Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience - People

The network brings together people with expertise in several fields from the School of Psychology, the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, the Peninsula Medical School and the School of Physics.

Professor Chris Code (Psychology) is a specialist in language and speech impairments and apraxia following brain injury; he also conducts brain imaging studies of mental calculation. Professor Code is the editor of the journal Aphasiology.

Dr Catherine Haslam (Psychology) is a clinical and cognitive psychologist, whose expertise is in memory and language disorders associated with neurological damage. She is the co-director of the Centre for Clinical Neuropsychology Research.

Dr Tim Hodgson (Psychology) is an expert on the frontal lobe and its role in control of behaviour; he employs the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and eye-tracking techniques. Dr Hodgson is the director of the Eye-tracking laboratory.

Dr Jacob Jolij (Psychology) is a cognitive neuroscientist studying the role of conscious perception in cognitive control and the neural basis of visual awareness. He uses techniques like psychophysics, EEG, and fMRI, but specializes in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). He is the director of the recently established TMS laboratory.

Professor Janice Kay (Psychology) is a specialist in the neuropsychology of language and memory, she is also involved in functional MRI studies of face perception.

Dr Aureliu Lavric's (Psychology) expertise is in the use of Electroencephalography (EEG) and brain Event-Related Potentials to study cognition; he is the director of the Cognitive Neurophysiology (EEG) laboratory.

Professor Stephen Monsell's (Psychology) areas of expertise include attention, control and working memory, as well as psycholinguistics. He leads the Cognitive Psychology research group in the School of Psychology.

Dr Huw Williams (Psychology) is a specialist in the effects of head trauma and neuro-rehabilitation; he co-directs the Centre for Clinical Neuropsychology Research.

Professor Andy Wills' (Psychology) research expertise is in the psychology of associative learning and categorization, which he studies using a range of methodologies, including EEG-ERP (with Aureliu Lavric), computational modelling, behavioural testing of adult humans (with various collaborators), and neuropsychological case studies (with Catherine Haslam).

The psychologists involved in the network have a solid track record of obtaining research funding: ESRC (Haslam, Hodgson, Kay, Monsell), BBSRC (Wills), Welcome Trust (Hodgson), DAART charity (Hodgson, Williams), British Academy (Lavric), Northcott Devon Medical Foundation (Haslam), European Commission (Wills). There are also links with technology companies (Dr Wills with Merlin Systems and Dr Lavric with BrainProducts).

Professor Peter Ashwin's (Mathematics) expertise is in non-linear dynamical systems. In particular, his interests include applications of coupled oscillator to neural computing- his work n this area has been funded by EPSRC. Professor Ashwin is the co-editor of the journal Dynamical Systems and the Exeter contact for a Leverhulme-funded network on Theoretical Neuroscience.

Dr Richard Everson's (Computer Science) expertise is in pattern recognition, machine learning and probabilistic modelling. He developed new methods for analysing optical imaging data and novel applications of Independent Component Analysis. Dr Everson’s research has been funded by EPSRC and has close ties with industry partners (Motorola, National Air Traffic Safety).

Professor Adam Zeman (Peninsula Medical School) is a neurologist who has extensively published on the topics of brain correlates of consciousness, amnesia in temporal lobe epilepsy and the role of cerebellum in higher order cognition. Professor Zeman’s research has been funded by ESRC, Patrick Berthoud Foundation, The Health Foundation and the Scottish Executive; his commercial partners include Microsoft. Prof Zeman has established at Exeter the Cognitive Disorders Clinic, a joint NHS and School of Psychology initiative.

Dr Ian Summers (Physics) is an expert in structural and functional MRI. He leads the Peninsula Magnetic Resonance Research Centre and has a record of holding large research grants (EPSRC).