Coping with brain dysfunction & computers for creativity

Creativity is not just for the geniuses amongst us, but is something we use in our everyday lives - even while I write this I am being creative! We are not necessarily all creative in 'obvious ways' such as being renowned painters or solving big problems, but we use creativity in everyday tasks such as having conversations or conducting life in snowy conditions :)

But what is creativity? I look at the science behind this question, using computer models to study our creativity. We’ll also briefly look at (shock horror) computer programs that do things that could appear to be creative...

Aphasia is impaired speech and language following stroke or brain injury. I am looking at the effect of electrical brain stimulation combined with language therapy, designed to improve sentence comprehension and hence quality of life. This talk will offer you an insight into the neuropsychology of language, what happens when it ‘goes wrong’ and how brain stimulation is impacting the existing literature in this field. “Tickling the brain” has shown promising results in this area and others, and you may even have the opportunity to have your own brain stimulated!

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurological condition that causes significant motor and cognitive deficits. My research focuses on the role that exercise has on slowing down the functional deterioration associated with PD and the underlying biological mechanisms that might cause these effects. A multi-modal exercise class is used to stimulate both physical and mental faculties in an attempt to improve functional capacity and slow down the rate of decline due to the disease. More recently, the research assessed cognitive function and measured the levels of different biomolecules.