Neurocognitive Research Group

About

The Neurocognitive Research Group (NRG) is interested in the neurophysiology and cognitive functioning of the human brain in both healthy (Sports Cognition) and diseased states. To that end, we pursue several research aims that encompass the measurement of human cognition, emotion, and neurophysiology. 

The ability to control undesired motor impulses is critical to human performance. In our lab, we specifically investigate the neural mechanism that supports controlling action impulses by using neurophysiological recordings and neuromodulation techniques. We also study clinical outcomes related to deep brain stimulation treatment, such as verbal fluency and apathy. This will help to obtain a better understanding of how and where to intervene in patient populations that experience deficits with action control, for example in Parkinson’s disease and Essential Tremor. 

We additionally study how motivation and affect interact with the ability to control actions. This can be particularly important to understand clinical populations with impulse control disorders or that experience changes in risk-taking or affect.

Sports Cognition 

Elite athletes at the college and professional levels possess exceptional physical and technical skills. Their brains appear to be wired to process visual information, execute split-second decisions, and control and adapt their motor systems with exceptional skill and precision. Our laboratory focuses on what makes these elite athletes' brains and cognitive systems so unique and capable of performing with the speed and precision required to compete at the highest level. We are also interested in quantifying how athletes differ in their cognitive instincts and skills, how an athlete's cognitive capacities can be combined with his or her physical skills to understand specific performance tendencies, patterns of mental mistakes, and strategies for using these insights to engage more effective decision-making and training. Using powerful methods from the cognitive sciences to quantify athletic instincts, we show that elite athletes possess several dynamic, split-second cognitive skills that outperform their non-athlete age counterparts. Athlete's brains are wired for fast, precise cognition. Our current database includes thousands of elite collegiate and professional athletes spanning football, baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, lacrosse, and golf.

Key Research Areas

• Neurophysiology and cognitive functioning of the human brain
• Neural mechanism that supports controlling action impulses
• Clinical outcomes related to deep brain stimulation treatment, verbal fluency and apathy
• Parkinson’s Disease and Essential Tremor
• Sports Cognition – Elite athletes’ brains and cognitive systems

Team

• Joseph Neimat, MD, MS, MBA – Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery
• Nelleke van Wouwe, PhD, M.Sc. – Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery
• Brandon Ally, PhD – Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery
• Jessica L. Bowersock, PhD – Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery
• Scott Wylie, PhD – Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

Recent Publications

Deep brain stimulation and action control

• Effects of deep brain stimulation target on the activation and suppression of action impulses https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36242948/
• Subthalamic Nucleus Subregion Stimulation Modulates Inhibitory Control https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33381760/
• Focused stimulation of dorsal versus ventral subthalamic nucleus enhances action-outcome learning in patients with Parkinson's disease https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38646144/

Deep brain stimulation and verbal fluency

• Deep brain stimulation effects on verbal fluency dissociated by target and active contact location https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33596331/
• Developing Predictor Models of Postoperative Verbal Fluency After Deep Brain Stimulation Using Preoperative Neuropsychological Assessment https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35506958/

Sports Cognition

• Exposing an "Intangible" Cognitive Skill among Collegiate Football Players: Enhanced Interference Control https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29479325/
• Exposing an "Intangible" Cognitive Skill Among Collegiate Football Players: II. Enhanced Response Impulse Controlhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30186200/
• Exposing an "Intangible" Cognitive Skill Among Collegiate Football Players: III. Enhanced Reaction Control to Motion  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33344974/

Tools and Techniques

We typically ask participants to complete behavioral tasks in the laboratory, the neurosurgical operating room, or the epilepsy monitoring unit. These behavioral computer tasks are designed to investigate brain circuits involved in decision-making, motor control, learning, and the representation of affective stimuli. 

In the operating room, we measure cognitive performance related to brain activity from structures encountered during deep brain stimulation implantation for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, Essential Tremor or other neurological disorders. Similarly, we acquire signals from subcortical (i.e. amygdala) and cortical sites in patients undergoing seizure localization for the treatment of epilepsy in the epilepsy monitoring unit.