Professor Joseph Galea

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

School of Psychology, University of Birmingham

Scientific Background

Research Interests

Professor Galea uses a range of techniques (behaviour, brain imaging, brain stimulation, computational modelling) to investigate motor control and learning in health and disease. At present, he is particularly interested in reward-based motor learning and how sequential actions (typing, handwriting) are planned and executed.

Scientific Inspiration

David Marr; A fundamental believer in the importance of investigating behaviour ‘‘trying to understand perception by understanding neurons is like trying to understand a bird’s flight by studying only feathers. It just cannot be done’’ (Marr, 1982).

Research Groups

Perception, Cognition and Action

Centre for Neurogenetics

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: Organised; Supportive; Outcome-oriented.

Provision of Training

I will take responsibility for your training at first, with greater independence being expected as the PhD progresses.

Progression Monitoring and Management

I like to have a weekly meeting with my PhD students in which we discuss all aspects of the PhD. Although I have high expectations and expect consistent progression, I am always free for advice and guidance to help you reach these goals.

Communication

For most communication, we have a ‘slack’ lab page with different channels for different projects. Although communication may occur evenings/weekends, I do not expect responses out of hours. I am happy to discuss any issues that are impacting your ability to fulfil your potential or my/our expectations.

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me:

In a group meeting

At least once per week

In year 1 of PhD study

At least once per week

In year 2 of PhD study

At least once per week

In year 3 of PhD study

At least once per week

These meetings will mainly be face to face, and I am usually contactable for an instant response (if required) on every working day.

Working Pattern

Work in my lab requires being present on site (be it in a laboratory or at a field site) during defined core hours (or a subset if working part time).

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 2 weeks' notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5000 words.

MIBTP Project Details

Primary supervisor for:

Examining the neural correlates of motor control/learning with transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS)

See the PhD Opportunities section to see if this project is currently open for applications via MIBTP.

Please Note: The main page lists projects via BBSRC Research Theme(s) quoted and then relevant Topic(s).

Examining the neural correlates of motor control/learning with transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS)

Secondary Supervisor(s): Dr Martin Wilson

University of Registration: University of Birmingham

BBSRC Research Themes:

Integrated Understanding of Health (Ageing)

Project Outline

Humans have an amazing ability to produce skilled actions (e.g. driving, playing the piano) with the cerebellum being a key brain region underlying such motor control. Movement disorders involving cerebellar dysfunction (e.g. ataxia, stroke, ageing) are associated with motor impairments which significantly affect an individual’s ability to perform activities of daily life (e.g. eating, writing, dressing). However, there is currently no effective treatments for such cerebellar-dependent impairments.

Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, which can alter/enhance underlying brain activity, hold huge potential. However, established techniques suffer from a lack of specificity and depth, which makes targeting the cerebellum impossible. Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is a state-of-the-art technique that provides the specificity and depth of stimulation required to reliably and accurately target the cerebellum. However, given the novelty of this technique, there is no work which has investigated the capacity of TUS to alter cerebellar excitability/function. Therefore, our goal is to examine the impact of TUS on the cerebellum by identifying/characterising TUS protocols that can increase or decrease cerebellar excitability and function:

Study-1 (year-1): Behavioural impact of cerebellar TUS: the ability to update performance based on an error (motor adaptation) is essential for skilled behaviour and cerebellar-dependent. We will examine whether two distinct TUS protocols can increase or decrease motor adaptation in young healthy humans.

Study-2 (year-2): Neural impact of cerebellar TUS: the cerebellum is dependent on excitatory glutamate and inhibitory GABA neurotransmission. We will use magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to examine whether the two TUS protocols can be defined as excitatory (e.g. increased glutamate and decreased GABA) or inhibitory.

Study-3 (year-3): Impact of cerebellar TUS in ageing: older adults show impaired cerebellar excitability and function (motor adaptation). We will examine whether the excitatory TUS protocol characterised in study 1 & 2 can reliably enhance cerebellar excitability and motor adaptation in older adults.

APPLY HERE