School of Psychology

Main Current Projects

1. Attention and Awareness

Current team members: Alice Varnava, Leah Maizey, Chris Allen, Emma Cheetham

Our sensory environment contains a vast quantity of information, only a fraction of which can guide behaviour. Brain mechanisms of attention are crucial for enhancing the processing of stimuli that are behaviourally relevant and for minimising distraction. Within the field of attention, our research focuses on the use of TMS and fMRI (including multivoxel pattern analysis methods) to understand the cognitive neuroscience of attentional control, within and between the sensory modalities of vision and touch. In particular, we are aiming to answer the following questions:

• How do regions in the frontal and parietal cortex modulate competitive interactions between stimuli in the visual cortex?
• Do the same mechanisms of top-down attentional control operate within and between sensory modalities? Is there a ‘supramodal’ attention system?
• Do different regions of the parietal (e.g. IPL, SPL) and frontal cortex (e.g. FEF) exhibit functional specificity for different aspects of attention?
• Which visual pathways and mechanisms are crucial for conscious awareness?
• Do cortical feedback mechanisms transfer information from the peripheral visual cortex to central (foveal) visual cortex?
• What is the relative contribution of the retinotectal and geniculostriate pathways to visual selection?
• Are frontal and parietal regions that are crucial for spatial attention also critical for mental representations of numbers?
• Is the top-down selection of spatial and feature-based visual information controlled by a single global mechanism or by a series of coordinated sub-systems?
• What is the genotypic basis of selective attention in humans?

Current collaborations in attention/awareness:
Dr Sven Bestmann (University College London)
Dr Mark Bellgrove (University of Queensland)
Dr Elena Rusconi (University of Trento)
Dr Christian Ruff (University of Zurich)
Dr Petroc Sumner (Cardiff University)
Dr Mark Williams (Macquarie University)

2. Cognitive Control

Current team members: Frederick Verbruggen, Rachel Adams and Emma Smith

Neural mechanisms of cognitive control enable us to coordinate, execute, and update behaviour. The prefrontal cortex has long been associated with cognitive control but the architecture of the prefrontal system is one of the great unsolved mysteries in cognitive neuroscience. Within the broad field of cognitive control (or ‘executive functions’), our research focuses on understanding the neural basis of response inhibition, response selection, and the link between inhibition and risk-taking (including gambling), principally through the application of TMS. Specifically we aim to address the following questions:

• How do prefrontal and parietal cortex support cognitive control in the human brain?
• How do neural mechanisms of response inhibition interact with functionally related processes, such as response selection, attention, working memory, and risk-taking behaviour?
• Do regions of prefrontal cortex that control motor execution (such as the frontal eye field) also mediate perceptual decision-making?
• How do neural mechanisms of cognitive control and emotional regulation interact with one another?
• What is the balance between specialisation and adaptive coding in the human prefrontal cortex?

Current collaborations in cognitive control:
Dr Adam Aron (University of California, San Diego)
Dr Mark Bellgrove (University of Queensland)
Dr Xavier Caseras (Cardiff University)
Dr Natalia Lawrence (Cardiff University)
Dr Frederick Verbruggen (University of Exeter)

3. Concurrent TMS, MRI, and EEG

Current team members:  Emma Cheetham, Charles Hounsell

The combination of TMS and neuroimaging (MRI, EEG) provides a unique window on human brain function, with broad applications and implications across the cognitive and clinicial neurosciences. By applying TMS within the MRI scanner, we can directly observe the physiological consequences of stimulation both locally (at the site of stimulation) and in remote interconnected brain regions. The integration of TMS and different imaging techniques also holds great promise for revealing the mechanism by which TMS influences neurophysiology and neurovascular coupling.

We have recently established concurrent TMS-MRI at CUBRIC via the Academic Expertise for Business (A4B) grant programme, an initiative of the Welsh Assembly Government that funds links between academia and industry in Wales. Our industrial partners on this project are Welsh neuromedical companies Magstim and Dymed.

