WIN Neuroplastics network
Neuroplastics is a collaborative network of three research groups at WIN with a shared interest in brain plasticity. We study how the brain changes when we learn, as we get older, or when we recover from damage such as stroke. We use brain imaging to monitor brain change and we aim to develop new approaches to facilitate learning, recovery and healthy ageing.
The Neuroplastics network consists of:
Our brains adapt whenever we learn a new skill, such as juggling. Our brains also adapt as we get older, or following damage such as stroke. Changes in our lifestyle, like taking up exercise, can also affect our brains. Understanding how the brain adapts to change can help us to design new rehabilitation treatments, to promote healthy ageing, or to enhance learning.
Headed by Dr Charlotte Stagg
Our group uses multimodal approaches to understand physiological changes in the brain, both in the context of learning of novel motor skills and in a range of neurological conditions. To do this we use MR Spectroscopy, MR Imaging, Magnetoencephaolography (MEG) and Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation. Ultimately we hope to understand more about how the brain adapts to new challenges, so that we can develop new adjunctive therapies for recovery.
Headed by Dr Jacinta O'Shea
We aim to understand processes of selective attention and action, learning and memory in the human brain. Through experiments in healthy volunteers and patients with brain disorders we seek to characterize how information processing networks respond (adaptively or maladaptively) when challenged by interference. Our motivation is to develop rational neurocognitive intervention strategies to help promote recovery from conditions such as depression and brain injury..