Dr Michael Lyvers

Associate Professor

Level 3, Building 1a, Faculty of Society & Design, Bond University

Accepting PhD Students

Contact details

Research Profile

Professional biography

Dr. Lyvers has taught psychology courses at UCLA, California State University Northridge, and the University of Maryland European Division. His doctoral dissertation concerned the autonomic and cognitive effects of acute alcohol intoxication in social drinkers. After receiving a grant from the American Cancer Society, he conducted postdoctoral research at UCLA on the psychophysiological correlates of cigarette smoking and nicotine withdrawal. He continued to study the central nervous system effects of smoking during a two-year research fellowship at Kwansei Gakuin University in Nishinomiya, Japan, sponsored by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Dr. Lyvers joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at Bond University in 1995. He was also a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University in 1999. Expertise Dr. Lyvers' areas of expertise include psychophysiology, psychopharmacology, biological psychology, neuroscience, consciousness, and drug and alcohol dependence.

Research interests

I have taught psychology courses at UCLA, California State University Northridge, and the University of Maryland European Division. My doctoral dissertation concerned the autonomic and cognitive effects of acute alcohol intoxication in social drinkers. I joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at Bond University in 1995. My areas of expertise include psychophysiology, psychopharmacology, biological psychology, neuroscience, consciousness, and drug and alcohol dependence.

My published work includes papers on the psychophysiological and neuropsychological correlates of drug dependence and alcohol intoxication, theory of drug dependence and alcoholism, and traits associated with substance abuse. The role of prefrontal cortical functioning in substance abuse/dependence, as mediated via traits such as impulsivity, reward sensitivity and alexithymia, has been a particular emphasis.

Recently, in collaboration with Dr. Mark Edwards, I have investigated the relationship between anxiety, attention and cognition.

Teaching expertise

Teaching Biological Psychology, Sensation and Perception, Drugs and Behaviour, Psychopharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Abnormal Psychology, Research Methods, Statistics, Personality, Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Introduction to Psychology.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude) University of California, Los Angeles
Master of Arts University of California, Los Angeles
Doctor of Philosophy University of California, Los Angeles

Fields of Research

Social and personality psychology

Statement for HDR students

HDR students that I currently supervise are working on projects designed to investigate the relationship between personality traits, neuropsychological functioning and substance use, including how trait factors influence response to treatment for addiction.

In collaboration with Dr. Edwards, students are also working on projects examining how situational and personality factors are related to attention and memory performance.

Subjects

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