How the brain produces speech. Speech production is a fundamental ability that enables human interaction through language. Brain injuries impair this ability, with profound negative consequences for the individual and their immediate family and friends. This project will increase our understanding of the brain mechanisms involved in producing speech by using state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques. The findings will inform future clinical research and improve the advice given to clinicians, pa ....How the brain produces speech. Speech production is a fundamental ability that enables human interaction through language. Brain injuries impair this ability, with profound negative consequences for the individual and their immediate family and friends. This project will increase our understanding of the brain mechanisms involved in producing speech by using state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques. The findings will inform future clinical research and improve the advice given to clinicians, patients and the broader community about the nature of language production and its impairments and ultimately the treatment of speech disorders.Read moreRead less
The role of prediction error in extinction. The project will provide information about the mechanisms by which organisms adjust their behaviour to bring it into line with new relations between events. It will also provide information regarding the mechanisms underlying cue exposure used in the treatment of anxiety disorders. It will result in publications in peer reviewed journals, and in presentations at University colloquia and conferences in Australia and overseas that will add to the reputat ....The role of prediction error in extinction. The project will provide information about the mechanisms by which organisms adjust their behaviour to bring it into line with new relations between events. It will also provide information regarding the mechanisms underlying cue exposure used in the treatment of anxiety disorders. It will result in publications in peer reviewed journals, and in presentations at University colloquia and conferences in Australia and overseas that will add to the reputation for science and its applications to the clinic. It will form part of the work in my laboratory where Honours and Doctoral students receive training in behavioural neuroscience.Read moreRead less
The neural substrates of attentional learning in Pavlovian conditioning. Current psychological theories use error correction mechanisms to explain the development of normal fear, exaggerated fear and the failure to develop fear. One class of theory proposes that these mechanisms produce such outcomes by determining the allocation of attention. Mechanisms for attentional learning have yet to be incorporated into neurobiological treatments of learned fear. This project will identify the neurobiolo ....The neural substrates of attentional learning in Pavlovian conditioning. Current psychological theories use error correction mechanisms to explain the development of normal fear, exaggerated fear and the failure to develop fear. One class of theory proposes that these mechanisms produce such outcomes by determining the allocation of attention. Mechanisms for attentional learning have yet to be incorporated into neurobiological treatments of learned fear. This project will identify the neurobiological substrate of attentional learning and thus further our understanding of the neurobiology of fear. This understanding is necessary for the development of more effective treatments of disorders of fear (e.g., Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).Read moreRead less
Mechanisms of fear learning and extinction in the mammalian brain. The brain is a remarkable machine that coordinates all aspects of our daily lives including the storage and retrieval of memories. Given that many age-related degenerative disorders are associated with marked changes in learning and memory it also has implications for Australia's National Research Priority 2 "Ageing well and ageing productively". This research aims to discover the basic mechanisms that underlie memory storage an ....Mechanisms of fear learning and extinction in the mammalian brain. The brain is a remarkable machine that coordinates all aspects of our daily lives including the storage and retrieval of memories. Given that many age-related degenerative disorders are associated with marked changes in learning and memory it also has implications for Australia's National Research Priority 2 "Ageing well and ageing productively". This research aims to discover the basic mechanisms that underlie memory storage and how these are modulated in an emotional context. It will also shed light on states such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress, enhancing our ability to identify new therapeutic targets for such disorders.Read moreRead less
Reconciling perceptual and cognitive accounts of dyslexia: The neural rate deficit hypothesis. The proposed research will form part of a co-ordinated program to understand the causes of dyslexia, a disorder that affects a large number of children and often persists into adulthood. It complements parallel efforts to elucidate the genetic basis of dyslexia, the heterogeneity and subtypes of dyslexia, and the developmental precursors to the disorder. This research will inform early intervention and ....Reconciling perceptual and cognitive accounts of dyslexia: The neural rate deficit hypothesis. The proposed research will form part of a co-ordinated program to understand the causes of dyslexia, a disorder that affects a large number of children and often persists into adulthood. It complements parallel efforts to elucidate the genetic basis of dyslexia, the heterogeneity and subtypes of dyslexia, and the developmental precursors to the disorder. This research will inform early intervention and remediation efforts and will also assist in the understanding of the normal process of reading acquisition in children.Read moreRead less
