PI on a £6000 Nuffield funded project titled ‘Assessing the utility of using virtual reality to support the treatment of anxiety’. Co-applicants; Professor Paul Holmes and Dr Timothy Jung. Project start date of August 2019.

Recent undergraduate and postgraduate teaching contributions

Introduction to Psychology (L4); Sport and Exercise Psychology (L5); Health and Exercise Psychology (L5); Psychology of Pain and Rehabilitation (L6); Active Environments and Behaviour Change (L6); Dissertation Projects (L6); Cognition and Emotion (L7); Dissertation Projects (L7)

Current PhD student supervision

Maaike Esselaar; The role of personality type and cognitive biases in Chronic Back Pain

Akiho Suzuki; Development and testing of an internet-based practice intervention for tertiary piano students

• The role of personality type in the management of chronic pain
• Cognitive biases in healthy and clinical populations
• Eye gaze metrics within clinical populations

Leemans, L., Nijs, J., Antonis, L., Wideman, T.H., den Bandt, H., Franklin, Z., Mullie, P., Moens, M., Joos, E., and Beckwée, D. (2022). Do psychological factors relate to movement-evoked pain in people with musculoskeletal pain? A systematic review and meta-analysis.” Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy: 100453.

Martin, A. M., Champ, F., & Franklin, Z. (2021). COVID-19: Assessing the impact of lockdown on recreational athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 56, 101978.

Bek, J., Holmes, P.S., Webb, J., Craig, C., Franklin, Z.C., Sullivan, M., Gowen E., & Poliakoff, E. (in preparation). Action Imagery and Observation in Neurorehabilitation for Parkinson’s Disease (ACTION-PD): development of a patient-informed home training intervention to improve everyday functional actions through observation and imagery.

Wood, G., Wright, D., Harris, D., Anal, P., Franklin, Z., & Vine, S. (2020). Testing the construct validity of a soccer-specific virtual reality simulator using novice, academy and professional soccer players. Virtual Reality: research, development and applications.

Bruton, A. M., Holmes, P. S., Eaves, D. L., Franklin, Z. C., & Wright, D. J. (2020). Neurophysiological markers discriminate different forms of motor imagery during action observation. Cortex, 124, 119-136.

Franklin, Z. C., Wright, D. J., & Holmes, P. S. (2020). Using Action-congruent Language Facilitates the Motor Response during Action Observation: A Combined Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Eye-tracking Study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 32(4), 634-645.

 Franklin, Z., Holmes, P., & Fowler, N. (2019). Eye gaze markers indicate visual attention to threatening images in individuals with chronic back pain. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 8(1), 31.

Wright, D. J., Wood, G., Eaves, D. L., Bruton, A. M., Frank, C., & Franklin, Z.C. (2018). Corticospinal excitability is facilitated by combined action observation and motor imagery of a basketball free throw. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 39, 114-121.

Riach, M., Wright, D. J., Franklin, Z.C., & Holmes, P. S. (2018). Screen position preference offers a new direction for action observation research: preliminary findings using TMS. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 26.

Riach, M., Holmes, P.S., Franklin, Z.C., & Wright, D.J. (2018). Observation of an action with a congruent contextual background facilitates corticospinal excitability: A combined TMS and eye-tracking experiment. Neuropsychologia, 119, 157-164.

Franklin, Z.C. & Fowler, N.E. (2018). Defensive high-anxious individuals demonstrate different responses to pain management to those with lower levels of defensiveness and anxiety. Pain Practice. 18(2), 214-223.

Wright, D.J., Wood, G., Franklin, Z.C., Marshall, B., Riach, M., & Holmes, P. S. (2017). Directing gaze behaviour during action observation modulates corticospinal excitability. Brain Stimulation: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation, 10(2), 409.

Franklin, Z.C., Holmes, P.S., Smith, N.C., & Fowler, N.E. (2016).Personality type influences attentional bias in individuals with chronic back pain. PloS One, 11(1): e0147035.

 Franklin, Z.C., Smith, N.C., & Holmes, P.S. (2015). Anxiety symptom interpretation and performance expectations in high-anxious, low-anxious, defensive high-anxious and repressor individuals. Personality and Individual Differences, 77, 27-32.

Franklin, Z.C., Smith, N.C., & Fowler, N.E. (2015). Influence of defensiveness on disability in a chronic musculoskeletal pain population. Pain Practice, 16(7), 882-889.

 Franklin, Z.C., Smith, N.C., & Fowler, N.E. (2015). A Qualitative investigation of factors that matter to individuals in the pain management process. Disability and Rehabilitation, 38(19), 1934-1942.

Franklin, Z.C., Smith, N.C., & Fowler, N.E. (2014). Defensive high-anxious individuals with chronic back pain demonstrate different treatment choices and patient persistence. Personality and Individual Differences, 64, 84-88.

Book Chapter

Franklin, Z.C. & Thompson, D. (2022). Chapter 16, Personalising the exercise referral experience. In Scott, A. & Vishnubala, D. (Ed.), Exercise Management for Referred Medical Conditions. United Kingdom: Routledge