Shaping beautiful minds: Research, illusions and the brain

This talk will focus on my work with local Scouting and Girlguiding groups as a way of conducting psychological research with young people, while simultaneous encouraging their interest in science, and educating them on how our brains work, how we understand the word around us, and what happens to our brains when they go wrong. Additionally, I will introduce my research I have conducted with young people which aims to understand behavioural and cognitive aspects of development, such as prosocial behaviour and mathematical cognition. 

Our minds do a fantastic job of helping us make sense of the world and perception is both a masterpiece and mystery. In this talk, we will explore how illusions and hallucinations reveal the fascinating way our brains interpret reality. Through some interactive demonstrations, I hope to show you that the fabric of perception is quite delicate and can be both remarkable and deceptive which would offer some insights into the brain's complex processes. We'll conclude with discussing some real-world importance of research in this field, like reducing the effects of cortical hyperexcitability in pattern glare. By the end of this presentation, we will appreciate the mind's complexity and the role perception plays in shaping our experiences.

Inside our brains, there are hidden maps of our bodies – from our heads and shoulders to our knees and toes (knees and toes, knees and toes…). However, these body parts are not to scale and of all different shapes and sizes based on how much we use them, how sensitive they are and the delicate balance of brain excitation and inhibition. But what happens to these maps when this balance is disrupted? How do these maps differ between people who use different muscles and body parts more than others? In this talk, we’ll explore two powerful tools—functional MRI and non-invasive brain stimulation—that help us uncover these maps and reveal how they may differ in people with movement disorders.