I am a full professor of Psychology at Stockholm University and the author of The Forgotten Sense. My research and teaching involves perception, memory and emotion, with a focus on how the sense of smell, olfaction, affects these processes. My research team investigates whether olfaction provides an early marker for dementia, why it is so hard to name smells, if smell-based video games can be used for brain training, and how odors might affect social processes. To address these issues, we use a variety of behavioral and brain activity methods. I have published over 100 international research articles, please visit my Google Scholar page for an updated publication list. I am presently chair of the Swedish National Committee for Psychological Sciences at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, as well as the Swedish Cognitive Science Society (SweCog).

Bio

I received my PhD in 2008 at Umeå University and was appointed as docent at Stockholm University in 2009. I conducted research at Northwestern University (Chicago, 2009-2011), The Scripps Research Institute (San Diego, 2005-2006) and at Karolinska Insitutet (Stockholm, 2009). Since 2012, I am affiliated with The Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in Uppsala. I was in 2016-2017 adjunct associate professor at New York University School of Medicine. My research is supported by the Swedish Research Council, The Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences, the Wallenberg Foundations and the Swedish e-Science Research Centre.

Dissertation

Odor identification in aging and dementia: Influences of cognition and the ApoE gene. Doctoral dissertation from the Department of Psychology, Umeå University. ISBN 978-91-7264-652-0

Awards and honors (selected)

Member of Academia Europaea (since 2021), a scientific academy with the purpose of facilitating excellence in research and education in Eurrope. Members are nominated and evaluated based on their contributions to research in their respective fields.

Wallenberg Academy Fellow (since 2016), a carreer programme that provides long-term funding for the most promising young researchers of all disciplines.

Fellow of the Young Academy of Sweden (2015-2020), an independent, cross-disciplinary forum for some of the most promising young researchers in Sweden across all academic disciplines.

Fellow of Pro Futura Scientia (2012-2017), a research programme for especially promising young researchers in the humanities and social sciences.

Recipient of the 2010 prize to young researchers in Psychology by the Swedish National Committee for Psychological Sciences (a branch of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) after receiving nominations from Umeå and Stockholm Universities.

The Fulker award (2009) for best article in the journal Behavior Genetics:
Olofsson, J.K., Rönnlund, M., Nordin, S., Nilsson, L-G., Nyberg, L., & Larsson, M. (2009). Odor identification deficit as a predictor of five-year global cognitive change: Interactive effects with age and ApoE-e4. Behavior Genetics, 39, 496-503.