Pilleriin Sikka
Postdoctoral Researcher
pilsik@utu.fi |
Cognitive neuroscience; Emotions; Sleep and Dreaming; Consciousness; Well-Being; Happiness
The first line of my research focuses on studying the psychological and neural basis of altered states of consciousness utilizing the model system of the dreaming brain. I am especially interested in dream emotions and methodological issues in investigating dream (emotional) content.
The second line of my research explores the psychological and neural basis of (mental) well-being using a multidisciplinary and multilevel framework that draws on the concepts, theories and research from philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and (molecular) biology.
I also investigate well-being across waking and dreaming states, that is, how waking well-being is related to dream (emotional) content.
- A dream EEG and mentation database (2025)
- Nature Communications
- Meditation and psychedelics facilitate similar types of mystical, psychological, and philosophical-existential insights predictive of wellbeing: a qualitative-quantitative approach (2025)
- Consciousness and Cognition
- Acceptance as a possible link between past psychedelic experiences and psychological flexibility (2024)
- Scientific Reports
- Alexithymia or general psychological distress? Discriminant validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (2024)
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- Alexithymia profiles and depression, anxiety, and stress (2024)
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- Reduction in Trauma-Related Symptoms After Anesthetic-Induced Intra-Operative Dreaming (2024)
- American Journal of Psychiatry
- The role of objective sleep in implicit and explicit affect regulation : A comprehensive review (2024)
- Neurobiology of Stress
- Affect Across the Wake-Sleep Cycle (2023)
- Affective science
- Alexithymia and emotion regulation (2023)
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- Alexithymia and Emotion Regulation (2023)
- Affective science
- Alexithymia (2023) Handbook of emotion regulation Preece David A., Sikka Pilleriin
- COVID-19 on Mind: Daily Worry About the Coronavirus Is Linked to Negative Affect Experienced During Mind-Wandering and Dreaming (2023)
- Emotion
- Individual differences in peace of mind reflect adaptive emotion regulation (2023)
- Personality and Individual Differences
- Mediation Analysis of Conspiratorial Thinking and Anti-Expert Sentiments on Vaccine Willingness (2023)
- Health Psychology
- The Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire-Short Form (PAQ-S): A 6-item measure of alexithymia (2023)
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- COVIDiSTRESS diverse dataset on psychological and behavioural outcomes one year into the COVID-19 pandemic (2022)
- Scientific Data
- Event-related potential correlates of learning to produce novel foreign phonemes (2022)
- Neurobiology of language
- Negative dream affect is associated with next-day affect level, but not with affect reactivity or affect regulation (2022)
- Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
- The neural bases of expressive suppression: A systematic review of functional neuroimaging studies (2022)
- Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
- COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey dataset on psychological and behavioural consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak (2021)
- Scientific Data