Research

Recent years have seen the development and accumulation of evidence for major theories about how systems of the human brain work. These include

• Predictive Coding​
• Reinforcement Learning​
• Dynamic Field Theory​

These theories inform UBIC science across all research themes.

Fraser Smith fMRI and multivariate decoding to show how predictive coding computations map onto cortical laminae. His main research focus is the cognitive neuroscience of perception, including how prior experience shapes current sensory processing and the perception and production of facial expressions of emotion.

Current mathematical models of predictive coding assume that the brain represents uncertainty about the world using Gaussian distributions. Tom Fitzgerald is using computational modelling in conjunction with fMRI, EEG and eye-tracking to challenge this assumption and develop a more powerful and generic approach. A current project examines the use of pupillometry as an index of probabilistic learning.

John Spencer is a co-developer of DFT and is using working memory and associative learning paradigms to test DFT predictions. His research focuses on the development of executive function including working memory, attention, and inhibitory control. He is also a pioneer in the use of dynamical systems and dynamic neural field models for understanding cognition and action.

Recent brain imaging research shows how components of Reinforcement Learning map onto cortico-striatal decision-making circuitry and the dopaminergic system. A current puzzle is whether or not the brain uses separate circuitry to represent outcomes that are better than expected (positive prediction errors) versus those which are worse (negative prediction errors). Tom Sambrook is using EEG and a range of novel experimental designs to address this question and tease these two circuits apart.

Will Penny uses Bayesian Inference, Dynamical Systems, and Statistical Machine Learning both to develop new methods for neuroimaging data analysis (fMRI/EEG/MEG) and as models of human cognition. He is particularly interested in brain connectivity models such as Dynamic Causal Modelling. Current projects also include studies of Human MultiTask Learning.

John Spencer’s studies the early development of the functional brain networks that underlie visual working memory and executive function using fNIRS, fMRI, MR structural imaging and MR diffusion.

Larissa Samuelson investigates the functional brain networks that underlie early word learning, object representations and social coordinative dynamics using fNIRS and MR structural imaging. Professor Samuelson's research examines processes of cognitive development with a focus on early word and category learning and incorporates neural network and dynamic neural field models.

Linda Smith studies cognitive and linguistic development in young children and is well known for her dynamical system perspective on development and groundbreaking research into shape bias, a child’s tendency to form generalisations based on the shape of objects. Current projects include collaborations with Deep Learning experts to define a set of learning tasks that cover developmental milestones (“curriculum learning“).

Louise Ewing uses behavioural techniques and EEG to investigate mechanisms of face and person perception in atypical development - with a particular interest in how these skills develop in typical children and atypically developing populations, e.g., individuals with autism spectrum disorder, Williams syndrome and Down syndrome. 

Teea Gliga is interested in how children succeed in acquiring huge amounts of knowledge despite having limited attention and memory. She studies infants at familial risk of developmental disorders using EEG and behavioural experiments. A current project, in collaboration with Alpar Lazar, investigates a common developmental origin for sensory issues and disturbed sleep in Autism.

Nadja Althaus combines infant experiments (eye tracking) and computational modelling (e.g. self-organising maps) to investigate the development of category learning in infants and the role language plays in this context. In particular, she is interested in whether hearing labels for novel objects modulates the way infants learn about these objects.

Nick Walsh researches the early development of cerebellar networks and their links to motor development, socio-emotional development and later psychopathology. His broad research interests are in the developmental aetiology, maintenance, and consequences of stress-related states and personality/psychopathological traits.

Joni Holmes uses cognitive, behavioural and imaging data to explore the characteristics and mechanisms associated with neurodevelopmental diversity. Her current research challenges the use of diagnostic frameworks to identify and support children’s needs.

Kenny Coventry's research focusses on object-location memory and how language affects how we remember where objects are located. He uses fMRI to unpack the neural networks involved in object-location memory and spatial language comprehension and production in both healthy and clinical populations.

