Reading facial expressions from real and virtual humans. This project aims to advance understanding of human emotional communication and improve human rapport with the virtual humans and avatars that are rapidly infiltrating our social world. Using two unique stimulus sets - naturalistic human expressions and highly realistic virtual faces - together with powerful genetic, experimental, and individual differences designs, the project expects to answer previously intractable questions in emotion ....Reading facial expressions from real and virtual humans. This project aims to advance understanding of human emotional communication and improve human rapport with the virtual humans and avatars that are rapidly infiltrating our social world. Using two unique stimulus sets - naturalistic human expressions and highly realistic virtual faces - together with powerful genetic, experimental, and individual differences designs, the project expects to answer previously intractable questions in emotion science, as well as deliver tangible outcomes, such as new psychological tests to better understand human social connection. This should provide significant benefits, by improving emotion communication and offering a new perspective on how artificial intelligence can best serve human social needs.
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Minds in skilled performance: Explanatory framework and comparative study. This project aims to develop an explanatory framework to characterise states of mind necessary for skilled performance, and show how intelligence and emotion affect performance. The theoretical grounding of skilled performance is controversial. This project will use and refine core ideas from enactivist approaches to embodied cognition to address philosophical challenges that block understanding of its basis. The project ....Minds in skilled performance: Explanatory framework and comparative study. This project aims to develop an explanatory framework to characterise states of mind necessary for skilled performance, and show how intelligence and emotion affect performance. The theoretical grounding of skilled performance is controversial. This project will use and refine core ideas from enactivist approaches to embodied cognition to address philosophical challenges that block understanding of its basis. The project will draw on Phenomenology, Pragmatism and Japanese "do". clarifying and recontextualising what they have to offer to contemporary thinking about skilled performance.Read moreRead less
How satiation control reward value and cue-induced appetitive behaviours. This proposal aims to identify mechanisms that control environment-driven food-seeking behaviours. It seeks to do so by using modern virally-mediated and basic behavioural as well as histological techniques in a transgenic rat to characterise novel hindbrain circuits that control these feeding behaviours. This is significant as environment-driven overeating is problematic yet underlying mechanisms are unclear. This project ....How satiation control reward value and cue-induced appetitive behaviours. This proposal aims to identify mechanisms that control environment-driven food-seeking behaviours. It seeks to do so by using modern virally-mediated and basic behavioural as well as histological techniques in a transgenic rat to characterise novel hindbrain circuits that control these feeding behaviours. This is significant as environment-driven overeating is problematic yet underlying mechanisms are unclear. This project expects to provide new knowledge on when, where and how hindbrain neurons control environment-driven food-seeking behaviours. This should provide benefits to the advancement of knowledge on the neural mechanisms of food-seeking and provide a basic science platform for future research on the study of feeding behaviours.
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A comprehensive framework for modelling the human connectome. The human brain is an extraordinarily complex network of interconnected cells. This project aims to use mathematical modelling and brain imaging to uncover key principles of network wiring in the human brain. Using an interdisciplinary approach that combines elements of neuroscience, genetics, physics, and psychology, the project will result in a new, rigorous framework for testing competing theories of brain development, the identifi ....A comprehensive framework for modelling the human connectome. The human brain is an extraordinarily complex network of interconnected cells. This project aims to use mathematical modelling and brain imaging to uncover key principles of network wiring in the human brain. Using an interdisciplinary approach that combines elements of neuroscience, genetics, physics, and psychology, the project will result in a new, rigorous framework for testing competing theories of brain development, the identification of key wiring principles for developing brains, and an understanding of how these principles shape behaviour. This work will shed new light on the developmental processes that underlie human behaviour and disease.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101087
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$453,580.00
Summary
Impact of shift work on emergency performance, decision making and stress. Sleep and circadian disruptions due to shift work are common for emergency personnel, but their impact on team performance and decision making is poorly understood. Using an ecologically relevant simulated work environment, this project aims to examine how shift work influences work performance and team decision making and identify potential stress-related mechanisms that may underpin impairments in these outcomes. By und ....Impact of shift work on emergency performance, decision making and stress. Sleep and circadian disruptions due to shift work are common for emergency personnel, but their impact on team performance and decision making is poorly understood. Using an ecologically relevant simulated work environment, this project aims to examine how shift work influences work performance and team decision making and identify potential stress-related mechanisms that may underpin impairments in these outcomes. By understanding the role poor sleep and circadian misalignment due to shift work play on work performance, this project will inform industry practices and training approaches designed to optimise workplace safety and emergency performance. This project will benefit emergency personnel and the people who depend on these services.Read moreRead less
