Yr Athro Christopher Chambers
BSc PhD CPsychol FBPsS

Athro Niwrowyddoniaeth Gwybyddol

: Sylwebydd y cyfryngau
: Ar gael fel goruchwyliwr ôl-raddedig

My principal research interests include the use of brain stimulation (TMS, TES) and brain imaging techniques (fMRI, MRS, MEG) to understand cognitive control, attention and awareness in the human brain.

I am especially interested in translational applications of cognitive neuroscience in the domain of obesity and behaviour change. My group is also working on the simultaneous combination of TMS and MRI, as well as technical advances in TMS methods to improve the precision and reliability of cortical stimulation.

In addition to my core research programme in cognitive neuroscience I also pursue interests in the relationship between science and the media, the role of science in shaping evidence-based public policy, and the promotion of open scientific practices including data sharing and study pre-registration.

I am also a freelance science writer at the Guardian where I co-host the psychology blog, HeadQuarters.

Date
Type

2024

Lloyd, K. E. and Chambers, C. D. 2024. Registered reports: Benefits and challenges of implementing in medicine [Letter]. British Journal of General Practice 74(739), pp. 58-59. (10.3399/bjgp24X736185)

2023

Smith, S. et al. 2023. Imaging Neuroscience opening editorial. Imaging Neuroscience 1, pp. 1-4. (10.1162/imag_e_00007)
Tzavella, L. and Chambers, C. D. 2023. Explicit and implicit devaluation effects of food-specific response inhibition training. Journal of Cognition 6(1), article number: 10. (10.5334/joc.256)

2022

Randle, M., Duarte, I., Maizey, L., Tzavella, L., Adams, R. C. and Chambers, C. D. 2022. The Restrain Food Database: validation of an open-source database of foods that should be eaten more or less as part of a healthy diet. Royal Society Open Science 9(11), article number: 220923. (10.1098/rsos.220923)
Tzavella, L. and Chambers, C. D. 2022. Response inhibition training and measures of explicit and implicit food valuation. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 48, article number: 101230. (10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101230)
Henderson, E. L. and Chambers, C. D. 2022. Ten simple rules for writing a registered report. PLoS Computational Biology 18(10), article number: e1010571. (10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010571)
Pennington, C. R., Jones, A. J., Tzavella, L., Chambers, C. D. and Button, K. S. 2022. Beyond online participant crowdsourcing: the benefits and opportunities of big team addiction science. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology 30(4), pp. 444-451. (10.1037/pha0000541)
Munafò, M. R., Chambers, C., Collins, A., Fortunato, L. and Macleod, M. 2022. The reproducibility debate is an opportunity, not a crisis. BMC Research Notes 15(1), article number: 43. (10.1186/s13104-022-05942-3)
Chambers, C. D. and Tzavella, L. 2022. The past, present and future of Registered Reports. Nature Human Behaviour 6, pp. 29-42. (10.1038/s41562-021-01193-7)

2021

Adams, R. C. et al. 2021. Food-related inhibitory control training reduces food liking but not snacking frequency or weight in a large healthy adult sample. Appetite 167, article number: 105601. (10.1016/j.appet.2021.105601)
Munato, M., Chambers, C., Collins, A., Fortunato, L. and Macleod, M. 2021. From grassroots to global: A blueprint for building a reproducibility network. PLoS Biology 19(11), article number: e3001461. (10.1371/journal.pbio.3001461)
Chambers, C. D., McIntosh, R. D. and Della Sala, S. 2021. Is ‘right-of-reply’ right for science?. Cortex 142, article number: A1. (10.1016/j.cortex.2021.05.014)
Clark, R., Drax, K., Chambers, C. D., Munafò, M. and Thompson, J. 2021. Evaluating registered reports funding partnerships: a feasibility study. Wellcome Open Research 6, article number: 231. (10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17028.1)
Drax, K., Clark, R., Chambers, C. D., Munafò, M. and Thompson, J. 2021. A qualitative analysis of stakeholder experiences with registered reports funding partnerships. Wellcome Open Research 6, article number: 230. (10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17029.1)
Tzavella, L. et al. 2021. Effects of go/no-go training on food-related action tendencies, liking and choice. Royal Society Open Science 8(8), article number: 210666. (10.1098/rsos.210666)
Sumner, P., Schwartz, L. M., Woloshin, S., Bratton, L. and Chambers, C. D. 2021. Disclosure of study funding and author conflicts of interest in press releases and the news: A retrospective content analysis with two cohorts. BMJ Open 11, article number: e041385. (10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041385)