Mick Rugg's research has contributed significantly to understanding the basic mechanisms of memory formation and retrieval, as well as how ageing and injury impact memory. His current research is aimed at understanding how age-related changes in the brain’s structure and function affect cognitive abilities, both in healthy people and those with age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Andrew Bayliss uses EEG and eye tracking to study the neuroscience of social interactions such as joint attention, turn-taking and social influence. He uses experimental approaches with methodologies including reaction time, eye tracking, motion capture (kinematics), electroencephalography and functional neuroimaging.

Mintao Zhao investigates face processing and spatial navigation using computational modelling and behavioural experiments and is studying navigation abilities in a APOE cohort with Michael Hornberger.

Sara Bengtsson studies performance monitoring in tasks requiring higher level cognition. She investigates the relationship between brain activity/anatomy and latent decision components of post-error slowing that are derived from computational models of participant’s behaviour.

Stephanie Rossit investigates how vision is used for perception and to guide actions in both healthy participants and people with brain injury. She leads pioneering work using specialized set-ups to investigate how the brain performs and represents "real" hand actions towards 3D objects inside the limited environment of the MRI scanner. She has successfully led several 'real action' fMRI studies (grasping, reaching and tool manipulation) showing that the certain regions within the parietal and lateral occipital cortices are specialized for certain aspects of visuomotor processing.

Neil Garret uses a mixture of interactive online games, computational modelling, neuroimaging, behavioural experiments, field studies, survey data and economic theory to understand the decisions we make and the underlying neurobiology that gives rise to them.

Matilde Vaghi is interested in developing novel approaches to study brain networks and cognitive processes implicated in psychiatric disorders. Her work makes use of behavioural experiments, computational modelling and neuroimaging techniques. Her aim is to shift the focus from groups to single individuals to improve our understanding of psychiatric conditions and our ability to personalise treatments.

Val Pomeroy investigates the predictive markers and neural correlates of well-characterised physical therapies to advance the science and practice of precision stroke rehabilitation. Pomeroy’s research has been used to directly inform best practice guidelines for stroke rehabilitation. Thus her findings have a direct impact on motor recovery of people after stroke. Her emphasis is on Phase I and Phase II studies to enable Phase III trials of defined rehabilitation interventions for well characterised groups of stroke survivors. The programme is enhanced by undertaking biomechanical and neurophysiological studies and also through collaborations with neuroscientists.

Michael Grey studies neuroplasticity and neurorehabilitation using structural MRI scans for neuronavigation and fMRI/DTI to evaluate cortical plasticity. He plans to use UBIC to investigate cortical plasticity following (i) mirror therapy and (ii) peripheral electrical muscle stimulation. Dr Grey has expertise in non-invasive electrophysiology, transcranial magnetic stimulation and neuroimaging techniques to study human movement and its rehabilitation.

Michael Hornberger is a core member of international steering groups to improve the diagnosis, treatment and management of neurodegenerative conditions. Hornberger’s citizen science research has made a significant impact; his Sea Hero Quest project has collected dementia-related data in over 4.5 million people worldwide.

Anne-Marie Minihane studies the effect of dietary components and common gene variants on cardio-metabolic health. A current project investigates the impact of APOE on response to dietary change, as measured by cognitive outcome and MRI. She is Head of the NUTRIGENETICS group within the Department of Nutrition and Preventive Medicine.

Louis Renoult uses fMRI and EEG to study episodic and semantic memory. His general interest is in the field of cognitive neuroscience of memory and more precisely in the characterization of the similarities, differences, and interactions between the semantic and episodic memory systems. A current project investigates the impact of APOE on autobiographical and semantic memory.

Alpar Lazar uses EEG and behavioural interventions in his newly set up Sleep Lab to study the dynamics of sleep-wake processes. The implementation of brain imaging within clinical sleep/circadian research is currently missing from the UK research landscape. A current project investigates changes in sleep patterns in APOE versus control populations.

Saber Sami has a multi-disciplinary research programme utilising multi-modal imaging, behavioural methods and computational modelling to better understand cortical reorganization in chronic conditions. His more recent work in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge (UK) has been the study of the healthy ageing population and chronic conditions including the effects of dementia on the brain.