Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

Attention control and specifically distractor suppression is a fundamental process that is called upon in a variety of scenarios. In fact, different scenarios might also depend on our inherent ‘inability’ to suppress distractors (imagine crossing the road while focusing on your phone…). However, our ability to efficiently suppress irrelevant information is affected by a number of factors such as brain trauma (or brain health more generaly), expression of specific traits such as Autism or Psychosis tendencies or in neurodevelopmental disorder (e.g., ADHD). The work in the lab utilises a variety of methodologies including brain stimulation (TMS/ tDCS) and brain imaging (fMRI) together with behavioural investigations and follows a three-thronged approach in order to better understand atypical attention control:
1. Specify the cognitive processes involved in attention control and distractor suppression, and assess how they are modulated by individual differences and how they relate to more complex behaviour
2. Identify the brain mechanisms that underlie these capacities and understand how they are modulated by individual differences
3. Attempt to manipulate attention processes either by applying cognitive training or brain stimulation as means for rehabilitation/modulation of atypical attention