2020

Tzavella, L., Maizey, L., Lawrence, A. D. and Chambers, C. D. 2020. The affective priming paradigm as an indirect measure of food attitudes and related choice behaviour. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 27, pp. 1397-1415. (10.3758/s13423-020-01764-1)
Maizey, L., Evans, C. J., Muhlert, N., Vergruggen, F., Chambers, C. D. and Allen, C. P. G. 2020. Cortical and subcortical functional specificity associated with response inhibition. NeuroImage 220, article number: 117110. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117110)
Sedgmond, J., Chambers, C., Lawrence, N. and Adams, R. C. 2020. No evidence that prefrontal HD-tDCS influences cue-induced food craving. Behavioral Neuroscience 134(5), pp. 369-383. (10.1037/bne0000345)
Brouwers, K., Cooke, A., Chambers, C. D., Henson, R. and Tibon, R. 2020. Evidence for prereg posters as a platform for preregistration. Nature Human Behaviour 4, pp. 884-886. (10.1038/s41562-020-0868-z)
Allen, C., Viola, T., Irvine, E., Sedgmond, J., Castle, H., Gray, R. and Chambers, C. D. 2020. Causal manipulation of feed-forward and recurrent processing differentially affects measures of consciousness. Neuroscience of Consciousness 2020(1), article number: niaa015. (10.1093/nc/niaa015)
Chambers, C. D. 2020. Verification reports: a new article type at Cortex. Cortex 129, pp. A1-A3. (10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.020)
McIntosh, R. D. and Chambers, C. D. 2020. The three R's of scientific integrity: replicability, reproducibility, and robustness. Cortex 129, pp. A4-A7. (10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.019)
Chambers, C. D. 2020. Frontloading selectivity: a third way in scientific publishing?. PLOS Biology 18(3), article number: e3000693. (10.1371/journal.pbio.3000693)
Button, K. S., Chambers, C. D., Lawrence, N. and Munafò, M. R. 2020. Grassroots training for reproducible science: a consortium-based approach to the empirical dissertation. Psychology Learning and Teaching 19(1), pp. 77-90. (10.1177/1475725719857659)
Munafò, M. R., Chambers, C. D., Collins, A. M., Fortunato, L. and Macleod, M. R. 2020. Research culture and reproducibility. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 24(2), pp. 91-93. (10.1016/j.tics.2019.12.002)
Aczel, B. et al. 2020. A consensus-based transparency checklist. Nature Human Behaviour 4(4-6) (10.1038/s41562-019-0772-6)
Bratton, L., Adams, R. C., Challenger, A., Boivin, J., Bott, L., Chambers, C. D. and Sumner, P. 2020. Causal claims about correlations reduced in press releases following academic study of health news. Wellcome Open Research 5, article number: 6. (10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15647.1)

2019

Bratton, L., Adams, R. C., Challenger, A., Boivin, J., Bott, L., Chambers, C. D. and Sumner, P. 2019. The association between exaggeration in health-related science news and academic press releases: a replication study. Wellcome Open Research 4, article number: 148. (10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15486.2)
Walker, L. A., Chambers, C. D., Veling, H. and Lawrence, N. S. 2019. Cognitive and environmental interventions to encourage healthy eating: evidence-based recommendations for public health policy. Royal Society Open Science 6(10), article number: 190624. (10.1098/rsos.190624)
Chambers, C. 2019. What's next for registered reports?. Nature 573(7773), pp. 187-189. (10.1038/d41586-019-02674-6)
Adams, R. C., Sedgmond, J., Maizey, L., Chambers, C. D. and Lawrence, N. S. 2019. Food addiction: Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of overeating. Nutrients 11(9), article number: 2086. (10.3390/nu11092086)
Chambers, C. 2019. The registered reports revolution Lessons in cultural reform. Significance 16(4), pp. 23-27. (10.1111/j.1740-9713.2019.01299.x)
Adams, R. C., Chambers, C. D. and Lawrence, N. S. 2019. Do restrained eaters show increased BMI, food craving and disinhibited eating? A comparison of the Restraint Scale and the Restrained Eating scale of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. Royal Society Open Science 6(6), pp. 190174. (10.1098/rsos.190174)
Adams, R. C. et al. 2019. Claims of causality in health news: a randomised trial. BMC Medicine 17, article number: 91. (10.1186/s12916-019-1324-7)
Verbruggen, F. et al. 2019. A consensus guide to capturing the ability to inhibit actions and impulsive behaviors in the stop-signal task. eLife 8, article number: e46323. (10.7554/eLife.46323)
Chambers, C. D. 2019. The battle for reproducibility over storytelling [Editorial]. Cortex 113, pp. A1. (10.1016/j.cortex.2019.03.009)
Kythreotis, A. P. et al. 2019. Citizen Social Science for more integrative and effective climate action: a science-policy perspective. Frontiers in Environmental Science 7, article number: 10. (10.3389/fenvs.2019.00010)
Sedgmond, J., Lawrence, N., Verbruggen, F., Morrison, S., Chambers, C. D. and Adams, R. 2019. Prefrontal brain stimulation during food-related inhibition training: Effects on food craving, food consumption and inhibitory control. Royal Society Open Science 6, article number: 181186. (10.1098/rsos.181186)
Chambers, C. D., Forstmann, B. and Pruszynski, J. A. 2019. Science in flux: Registered reports and beyond at the European Journal of Neuroscience. European Journal of Neuroscience 49(1), pp. 4-5. (10.1111/ejn.14319)
Walker, L. et al. 2019. Supporting evidence-informed policy and scrutiny: a consultation of UK research professionals. PLoS ONE 14(3), article number: e0214136. (10.1371/journal.pone.0214136)

