Dr KyungMin An

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

School of Psychology, University of Birmingham

Scientific Background

Dr KyungMin An’s main interests are in neuroimaging studies on child development and children with developmental disorders. She is focusing on developmental trajectories of brain activity/rhythms across child development and neural characteristics in children with developmental disorders. To measure brain responses from children, she is applying non-invasive and child-friendly neuroimaging tools such as EEG/MEG and Optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs).

Research Interests

Dr KyungMin An’s research interests are focused on child development and developmental disorders using child-friendly neuroimaging techniques. Her main research tools are EEG/MEG and optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) to measure brain activity and rhythms. She is seeking neural correlates of behaviour and brain responses related to the child development and developmental disorders.

Child OPM-MEG

Developing and optimizing an OPM-MEG system for infants, children, and adolescents.
Applying the child OPM-MEG system to study on child development and developmental disorders.

Developmental trajectory across child development

Developing multi-sensory/motor task for children.
Investigating the developmental trajectory over a wide age range.
Finding trends of developmental trajectory in children with ASD and preterm-birth children.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Finding a characteristics of brain response and developmental trajectory in children with ASD.
Investigating brain mechanism of sensory/motor processing in children with ASD.
Finding Neural correlates of behavioural characteristics of ASD.

Research Groups

AN's Lab

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: Supportive, collaborative, and goal driven

Provision of Training

I will work closely with you to develop your project and help your research progress. At the beginning of your PhD, you will receive support and training from both myself and more experienced PhD students/postdocs. As you progress through your PhD, you will be expected to work more independently.

Progression Monitoring and Management

I like to be kept up to date and will expect to see your data and discuss your progress on a weekly basis. However, when you need help troubleshooting, I will give you advice and guidance to help you reach your goals. In monthly meetings, we can set and adjust milestones and directions to achieve the goals of your project.

Communication

I communicate with PhD students through face-to-face meetings, email, and MS Teams. I respond to enquiries quickly and encourage regular communication to ensure that any problems or delays can be addressed quickly. At the same time, I will encourage you to manage your work/life balance.

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 fortnight

In year 2 of PhD study

At least once per fortnight

In year 3 of PhD study

At least once per fortnight

These meetings will be in-person face to face or online via MS Teams where appropriate, and I have an open door policy when on campus and by email, phone or MS Teams when off campus.

Working Patterns

Core working hours are Mon-Fri 09:00-17:00 but where appropriate flexible working patterns may be adopted.

Notice Period for Feedback

I typically require one week to provide feedback on written work.

Project Details

Dr An is the supervisor on the below project:

Face Processing in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders using Optically Pumped Magnetometers

Secondary Supervisor(s): Dr Anna Kowalczyk (School of Psychology), Dr HyungJin Chang (School of Computer Science)

University of Registration: University of Birmingham

BBSRC Research Themes: Understanding the Rules of Life (Neuroscience and Behaviour)

No longer accepting applications

Project Outline

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterised by difficulties with social interaction and communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviours. Individuals with ASD tend to show a greater interest in objects rather than people and often have difficulty making eye contact. Previous studies have highlighted their struggles with face recognition and interpreting emotions from facial expressions. Infants with ASD typically exhibit reduced or absent responses to a parent's smiles or other facial expressions, which are early indicators of ASD.

Our research laboratory has a dedicated focus on exploring neural activity and brain oscillations in children with ASD1,2. This study aims to delve into both the behavioural and biological mechanisms involved in face processing among children with ASD. On the behavioural side, we will employ eye-tracking techniques to measure where and for how long they fixate on specific areas. In terms of the neurobiological aspect, we will employ optically pumped magnetometers (OPM) to detect brain activity3,4. OPM is recognized as one of the most sensitive magnetic sensors and represents the current state-of-the-art methodology for imaging brain activity in children.

The key objectives of this project are twofold: 1) to explore the differences in visual behaviours and brain activity patterns during face processing between typically developing children and those with ASD, and 2) to establish a connection between visual behaviours and brain activity related to face processing in individuals with ASD.

References

An, Kyung-min, et al. "Aberrant brain oscillatory coupling from the primary motor cortex in children with autism spectrum disorders." NeuroImage: Clinical 29 (2021): 102560.
An, Kyung-min, et al. "Altered gamma oscillations during motor control in children with autism spectrum disorder." Journal of Neuroscience 38.36 (2018): 7878-7886.
An, Kyung-min, et al. "Detection of the 40 Hz auditory steady-state response with optically pumped magnetometers." Scientific Reports 12.1 (2022): 17993.
Boto, Elena, et al. "Moving magnetoencephalography towards real-world applications with a wearable system." Nature 555.7698 (2018): 657-661.

Techniques

This project will focus its investigation on the behaviours and neuronal mechanisms associated with face processing in children diagnosed with ASD. The following techniques will be employed:

Eye Tracking Techniques: These will be used to monitor and analyse visual behaviours, including gaze fixation points and gaze duration during face processing tasks in children with ASD.
Optically Pumped Magnetometer (OPM): OPM sensors will be utilized to detect and measure magnetic fields induced by neural activity in the brain, providing insights into the brain's responses during face processing.

These two techniques are the primary methods mentioned in the project description for investigating the behaviours and neuronal mechanisms of face processing in children with ASD.

Previous Projects

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