Research Techniques

At Clinical Brain Lab, we combine neuroimaging, electrophysiology, optical imaging, neuromodulation, and physiological measures to study how brain systems support cognition, learning, ageing, emotion, and social behaviour.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) lets us measure brain structure and function non-invasively. In the lab, MRI-based methods help us study individual differences in brain anatomy, task-related activation, functional connectivity, white-matter pathways, and neurochemical markers.

• Structural MRI uses anatomical scans such as T1- and T2-weighted images to characterize brain anatomy, cortical and subcortical structure, and individual variation relevant to development, ageing, and clinical populations.
• Functional MRI (fMRI) measures blood-oxygen-level-dependent activity while participants perform cognitive, affective, learning, or social tasks.
• Diffusion MRI uses diffusion-weighted approaches, including diffusion tensor imaging, to estimate white-matter organization and connectivity between brain regions.
• Resting-state fMRI examines spontaneous functional connectivity when participants are not performing an explicit task.
• Magnetic resonance spectroscopy can estimate neurochemical signals in selected brain regions.

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Electroencephalography (EEG) records electrical activity from the scalp with high temporal resolution, allowing the lab to study fast changes in attention, cognition, emotion, and learning.

• Spectral and time-frequency analyses decompose EEG signals into power spectra or time-frequency representations. These analyses are often summarized in EEG frequency bands such as delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma to examine oscillatory activity linked to cognitive and affective processes.
• Event-related potentials (ERP) average time-locked EEG responses to stimuli or actions, providing millisecond-level markers of perception, attention, language, memory, and decision processes.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) measures magnetic fields generated by neural activity. Like EEG, MEG offers high temporal resolution and can be used to study fast brain dynamics, oscillatory activity, functional connectivity, and event-related responses, with complementary spatial sensitivity to electrophysiological signals.

Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measures changes in oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin from the scalp. It is useful for studying cortical responses in naturalistic, child-friendly, and interaction-rich settings.

fNIRS hyperscanning records from two or more people at the same time, supporting studies of social interaction, communication, coordination, and learning in dyads or groups.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) uses magnetic pulses to stimulate cortical tissue non-invasively. In the lab, TMS can be used to probe brain-behaviour relationships, cortical excitability, and neuroplasticity.

• Repetitive TMS (rTMS) uses repeated pulse trains to modulate activity in targeted networks across a session.
• Theta burst stimulation uses patterned bursts of stimulation to induce short-term changes in cortical excitability.
• Paired-pulse TMS uses paired magnetic pulses to probe intracortical inhibition, facilitation, and plasticity-related mechanisms.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) applies weak direct current through scalp electrodes to modulate cortical excitability. The lab uses tDCS to study pathway-specific modulation, reading and language networks, and individualized stimulation approaches.

The lab has also developed analysis tools for tDCS modeling. SATA supports systematic analysis of simulated tDCS montages, and i-SATA extends this approach to individual head models for estimating current density generated by tDCS.

Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability

Heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) provide physiological indices of autonomic regulation. In lab studies, HR and HRV can complement brain and behavioural measures in work on emotion, stress, cognition, ageing, and individual differences. The lab uses NeuroKit2 for neurophysiological signal processing, including workflows for electrocardiogram-derived heart rate and HRV measures.