Cognitive Neuroscience

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
• Eleanor Cox Riggs Professor, Psychology and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington
• Director of Imaging Research Facility, Indiana University, Bloomington

EDUCATION:
• 1990 PhD in Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• 1985 Master of Applied Science in Physics, Swinburne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
• 1981 Bachelor of Applied Science in Biophysics/Instrumental Science, Swinburne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia

MEMBERSHIPS:
• Member of Governing Council, Organization for Human Brain Mapping 1999-2002
• Member, Organization for Human Brain Mapping 1995-present
• Member, Society for Neuroscience (USA) 1995-present
• Committee Member, Society for Medical and Biological Engineering (Victoria) 1981-1992

AWARDS:
• Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, West Virginia University 2007
• The Australian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine Boyce Worthley Prize (for significant contribution to Physical & Engineering Sciences in Medicine) 1992
• Higher Education Contribution Scheme Post Graduate Scholarship (Australian Government) 1989
• University of Melbourne Special Post Graduate Studentship (Neurology Fund) 1985-1989
• Commonwealth Government Post Graduate Research Award (Australian Government) 1982-1984

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
My research program focuses on the neural basis of social cognition – the ability to interpret the actions, intentions and emotions of others. Non-verbal communication is a main theme in the laboratory, as is the context in which the action is presented in. We are developing activation tasks that attempt to mimic real-life situations as closely as possible. Our experiments use combinations of different techniques including behavior, functional MRI, event-related potentials, eye tracking and transcranial magnetic stimulation.