Cognitive Neuroscience Unit

The Social and Affective Neuroscience Lab explores how the human brain allows us to interpret our interpersonal world and manage our emotional lives. Taking a developmental perspective with a focus on childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, the lab investigates topics such as empathy, motor resonance, theory of mind, and emotion regulation.

From a clinical perspective, the Social and Affective Neuroscience Lab also conducts research into   autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here the lab harnesses cutting-edge neuroimaging and neurophysiological approaches, seeking to better understand the brain basis of ASD.

There is also a focus on the translation of this work by developing novel brain stimulation protocols designed to target specific processes. Current clinical trials employ non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), to improve outcomes for people diagnosed with ASD.

Lab Leader

• Prof. Peter Enticott

Staff

• Dr Natalia Albein-Urios
• Soukayna Bekkali
• Hannah Bereznicki
• Dr Gillian Clark
• Dr Ashlee Curtis
• Michael Do
• Dr Peter Donaldson
• Lara Fernandez
• Dr Talitha Ford
• Dr Melissa Kirkovski
• Dr George Youssef

Postgraduate students

• Soukayna Bekkali
• Hannah Bereznicki
• Felicity Bigelow
• Isabella Bower
• Jed Burgess
• Lara Fernandez
• Lauren Francis
• Lærke Mygind Grønfeldt
• Claire McNeel
• Dinisha Parmar

Interns (2019)

• Teresa Bollard
• Tabitha McNamara

Flagship projects

The development of the social brain in early childhood

Funded by an ARC Future Fellowship, this project uses eye-tracking and EEG to examine social brain function in primary school-aged children. We are interested in how different social brain networks communicate with one another, and how this gives rise to abilities such as empathy and social communication.

Non-invasive brain stimulation in autism spectrum disorder

Using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS), we are conducting randomised controlled clinical trials to improve social relating, cognitive flexibility and emotion regulation in adolescents and adults with ASD. This work is funded in part by a NARSAD Independent Investigator Award from the Brain and Behaviour Research Foundation.

Characterising the Neurobiology of Social Processes across the Autism Spectrum (NeuroSPA)

Funded by a Dean's Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, this study utilises EEG and MRI to investigate the underlying brain processes involved in the social processing difficulties typically experienced by adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder. The outcomes of this research may be useful to inform therapeutic interventions and improve outcomes for young people with autism spectrum disorders.

The Brain and Cognitive Development Lab uses advanced neuroimaging techniques to enhance our understanding of neurodevelopment and how brain maturation relates to the development of cognitive functions.

Using a range of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques including structural, diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) functional (fMRI) and resting state (rs-fMRI), the Brain and Cognition Lab investigates brain development in typical childhood, as well as when neurodevelopment goes awry such as neurodevelopment disorders (ADHD, autism etc). By applying these neuroimaging techniques, the lab aims to reveal how subtle individual neuroanatomical variation lead to diversity in human cognition, and ultimately to distinguish or predict differential cognitive and neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Current Research Focus

Trajectories in brain structure and function for children with ADHD

An arm of the Children’s Attention Project, this is a large longitudinal neuroimaging project conducted in order to understand how brain structure and function change across late childhood to early adolescence for children with and without ADHD, and how those changes reflect symptoms and functional outcomes.

Understanding the role of epigenetic factors in both typical and atypical brain and cognitive development

The field of developmental epigenomics is beginning to identify how specific environmental factors influence brain structure and function at critical stages of development.  Using both a sample of ADHD and a typically developing twin cohort we are examining whether epigenetic state, or changes in epigenetic state, can predict brain and cognitive development or clinical presentation. In addition, we are investigating whether we can identify modifiable environmental factors associated with the changes in epigenetic state.

The influence of puberty on brain and cognitive development

Adolescence is a dynamic period of brain development that drives cognitive maturity. The hormones involved in puberty directly contribute to shaping brain development. This project examines how trajectories of brain development and the related maturation of cognitive ability are influenced by the sensitive transition through puberty.

Lab Leader

• A/Prof. Tim Silk

Staff

• Dr Ian Fuelscher
• Dr Nicholas Ryan
• Dr Nandi Vijayakumar
• Dr George Youssef

Postgraduate Students

• Hannah Portogallo
• Mervyn Singh
• Shania Soman
• Kate Stephens

Interns (2019)

• Natalie Morris

The aim of the Language and Memory Lab research stream is twofold. The first is to investigate the neurological mechanisms that underpin learning and memory. Here, the lab seeks to understand how the brain learns, stores and retrieves information. The second stream investigates the extent neural networks that are known to support memory also play a role in language.

The Language and Memory Lab investigates memory and language functioning across the lifespan. The lab’s work with infants and children uses eye-tracking, pupillometry and EEG. With adults, the lab studies interrelationships between the brain, memory and language using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

The goal of the Language and Memory Lab is to advance knowledge about the role of memory in language. The lab also aims to contribute to the development of support programs for individuals with language difficulties, as well as methods that will facilitate language learning from infancy to adulthood.

Lab Leader

• A/Prof. Jarrad Lum

Staff

• Michael Barham
• Dr Gillian Clark
• Catherine Emerson
• Hannah Portogallo

Postgraduate Students

• Michael Barham
• James Plumridge
• Caitlyn Rogers
• Nicole Sloan
• Anna Ware

Interns (2019)

• Meeks Kidd

The neural and cognitive basis of atypical motor skill: a multidisciplinary investigation

The neural and cognitive basis of atypical motor skill: a multidisciplinary investigation
The Motor Cognition Lab is conducting a series of world-first studies investigating the causal mechanisms that subserve individual differences in skill acquisition in childhood and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and ADHD.
The lab combines highly novel experimental measures of action and cognition with a variety of neuro structural (diffusion MRI), functional (fMRI) and physiological (TMS, tDCS pupillometry) measures to gain new insight into the factors that contribute to motor development and its disorder.
The goal of these studies is to inform the development of targeted interventions and circumvent the presentation of commonly observed psychosocial difficulties associated with reduced motor competence.
These projects build on a body of work from the lab leader, Dr. Christian Hyde, but also bring together expertise of a number of members within the Cognitive Neuroscience Unit. Together, this environment is ideal for producing high-impact, novel research.

Lab Leader

• Dr Christian Hyde

Staff

• Pam Barhoun
• Dr Daniel Corp
• Michael Do
• Dr Ian Fuelscher

Postgraduate Students

• Pam Barhourn
• Soukayna Bekkali
• Andris Cerins
• Jason He
• Hannah Portogallo
• Mervyn Singh

Interns (2019)

• Charlotte O’Grady

The Executive Function and Health Behaviour Lab aims to build a body of research in Australia on the neural mechanisms of executive functioning in health behaviour change, with the primary focus being on weight and smoking.

The focus of the lab’s research is to explore the underlying mechanisms of health behaviour, particularly around impulsivity and inhibitory control. Using the latest approaches, the lab is exploring inhibitory control deficits and the potential impact of inhibitory control training on behaviour change.

Lab Leader

• Dr Melissa Hayden

Staff

• A/Prof. Petra Staiger

Postgraduate Students

• Sasha Davies
• Laura Hughes
• Denise Foley