My research investigates the roles that sensory systems play in motor coordination, learning, and recovering mobility. 

My research has applications in overcoming movement challenges, such as using rhythmic sounds to help walking for people with Parkinson’s disease, or developing sound-based guides for people with visual impairments. I am also interested in motor control and learning, and the processes that underpin these, across a range of skill domains, particularly music.

By incorporating different types of neural signals into brain-controlled computer games, I train human participants to modify specific aspects of their neurophysiological function. 

This methodology allows me to pursue three related lines of research; Firstly, I use neurofeedback as a scientific method to experimentally isolate and manipulate neural processes to investigate the neurophysiological basis of human behaviours (eg. sleep, motor learning, motor imagery, inhibitory control). Secondly, as my work often involves the use of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), I perform research to advance the current state of the art in BCI methodology. This involves devising novel approaches to BCI, as well as optimising existing technologies to improve clinical and scientific utility. Finally, the BCIs that I use offer opportunities for designing personalised interventions to improve human performance or reduce dysfunction by tuning patterns of neural activity towards an optimal pattern. One theme of my research involves promoting neural plasticity in the damaged motor system, and I am currently leading an investigation testing a novel neurofeedback protocol using TMS to accelerate recovery of upper limb sensorimotor function in stroke patients.

Eye-hand Coordination

My research focuses on the neural basis of, and computational mechanisms underlying, our ability to move (body parts) to stationary objects (such as picking up a cup of coffee) and moving objects (such as catching, hitting, and kicking). 

Using a range of tools, I study these topics both at a fundamental level (e.g., how sensory information is transformed by the brain into adequate motor commands) as well as at the applied level (e.g., understanding and subsequently improving performance in sports or designing human-robot interactions to capitalize on established neural and behavioural principles reflecting human preferences).

Posture, Gait and Ageing

I am an expert in sensorimotor neuroscience with a focus on posture and gait control. In my group we investigate the way sensory information (visual, vestibular and proprioceptive) and cognitive resources are used to control movement in healthy, neurotypical, atypical and clinical populations including young and older adults, autistic adults and people living with Parkinson's. 

The methods we use include posturography (Neurocom, AMTI), motion capture (Qualisys and xsens), brain stimulation (TMS, tDCS) and neuroimaging (fNIRS, Artinis Oxymon). Since 2023 I co-lead Parkinsons@NI, an inter-disciplinary evidence-led research hub on Parkinson’s research, the first of its kind in the island of Ireland.

My research concerns human brain plasticity, with a focus upon changes that occur across the lifespan. It is geared towards the development of methods to maintain and restore cognitive and movement function in later life. 

Much of my current clinical and pre-clinical research has a specific emphasis upon the rehabilitation of upper limb function in stroke survivors, including the development and therapeutic evaluation of assistive devices. I am also involved in the generation of diagnostic biomarkers for motor neurone disease. A particular interest is the neural basis of individual differences in the preservation of cognitive and motor function in older people.

I am interested in how we can harness neural plasticity to improve outcomes in a range of different health conditions. My current research focus is on the use of brain-computer interfaces in motor rehabilitation following stroke, with a particular emphasis on making these tools accessible to people in their homes in the form of user-friendly, portable devices. I also have ongoing international collaborations on the use of non-invasive brain stimulation in depression, neural markers of inhibitory control in balance, and the neural correlates of perceptual decisions. My primary research tools include EEG, EMG and non-invasive brain stimulation.