The human nervous system is no longer thought of has hard-wired, and is in fact capable of rapid change throughout life. This plasticity is important for learning, memory and recovery from brain injury. I am interested in using emerging brain stimulation and imaging techniques to "artificially" induce plasticity in the human brain, to ultimately improve the treatment outcomes for various neurological conditions, particularly stroke. These stimulation techniques include transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).
His doctoral studies focussed on a new and exciting area of neuroscience – neuroplasticity. He was interested in trying to understand why some people responded to these stimulation paradigms, and others didn't. What he discovered was that it an important driver of plasticity in humans was when the stimulation was delivered. In effect, the brain seemed to learn better at night time compared to the morning. This has important clinical implications, as it suggests that rehabilitation might be more effective at a certain time of day.
He is using state-of-the-art stimulation and imaging techniques such as TMS, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) to understand how the brain reorganises when it stores information, and how we can boost this process.
He is currently an Associate Professor within the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at UQ. I head my own brain stimulation and imaging laboratory, and he is conducting experiments in the following areas:
investigating the link between brain oscillations, sleep, plasticity and ageing;
improving hazard perception with brain sitmulation;
identifying factors that improve neuroplasticity induction in health and disease.