Journal Article

Rapid and dynamic processing of face pareidolia in the human brain

Wardle, Susan G, Taubert, Jessica, Teichmann, Lina and Baker, Chris I (2020). Rapid and dynamic processing of face pareidolia in the human brain. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 4518, 4518. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18325-8

Rapid and dynamic processing of face pareidolia in the human brain

2025

Conference Publication

Cortical and subcortical correlates of emotional expression in face pareidolia

Wardle, Susan, Taubert, Jessica, Udeozor, Malcolm and Baker, Chris (2025). Cortical and subcortical correlates of emotional expression in face pareidolia. Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting 2025, St. Pete Beach, FL United States, 16-20 May 2025. Rockville, MD United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/jov.25.9.2070

Cortical and subcortical correlates of emotional expression in face pareidolia

2025

Conference Publication

Human-animal interactions recalibrate the face-selective network in children

Taubert, Jessica, MacColl, Cate, Farrell, Callyn, Robinson, Amanda K., Slaughter, Virginia and Mattingley, Jason B. (2025). Human-animal interactions recalibrate the face-selective network in children. Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting 2025, St. Pete Beach, FL United States, 16-20 May 2025. Rockville, MD United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/jov.25.9.2260

Human-animal interactions recalibrate the face-selective network in children

2025

Journal Article

Age-related differences in neural integrity are unrelated to prospective memory age effects

Henry, Julie D., Coundouris, Sarah P., Labuschagne, Izelle, Liu, Kirra, Haines, Simon J., Grainger, Sarah A., Domínguez, Juan F., Puckett, Alex, Rendell, Peter G. and Taubert, Jessica (2025). Age-related differences in neural integrity are unrelated to prospective memory age effects. Brain and Cognition, 187 106301, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2025.106301

Age-related differences in neural integrity are unrelated to prospective memory age effects

2025

Journal Article

Toward ecological validity in expression discrimination: forced-choice saccadic responses to posed and naturalistic faces

Peluso, Natalie, Saurels, Blake W. and Taubert, Jessica (2025). Toward ecological validity in expression discrimination: forced-choice saccadic responses to posed and naturalistic faces. Emotion, 25 (7), 1872-1878. doi: 10.1037/emo0001527

Toward ecological validity in expression discrimination: forced-choice saccadic responses to posed and naturalistic faces

2025

Journal Article

Temporal lobectomy evidence for the role of the amygdala in early emotional face and body processing

Moses, Eleanor, Scambler, Jenna, Taubert, Jessica, Lo, Ada H. Y., Thompson, Kate, de Gelder, Beatrice and Pegna, Alan J. (2025). Temporal lobectomy evidence for the role of the amygdala in early emotional face and body processing. eNeuro, 12 (2) ENEURO.0114, 1-12. doi: 10.1523/eneuro.0114-24.2024

Temporal lobectomy evidence for the role of the amygdala in early emotional face and body processing

2025

Other Outputs

Faces vs Objects Eye-tracking Data

Buckland, Christopher and Taubert, Jess (2025). Faces vs Objects Eye-tracking Data. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/5e4f89d

Faces vs Objects Eye-tracking Data

2025

Journal Article

A database of naturalistic expressive faces for studying high arousal states

Buckland, Christopher B. and Taubert, Jessica (2025). A database of naturalistic expressive faces for studying high arousal states. The Journal of Pain, 26 104728, 104728. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2024.104728

A database of naturalistic expressive faces for studying high arousal states

2024

Journal Article

Investigating the hemiretinal asymmetry in emotion processing as a function of spatial frequency

Moses, Eleanor, Yu, Zhou, Taubert, Jessica and Pegna, Alan J. (2024). Investigating the hemiretinal asymmetry in emotion processing as a function of spatial frequency. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291 (2034) 20241909, 20241909. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.1909

Investigating the hemiretinal asymmetry in emotion processing as a function of spatial frequency

2024

Journal Article

Neural encoding of bodies for primate social perception

Abassi, Etienne, Bognár, Anna, de Gelder, Bea, Giese, Martin, Isik, Leyla, Lappe, Alexander, Mukovskiy, Albert, Solanas, Marta Poyo, Taubert, Jessica and Vogels, Rufin (2024). Neural encoding of bodies for primate social perception. The Journal of Neuroscience, 44 (40) e1221242024, 1-9. doi: 10.1523/jneurosci.1221-24.2024

Neural encoding of bodies for primate social perception

2024

Conference Publication

The multidimensional representation of facial attributes

Taubert, Jessica, Japee, Shruti, Robinson, Amanda, Long, Houqiu, Grootswagers, Tijl, Zheng, Charles, Pereira, Francisco and Baker, Chris (2024). The multidimensional representation of facial attributes. Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting 2024, St. Pete Beach, FL United States, 17-22 May 2024. Rockville, MD United States: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. doi: 10.1167/jov.24.10.662

The multidimensional representation of facial attributes

Funding

Current funding

  • 2025 - 2026
    UQ AWARE - Jessica Fagerholm
    UQ Amplify Women's Academic Research Equity
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2026
    Understanding the neural basis of gaze behaviour in the human brain.
    ARC Future Fellowships
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2023 - 2025
    The neural plasticity of gaze following in children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
    Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Associate Professor Jess Taubert is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The role of breathing in human social intelligence.

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Amanda Robinson, Professor Julie Henry

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Neural Encoding of Naturalistic Faces for Social Perception

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Amanda Robinson, Dr Blake Saurels

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Identifying the neural basis of visual hallucinations in age-related macular degeneration: Towards a novel therapeutic intervention for Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS)

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Jason Mattingley, Dr Amanda Robinson

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Attraction vs suppression. Comparing EEG and eye-tracking to disentangle the mechanisms of attention.

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Amanda Robinson

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Social and Contextual Determinants of Pain Recognition

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Ada Kritikos, Dr Blake Saurels

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Robots as Social Groups: A Social Neuroscience Approach

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Eric Vanman

  • Master Philosophy

    The impact of complex trauma on brain structure and function: implications for the development of complex PTSD

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Viktor Vegh, Dr Lena Oestreich

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Aphantasia: Predicting the intensity of imagined sensory experiences from measures of brain activity

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Derek Arnold

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Persistence of Statistical Learning and Its Variation Across Individuals

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Amanda Robinson

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Investigating the Relationship Between Prediction and Attention in Response to Emotional Stimuli in the Human Brain

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Margaret Moore, Professor Derek Arnold

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

Contact Associate Professor Jess Taubert directly for media enquiries about:

  • face pareidolia
  • face perception
  • neuroscience
  • online dating
  • social cognition
  • vision

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au