Other (human) PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships

Supervisors: Prof R Rowe, Dr CB Stride

Antisocial behaviour is a very wide-ranging term including fighting, stealing, and temper tantrums among many other things. It may not make sense to consider these behaviours as a single construct but to identify meaningful subsets that may have different causes, outcomes and respond well to different treatments. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Using pharmacological agents to investigate the mechanisms of the neuronal vascular coupling

The changes in cerebral blood flow, volume and oxygenation that accompany increases in neural activity form the basis of non-invasive neuroimaging techniques such as blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) which allow human brain mapping. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Understanding neurovascular coupling and its importance in the interpretation of modern neuroimaging techniques

During the past two decades, blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become the scientific technique of choice for investigating human brain function in the field of cognitive neuroscience. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

The breakdown of neurovascular coupling in the diseased state specifically Epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease

Epilepsy is the most common neurological condition in the UK, affecting 1 – 2 % of the population. Epilepsies often involve only a small area of the brain - the epileptic focus – and the abnormal activity can propagate out from there. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Simultaneous measures of brain and blood oxygenation: Revealing the function behind ‘functional’ brain mapping signals

Supervisors: Dr M Jones, Dr J Berwick

A technique called blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can determine levels of different activity in parts of the living human brain and how malfunctions can occur in disease. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Online discussion; augmenting argumentation with chatbots

Supervisor: Dr T Stafford

Argumentation - the systematic exchange of reasoning supporting or undermining an idea - enhances communication between individuals. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Identifying the neural processes underlying skilled anticipation in sport

Supervisors: Prof R Rowe, Prof E Milne

A large body of evidence indicates that skilled sports players can anticipate the actions of their opponents more accurately than novices, for example in sports such as tennis. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Computational modelling of the emergence of somatosensory cortical maps

Supervisors: Dr H Saal, Dr SP Wilson

The aim of this project is to to build a computational model of the development of cortical somatotopy in humans, focusing specifically on the representation of the hand. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Assessing the hemodynamic signal sources of fMRI based spontaneous connectivity maps and how neuronal plasticity such as increased spatial working memory can change these networks

Many psychiatric (e.g. schizophrenia) and neurological diseases are characterised by a disturbance of the connections between different parts of the brain that need to communicate with one another. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Anglia Ruskin University ARU School of Psychology and Sport Science

What can pregnancy tell us about maternal behaviour? A neurohormonal investigation

Research Group: Centre for Mind and Behaviour

Research Group. Centre for Mind and Behaviour. Proposed supervisory team. Dr Jane Aspell. Dr Flavia Cardini. Theme. Body and Self. Read more

Supervisors: Dr J Aspell, Dr F Cardini

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

University of Reading School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences

Integrating information from vision and touch in virtual reality telepresence systems

Virtual reality systems are fundamentally altering how we study human sensory perception. Similarly, to build good virtual reality systems we need a clear understanding of how the brain integrates sensory information into a robust and useful percept. Read more

Supervisor: Dr P Scarfe

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

University of Reading Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Ecology and behaviour of urban wildlife

The construction and development of urban areas is a relatively recent phenomenon. Urbanisation does, however, impose a range of advantages and disadvantages for biological organisms and which can bring them into conflict with humans. Read more

Supervisor: Dr P J Baker

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

University of Reading School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences

Music and language processing in autism and amusia

Music and language are fundamental traits of human existence. They both rely on complex sound sequences to convey meaning. It has been hotly debated whether the two are processed through distinct cognitive modules or using shared mechanisms. Read more

Supervisor: Dr F Liu

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only