Improving Human Outcomes Through Relational Neuroscience.
I help families, educators and practitioners improve resilience, development, learning and performance by applying brain-based insights into human interaction.
What is relational neuroscience?
Relational neuroscience is the study of how the brain develops, functions, and adapts in relationship with other people.
Most human challenges—whether in families, teams, classrooms, or therapy—are fundamentally relational. My work focuses on how interactions and relationships shape the brain, and how we can improve outcomes by understanding and influencing those processes.
Watch how a mother’s mere presence helps children’s brains become more effective at regulating their emotions (Video adapted from CNA Talking Point).
Meet Atiqah
Associate Professor Atiqah Azhari is an award-winning Relational Neuroscientist at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), where she holds the Provost’s Chair, the Head of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Programme (Office of Graduate Studies), and the Head of Research Cluster (School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences) appointments.
Atiqah is paving the field of Relational Neuroscience which examines how relationships and social systems influence brain mechanisms surrounding co-regulation, synchrony and repair, which ultimately shape resilience, development, learning and performance.
She leads the Relational Brain Lab whose mission is to discover how these social environments shape brain activity across the lifespan — in families, educational contexts, organisations and systems.
Atiqah helps practitioners and institutions translate neuroscience into practical strategies to create improvements in human outcomes.
Atiqah has won over $5.3 million in competitive extramural funding. She is a recipient of the MOE AcRF Tier 2 Grant and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fellowship which recognises outstanding early career researchers. She is a prolific academic who has published over 45 research articles.
With a mission to translate neuroscience findings for social impact, Atiqah has shared her work with a wide audience through Channel NewsAsia (CNA) documentaries, talks and workshops. Coveted for her insights, Atiqah has been an invited speaker for government bodies, such as the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Education, social service agencies and corporate organisations.
Atiqah serves as a Board Member at PPIS, and an Advisor at the Institute of Neurodiversity and the Institute of Adult Learning. She also has a strong editorial/reviewer presence in several journals.
Atiqah has accumulated significant supervisory experience. She has hosted international visiting fellows and supervised Research Fellows, PhD, Master’s and undergraduate students. She is a two-time recipient of Excellence in Teaching Awards.