A role for sleep in optimising attention. All animal brains are prediction machines, which allows even tiny flies to effectively navigate complex environments. To predict what will happen next is important for guiding attention, but also for detecting anything surprising. This project aims to understand how prediction is optimized by sleep in Drosophila flies. We aim to use electrophysiology and calcium imaging to map visual prediction error signals across the fly brain, and then determine how g ....A role for sleep in optimising attention. All animal brains are prediction machines, which allows even tiny flies to effectively navigate complex environments. To predict what will happen next is important for guiding attention, but also for detecting anything surprising. This project aims to understand how prediction is optimized by sleep in Drosophila flies. We aim to use electrophysiology and calcium imaging to map visual prediction error signals across the fly brain, and then determine how genetically controlled delivery of sleep regulates the quality and distribution of these signals. This knowledge will benefit our understanding of how brains balance a capacity for prediction versus surprise, by examining how evolution has solved this difficult problem in the smallest brains.Read moreRead less
In search of relevant things: A novel approach for image analysis. This project aims to investigate how experts’ cognitive processes may be transferred to computers for the automatic recognition of visual features. By merging computer and brain sciences, the project will characterise the way the brains of experts understand what is seen, in order to translate such a process in a new computer vision tool. This should provide significant benefits, such as automatic detection of threats or diseases ....In search of relevant things: A novel approach for image analysis. This project aims to investigate how experts’ cognitive processes may be transferred to computers for the automatic recognition of visual features. By merging computer and brain sciences, the project will characterise the way the brains of experts understand what is seen, in order to translate such a process in a new computer vision tool. This should provide significant benefits, such as automatic detection of threats or diseases in satellite and diagnostic imaging, respectively, among other applications. For the first time, the combination of how a computer analyses an image and how an expert interprets it will be used as a common language to enable machines to process visual information in a manner that mimics the way human brains do.Read moreRead less
How brain oscillations influence our behaviour. This project aims to reveal how sudden, intense stimuli impair or facilitate concurrent actions. Startling sounds can disrupt the execution of movements and distract attention from vital events in the environment, with potential disastrous consequences when handling complex equipment such as airplanes, cars and trucks, or surgical instruments. This project will combine classic experimental and novel neuro-modulatory techniques with the measurement ....How brain oscillations influence our behaviour. This project aims to reveal how sudden, intense stimuli impair or facilitate concurrent actions. Startling sounds can disrupt the execution of movements and distract attention from vital events in the environment, with potential disastrous consequences when handling complex equipment such as airplanes, cars and trucks, or surgical instruments. This project will combine classic experimental and novel neuro-modulatory techniques with the measurement of oscillatory brain activity. Expect outcomes will inform theories of cognitive function and the design of interventions to reduce the negative effects of sudden, distracting events.Read moreRead less
Evaluative learning: do all roads lead to Rome? This project aims to enhance understanding of how likes and dislikes are acquired and changed across a range of different settings. Evaluative learning, the acquisition and change of likes and dislikes, is ubiquitous and occurs in situations that range from trivial to traumatic. However, it is unknown whether evaluative learning in these different situations is mediated by a single or distinct learning mechanisms. Answering this question is critica ....Evaluative learning: do all roads lead to Rome? This project aims to enhance understanding of how likes and dislikes are acquired and changed across a range of different settings. Evaluative learning, the acquisition and change of likes and dislikes, is ubiquitous and occurs in situations that range from trivial to traumatic. However, it is unknown whether evaluative learning in these different situations is mediated by a single or distinct learning mechanisms. Answering this question is critically important for emotion science and the design of effective interventions for anxiety disorders and public health campaigns. The expected outcomes from this project will provide significant benefits, such as creating new knowledge to assist in applied areas ranging from the design of public health messages to the treatment for anxiety.Read moreRead less
Stereotype threat, disengagement, and wellbeing among older employees. This project aims to identify when and how stereotype threat leads to disengagement among older workers and consequences for their wellbeing. Expected outcomes include a better understanding of the factors that predict who will experience disengagement at work, withdrawal of effort, reduced job satisfaction, and increased likelihood of quitting as a result of demeaning age-related stereotypes. The project’s results should pro ....Stereotype threat, disengagement, and wellbeing among older employees. This project aims to identify when and how stereotype threat leads to disengagement among older workers and consequences for their wellbeing. Expected outcomes include a better understanding of the factors that predict who will experience disengagement at work, withdrawal of effort, reduced job satisfaction, and increased likelihood of quitting as a result of demeaning age-related stereotypes. The project’s results should provide a clearer theoretical understanding of stereotype threat and can be used to inform strategies for enhancing engagement at work. This project should benefit and improve the working lives of older employees.Read moreRead less