Funded PhD Studentship in Cognitive Neuroscience

This PhD will be jointly supervised by Meadhbh Brosnan at the Cognitive & Translational Neuroscience Science UCD lab

in the School of Psychology and Simon Kelly at the Cognitive Neural Systems lab in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Project Summary: Project Summary: The project will explore the mechanisms by which environmental factors alter brain function to support resilience to cognitive decline in ageing. Enriched environments (EE) including cognitive, social, and leisure activities increase resilience to cognitive decline in both healthy ageing and dementia. While increasing evidence suggests that EE alter the structure of the brain, the mechanisms by which brain function is altered through EE is unclear. This project will identify neurophysiological markers (using EEG/MEG) that change with exposure to enrichment. The overarching goal of this work is to understand the impact of environmental factors on brain plasticity. This in turn will inform novel approaches to manipulate brain function and increase resilience to dementia.

Prospective Candidate: The PhD candidate is expected to be self-motivated and will lead the design, implementation, analysis and write up of new cognitive neuroscience experiments at UCD using a range of complementary techniques including electroencephalography (EEG), pupillometry, and neurocognitive testing. In addition, the candidate will investigate neurophysiological signatures of plasticity and cognitive resilience in existing EEG/magnetoencephalography (MEG) datasets. The candidate will attend regular lab meetings, collaborate with colleagues locally and internationally, learn about a diverse range of cognitive neuroscience methodologies, and can attend yearly international conference meetings.

Read more & apply here: https://www.ucd.ie/psychology/newsevents/fundedphdincognitiveneuroscience/