Professor Jon Driver

“All aspects of our life depend on the brain. While we normally benefit from its complex functioning, people can also become victims of its malfunction, as in cases of dementia, say, or following a stroke. Cognitive Neuroscience is the scientific study of how the brain supports the mind, or of how cognitive processes relate to neural processes. I study perception, including how our vision can affect our hearing or touch, and how sensory processing can be modulated by cognitive factors such as attention (what we are currently looking out or listening for); working memory (what we are keeping in mind or thinking about); or even reward.

These topics turn out to be closely related because they all depend on how different parts of the brain influence each other. Early studies of the brain sought to identify separate functions for each part, but new perspectives suggest that studying how the different parts can influence each other is critical. We are developing new methods for studying this noninvasively in the normal or damaged human brain. My approach includes combining local brain stimulation with concurrent imaging of the impact on brain activity, not only for the stimulated part of the brain, but also for remote interconnected brain areas that communicate with the targeted site. My research involves neurological patients and other special populations, with the basic science leading to possible new interventions and treatments, including efforts to remediate cognitive deficits after brain injury by targeted brain stimulation.” 

Read more about Professor Jon Driver's work at University College London.