Annalisa Setti
Dr. Annalisa Setti (Principal Investigator)
My interest is improving the way our brain integrates information from the senses (multisensory perception) and utilizes it to improve cognitive function in ageing and across the lifespan. I come from a background in Embodied and Grounded Cognition, whereby cognitive and functional abilities considered as determined in interaction with the environment. For this purpose I study how physical activity, environmental circumstances, and lived environment modulate multisensory function and cognition. These include the benefits of nature and the outdoors. I also study how individual differences, for e.g. high sensory processing sensitivity, co-determine how we function in the world. I am Principal Investigator and co-PI in projects funded by the Irish Research Council, the Health Research Board, and I was recently awarded a New Foundation IRC award to study Highly Sensitive Person in the context of nature connectedness and sustainable behaviours. I am PI of a Living Labs Green Campus funded project on Virtual Reality and Exam Anxiety and co-Investigator in a Science Foundation Ireland citizen science project on utilising technology to improve nature contact and knowledge of seasonality. I collaborate with Cork-Healthy Cities to make sure that my research has an applied impact.
My work has contributed in showing that basic multisensory perception deteriorates with ageing and is associated with falling, with maintaining balance and it is linked to the ability to discriminate the temporal sequence of inputs across the senses. I am interested in exploring whether and how older adults and in particular those with mobility issues can improve their temporal discrimination abilities by cross-modal perceptual training, especially in real-life settings.
With my colleagues, I am currently exploring ways to train multisensory perception in daily life settings, outside the lab. We have shown that older adults can improve their multisensory perception through physical exercise. Therefore, exercise may represent a way to train cross-modal perception in a measurable way outside the lab. Lifestyle, such as exercise habits, as well as the lived environment can be a form of measurable brain training.
Thank to my collaboration with The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, the multisensory assessment used in our experimental studies is now available on over 4000 aged 50+, allowing to assess the impact of multisensory perception deficits at population level.
Email: a.setti[AT]ucc.ie
Jason Chan
Dr. Jason S. Chan (Principal Investigator)
My research focus is multisensory integration (MSI). Multisensory perception is an important field of research because it gives us insight into how we truly perceive the world around us. MSI can be an important biomarker for the functional connectivity underlying many neurological diseases (e.g., healthy older adults, older adults with mild cognitive impairment, and people with autism spectrum disorder). I have used perceptual training techniques, coupled with magnetoencephalography (MEG) to explore how perceptual and cognitive training affect cortical connectivity.
Email: jason.chan[AT]ucc.ie
Lab Members
Prof. Alessia Tessari
My research interests mainly focus on motor learning, planning and execution of the action, the representation of the body (both cognitively and neurally in healthy individuals with brain damage), tool use and the effects of sport on cognitive skills. In particular, I am interested in investigating the effects of different types of physical activity (e.g., open vs. closed skill sports) on multiple cognitive processes in adults (both young and old adults) and children, and developing possible physical training for maintaining cognitive skills in the healthy elderly and slowing down cognitive decline in individuals with MCI (mild cognitive impairment). At last, I investigate the link between intelligence and various cognitive processes, from the basic ones (e.g., multisensory integration) to more complex ones (e.g., reasoning and decision-making), in both adult individuals and in children.
Key interests: My research interests are focused around how negative perceptions of ageing influence the ageing process in older adults. I am looking at this process from both a social and cognitive perspective and developing interventions aimed at helping people age better. As well as this I have an interest in a wide range of psychological topics such as evolutionary psychology, biological psychology, and data analysis.
Email: feargus.fawsitt[AT]ucc.ie
Hongru Song (PhD student)
Key interests: My research focuses on emotion regulation. My research project explores the cultural difference in emotion regulation and the physiological mechanisms behind it. I am looking at how emotion regulation strategies improve physical and mental health, from a cross-cultural perspective. I am especially interested in the brain mechanisms associated with emotion regulation using EEG, and how it may be regulated by cultural influences.
Dr, Eva McMullan (Lecturer, UCC School of Music)
Key Interests: Musical training for children with Down Syndrome
Alumni
Dr. Marica Cassarino (former PhD student)
My research interests are in understanding how the lived environment can support health and well-being over the lifespan. My approach integrates elements of Environmental Psychology, Gerontology and the Cognitive Sciences. In my research, I investigate how our physical and social contexts influence ageing processes based on the person’s strengths and needs. I have conducted studies looking at the impact of the built environment on cognitive health in ageing; the cognitive restorative effects of nature both in older and younger groups; the optimisation of health service delivery to improve health outcomes in older adults.
Email: mcassarino[AT]ucc.ie
Dr. Eimer Cadogan (former D. Clin)
Key Interests: Sensory processing sensitivity and its relationship to depression and the mitigating role of nature.
Key interests: My research interests are focused on using exercise as a form of ‘brain training’. My research project explores how older adults’ cognitive functioning can be improved through exercise. I’m especially interested in using exercise to train cognitive functions which are important for everyday life but prone to age-related decline: working memory, attention, creativity, multisensory perception. I’m also interested in exploring this exercise-cognition link during development (in children).