Specialist Research Laboratory

Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory

Research in the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory focuses on the cognitive and brain mechanisms underlying human perception, attention and action. Theapproach is to combine objective behavioural measures with functional brain imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation, with the aim of developing comprehensive models of human brain-behaviour relationships in normality and pathology.

On-line Change Deafness Demonstration

The 'change deafness' phenomenon reveals a striking limitation in normal listeners' ability to detect salient changes in complex auditory scenes. Experience the phenomenon by taking part in an on-line auditory demonstration.

Current Areas of Research

• Neuroanatomical dynamics of visual and tactile spatial attention
• Functional interactions between attention, affect and decision making
• Mechanisms of multisensory interactions in normal and neurological populations
• Mechanisms of spatial remapping
• Unconscious perception in spatial neglect, extinction and hemianopia
• Perception and cognition in synaesthesia
• Attention and action in stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Visuomotor adaptation and brain plasticity
• Grapheme-colour/phoneme-colour synaesthesia

Research Staff:

• Dr Anina Rich
• Dr Mark Williams

• Research Associate:

  • Nadja Berberovic

Lab Facilities:

The Laboratory is well equipped for research in the broad field of Cognitive Neuroscience. Current facilities include:

• A TMS Laboratory, equipped with MagStim Rapid, ASL504 infrared eye-tracker and associated computer-controlled hardware and software
• Dedicated MRI Image Analysis Suite with a comprehensive range of software (SPM, FSL, MRIcro, MRI Workshop). MRI data are acquired at the Brain Research Institute in Melbourne
• Several networked computers (running on Windows and Unix platforms) in a shared, open-plan laboratory
• Two dedicated testing booths for psychophysical testing
• Other miscellaneous items for research include a flatbed scanner, digital camera and imaging software, colour laser printer, and several items of custom-designed hardware and software for experimental use

Funding & Grants:

Research conducted in the laboratory is funded through grants from the following sources:

• Australian Research Council (ARC)
• National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
• Institut de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)
• Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona
• Unilever
• AMRAD
• ANZ

Current Research Students:

Adam Morris, Jonathan Payne, Tracy Long