Using eye movements to study how past experiences shape expectations. We intend to examine how the brain decides where to look next with our eyes, a decision made approximately three times every second. Understanding how the normal brain makes decisions will in turn help us to understand what happens when things go wrong in diseases like dementia and Parkinson's disease, with the hope of better - and earlier - diagnosis, and improved monitoring of treatment. In addition, our research will establ ....Using eye movements to study how past experiences shape expectations. We intend to examine how the brain decides where to look next with our eyes, a decision made approximately three times every second. Understanding how the normal brain makes decisions will in turn help us to understand what happens when things go wrong in diseases like dementia and Parkinson's disease, with the hope of better - and earlier - diagnosis, and improved monitoring of treatment. In addition, our research will establish an important research link with The University of Cambridge, and allow Australia to be competitive with laboratories in North America and Europe that are currently studying how the brain makes decisions about where to look.Read moreRead less
Latent inhibition: Behavioural characteristics and neural substrates. Latent inhibition is an animal model of schizophrenia. It refers to the impairment in learned performance when a pre-exposed stimulus signals something of importance. The initial learning interferes with the subsequent learning. This effect fails to occur in schizophrenics but occurs after their treatment with antipsychotic medication. The project will provide the basis for a comprehensive theory of the processes involved in t ....Latent inhibition: Behavioural characteristics and neural substrates. Latent inhibition is an animal model of schizophrenia. It refers to the impairment in learned performance when a pre-exposed stimulus signals something of importance. The initial learning interferes with the subsequent learning. This effect fails to occur in schizophrenics but occurs after their treatment with antipsychotic medication. The project will provide the basis for a comprehensive theory of the processes involved in the effect and their neural substrates. Such a theory will clarify the processes and neural substrates disrupted in schizophrenia. Students will receive training in behavioural neuroscience, and publication of results in journals and presentations at conferences will add to the reputation of Australian science.Read moreRead less
Mobile computation in human perception and feature binding. Perception is so complex that still we cannot give computers more than a fraction of the human ability to perceive things. Experiments with humans can unravel the computations that underlie human abilities. Here we focus on distinguishing between perceptual mechanisms that analyze information from only patches of the visual world and those that combine information from across the visual field as an object moves across it. Results should ....Mobile computation in human perception and feature binding. Perception is so complex that still we cannot give computers more than a fraction of the human ability to perceive things. Experiments with humans can unravel the computations that underlie human abilities. Here we focus on distinguishing between perceptual mechanisms that analyze information from only patches of the visual world and those that combine information from across the visual field as an object moves across it. Results should also help to understand the general issue of how the brain combines information from different groups of neurons. Australian understanding of brains should be advanced, benefiting neuroscience, medicine, and eventually computer science.Read moreRead less
Intracortical inhibition evaluated by paired-pulse TMS during choice and simple reaction time tasks. The research will investigate the neurophysiological processes responsible for the selection and initiation of movement in response to an external stimulus. Slowness in the initiation and execution of movement is a common feature of 'neurological aging', neurodegenerative disease, and brain injury. Understanding the brain mechanisms involved in response selection and movement initiation will pro ....Intracortical inhibition evaluated by paired-pulse TMS during choice and simple reaction time tasks. The research will investigate the neurophysiological processes responsible for the selection and initiation of movement in response to an external stimulus. Slowness in the initiation and execution of movement is a common feature of 'neurological aging', neurodegenerative disease, and brain injury. Understanding the brain mechanisms involved in response selection and movement initiation will provide information for the development of specific intervention techniques to improve motor function in these groups.Read moreRead less
Neural mechanisms underlying interlateral transfer of ballistic motor skill. This project seeks to discover why practicing a task with one limb can improve performance with the corresponding limb (which does no physical work) on the opposite side of the body. Identifying the changes in the brain that cause acquisition of skill without direct training is crucial to determine whether the effect might be exploited to improve rehabilitation outcomes for movement disorders that chiefly affect one sid ....Neural mechanisms underlying interlateral transfer of ballistic motor skill. This project seeks to discover why practicing a task with one limb can improve performance with the corresponding limb (which does no physical work) on the opposite side of the body. Identifying the changes in the brain that cause acquisition of skill without direct training is crucial to determine whether the effect might be exploited to improve rehabilitation outcomes for movement disorders that chiefly affect one side of the body (e.g. after a stroke). The research will provide basic information that might lead to new treatment approaches that help to minimize the social cost of the persistent and severe movement difficulties experienced by many patients after neurological injury.Read moreRead less