Psychological strategies for maximum health and enjoyment during moderate intensity and vigorous physical exercise. This project will change the way people think during physical exercise. It will show adults of all ages and levels of experience how to get more out of moderate intensity and vigorous exercise by reducing perceived effort and making it more enjoyable.
Left to right is front to back: attentional distortions in near and far space for healthy and clinical populations. We are investigating a perceptual bias that makes people think objects right in front of them are actually slightly to the right but objects far away are slightly to the left. This project will help understand why this happens, to help reduce traffic collisions and help people with brain damage that causes similar perceptual biases.
Attentional asymmetries for navigation in healthy and clinical groups. This project plans to investigate how differences in attentional capacity between the left and right sides of the brain affect the ability to walk or manoeuvre vehicles between obstacles. To navigate our environment and avoid obstacles, we need to attend to stimuli that are important and ignore those that are not. Unfortunately, the brain’s attentional capacity is limited, which can result in errors and collisions. Using the ....Attentional asymmetries for navigation in healthy and clinical groups. This project plans to investigate how differences in attentional capacity between the left and right sides of the brain affect the ability to walk or manoeuvre vehicles between obstacles. To navigate our environment and avoid obstacles, we need to attend to stimuli that are important and ignore those that are not. Unfortunately, the brain’s attentional capacity is limited, which can result in errors and collisions. Using the techniques of cognitive neuroscience, the project aims to provide a better understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms that govern attention in an applied setting. It expects to identify the factors that exacerbate lapses in attention and collisions. The effect of everyday impediments such as mobile phones, alcohol and fatigue will be investigated together with means of minimising these attentional lapses and improving safety.Read moreRead less
Close to me: the effect of distractors on spatial attention in healthy and clinical populations. To function well, we need to pay attention to what is important. This project investigates how the brain responds to distractors, such as a person or object that is close by. This knowledge will help with the treatment of people with attentional disorders and will assist the design of human/machine interfaces, such as cars and security screening.
Western-style diet and impairments in food-intake control in humans. Animals fed a Western-style (W-S) diet high in saturated fat and added sugar rapidly develop cognitive impairments, which include disrupted food-intake control. This project aims to see if this also occurs in lean healthy people who eat a W-S diet. That is, are W-S diets associated with impaired cognition, and especially food-intake control, in adults and children, and is this caused by a W-S diet? Obesity is a major public hea ....Western-style diet and impairments in food-intake control in humans. Animals fed a Western-style (W-S) diet high in saturated fat and added sugar rapidly develop cognitive impairments, which include disrupted food-intake control. This project aims to see if this also occurs in lean healthy people who eat a W-S diet. That is, are W-S diets associated with impaired cognition, and especially food-intake control, in adults and children, and is this caused by a W-S diet? Obesity is a major public health issue and the significance of this project lies in testing a new account of how overeating may first occur. The expected outcome aims to show that a W-S diet can disrupt various aspects of cognition in adults and children, including food-intake control, providing an entirely new basis to argue for a better diet.Read moreRead less
Should we go halves? The impact of split work-rest schedules on sleep and cognitive performance. The purpose of this project is to determine whether it is better to have one long sleep or two shorter sleeps each day. The results of the project will inform the development of work schedules for industries and/or situations where it may be appropriate to work more than one shift per day (such as fly-in fly-out, emergency response).
I sleep, therefore I can: Using sleep strategically to cope with night work. The aim of the project is to identify sleep strategies that shiftworkers can use to minimise cognitive impairment during night shifts. More than one million Australians regularly work at night. In the second half of night shifts, the combination of sleep loss, extended wake, and time of day causes a level of cognitive impairment similar to that associated with a blood alcohol concentration of .05 per cent. The project a ....I sleep, therefore I can: Using sleep strategically to cope with night work. The aim of the project is to identify sleep strategies that shiftworkers can use to minimise cognitive impairment during night shifts. More than one million Australians regularly work at night. In the second half of night shifts, the combination of sleep loss, extended wake, and time of day causes a level of cognitive impairment similar to that associated with a blood alcohol concentration of .05 per cent. The project aims to investigate whether the timing of daytime sleep episodes between consecutive night shifts can be manipulated to increase the duration of sleep and/or reduce the length of wake prior to work. The strategies could then be translated into policy and practice to reduce the economic and social costs associated with night work.Read moreRead less
Chronic pain and functional impairment following traumatic injury: an investigation into the impact of compensation status and experience. This project will enhance understanding of the impact of the psychosocial factors and the compensation process on recovery from traumatic injury. The project will generate new resources (screening and referral guidelines; educational materials) to improve decision making consistency, client experience, and recovery from road trauma.