Current collaborations in TMS-MRI:
Dr Sven Bestmann (University College London)
Dr John Evans (Cardiff University)
Prof. Derek Jones (Cardiff University)
Prof. Krish Singh (Cardiff University)
Prof. Richard Wise (Cardiff University)
Industry: Robin Davies (Magstim) and Mike Polson (Dymed)

4. TMS Methods

The application of TMS in cognitive neuroscience carries a variety of technical and interpretative challenges. As a ‘neurodisruption’ method, one critical issue is the control of TMS intensity. What strength of TMS is sufficient to yield effective (but not excessive) stimulation of cortical tissue? We have found that the extent of cortical activity during TMS is steeply related to the distance between the scalp and cortex. Even a difference of 1mm in the scalp-cortex distance between different sites can have a measurable and reliable effect on TMS-evoked behaviour. We have therefore developed a linear scaling method for calibrating the intensity of TMS according to scalp-cortex distance, thus enabling more precise and comparable stimulation of different regions. We are also developing a new type of brain atlas for TMS that maps regional variation in scalp-cortex distance over a large sample of subjects.

Current collaborations in TMS methods:
Dr Mark Stokes (University of Oxford)

Funding

Current Major Grants

Chambers, C.D. & Verbruggen, F.L.J. BBSRC Project Grant (U.K.), ‘Neural dynamics of response inhibition and gambling across the lifespan’, 2013-2016 (£882,321)

Verbruggen F.L.J, Chambers, C.D., Lavric, A. & McLaren, I. Economic and Social Research Council (U.K.) ‘Do executive motor-control mechanisms regulate monetary choice and gambling?’, 2012-2015 (£546,626)

Bellgrove, M.A., Hester, R., Chambers, C.D., Garavan, H. & Hawi, Z. National Health and Medical Research Council project grant (Australia) ‘Genetic and physiological mechanisms of executive control’, 2011-2014 ($541,048)

Previous Major Grants

Chambers, C.D., Singh, K., Wise, R., Jones, D., Jiles, D, & Bestmann, S. Academic Expertise For Business grant (Welsh Assembly) ‘The integrated brain imaging and stimulation project (IBIS)’, 2010-2013 (£349,885)

Chambers, C.D. BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship (U.K.), ‘Investigating the neural basis of selective attention in the human brain: A combined neurodisruption and neuroimaging study, 2006-2011 (£421,754)

Chambers, C.D. & Driver, J. BBSRC Project Grant (U.K.), ‘Multisensory dynamics of selective attention in the human brain: A combined neurodisruption and neuroimaging project’, 2007-2011 (£403,884)

Bellgrove, M.A. & Chambers, C.D. ARC Project Grant (Australia), 'The cognitive neuroscience of executive control: behavioural, physiological and genetic mechanisms’, 2007-2010 ($319,000)

Previous Minor Grants

Varnava, A., & Chambers, C.D. Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Project Grant (U.K.). ‘The predictive nature of pseudoneglect for simulated visual neglect following unilateral parietal disruption using theta burst stimulation (TBS)’, 2009-2011 (£16,216)

Zhang, W., Klemen, J. & Chambers, C.D. Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Project Grant (U.K.). ‘The effect of crossmodal attentional load on sensory processing and the control of attentional resources’, 2009-2011 (£4,500)

Kurniawan, V., Klemen, J. & Chambers, C.D. Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Project Grant (U.K.). ‘Multisensory spatial and feature-based attention’, 2009-2011 (£4,500)

Allen, C. & Chambers, C.D. Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Project Grant (U.K.). ‘Probing the neural basis of visual awareness using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)’, 2009-2011 (£5,625)

Klemen, J., Jones, D., Menz, M. & Chambers, C.D. Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Project Grant (U.K.). ‘Establishing anatomical connectivity of multisensory perception and attentional control using diffusion tensor imaging’, 2009-2011 (£3,750)

Klemen, J. & Chambers, C.D. Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Project Grant (U.K.), ‘Top-down control of crossmodal attention and its effects on sensory processing’, 2008-2011 (£15,000)

Research Group

The TMS group is made up of staff and students from a wide range of backgrounds, including physics, neuroscience, and experimental psychology.

Lab head: 
Dr Chris Chambers

Postdoctoral Research Fellows:
Chris Allen

Visiting Research Fellows:
Dr Alice Varnava

Honourary Research Fellows:
Dr Frederick Verbruggen

Research Assistants:
Sinead Morrison

Graduate Students:
Rachel Adams, PhD
Emma Cheetham, PhD
Charles Hounsell, PhD
Leah Maizey

Current Undergraduate Students:
Charlotte Olding
Aimee McKinnon
Katie Palmer

Interns:
TBA

Alumni:
Dr Andreas Bungert
Dr Jane Klemen
Veldri Kurniawan
Marcel Meyer