2018

Chambers, C. D. and Mellor, D. T. 2018. Protocol transparency is vital for registered reports. Nature Human Behaviour 29, pp. 791-792. (10.1038/s41562-018-0449-6)
Chambers, C. D. 2018. Introducing the transparency and openness promotion (TOP) guidelines and badges for open practices at Cortex. Cortex 106, pp. 316-318. (10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.001)
Houtkoop, B. L., Chambers, C., Macleod, M., Bishop, D., Nichols, T. and Wagenmakers, E. 2018. Data sharing in psychology: a survey on barriers and preconditions. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science 1(1), pp. 70-85. (10.1177/2515245917751886)
Allen, C., Singh, K. D., Verbruggen, F. and Chambers, C. D. 2018. Evidence for parallel activation of the pre-supplementary motor area and inferior frontal cortex during response inhibition: a combined MEG and TMS study. Royal Society Open Science 5(2), article number: 171369. (10.1098/rsos.171369)
Benjamin, D. J. et al. 2018. Redefine statistical significance. Nature Human Behaviour 2, pp. 6-10. (10.1038/s41562-017-0189-z)

2017

Campbell, A. E., Chambers, C. D., Allen, C. P. G., Hedge, C. and Sumner, P. 2017. Impairment of manual but not saccadic response inhibition following acute alcohol intoxication. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 181, pp. 242-254. (10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.08.022)
Lawrence, N. S., Chambers, J., Morrison, S. M., Bestman, S., O'Grady, G. N., Chambers, C. D. and Kythreotis, A. P. 2017. The Evidence Information Service as a new platform for supporting evidence-based policy: a consultation of UK parliamentarians. Evidence & Policy 13(2), pp. 275-316. (10.1332/174426416X14643531912169)
Adams, R. C. et al. 2017. How readers understand causal and correlational expressions used in news headlines. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 23(1), pp. 1-14. (10.1037/xap0000100)
Chambers, C. D., Forstmann, B. and Pruszynski, J. A. 2017. Registered reports at the European Journal of Neuroscience : consolidating and extending peer-reviewed study pre-registration. European Journal of Neuroscience 45(5), pp. 627-628. (10.1111/ejn.13519)
Adams, R. C., Lawrence, N., Verbruggen, F. and Chambers, C. D. 2017. Training response inhibition to reduce food consumption: Mechanisms, stimulus specificity and appropriate training protocols. Appetite 109, pp. 11-23. (10.1016/j.appet.2016.11.014)
Sanders, J. et al. 2017. Transparency and openness in science [Editorial]. Royal Society Open Science 4(1), article number: 160979. (10.1098/rsos.160979)
Munafò, M. R. et al. 2017. A manifesto for reproducible science. Nature Human Behaviour 1(1), article number: 21. (10.1038/s41562-016-0021)
Verbruggen, F., Chambers, C. D., Lawrence, N. S. and McLaren, I. P. L. 2017. Winning and losing: Effects on impulsive action. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 43(1), pp. 147-168. (10.1037/xhp0000284)

2016

Rusconi, E., Sedgmond, J., Bolgan, S. and Chambers, C. D. 2016. Brain matters..in Social Sciences. AIMS Neuroscience 3(3), pp. 253-263. (10.3934/Neuroscience.2016.3.253)
Elchlepp, H., Lavric, A., Chambers, C. D. and Verbruggen, F. 2016. Proactive inhibitory control: a general biasing account. Cognitive Psychology 86, pp. 27-61. (10.1016/j.cogpsych.2016.01.004)
Morey, R. D. et al. 2016. The Peer Reviewers' Openness Initiative: incentivizing open research practices through peer review. Royal Society Open Science 3(1), article number: 150547. (10.1098/rsos.150547)
Sumner, P. et al. 2016. Exaggerations and caveats in press releases and health-related science news. PloS One 11(12), article number: e0168217. (10.1371/journal.pone.0168217)

2010

Verbruggen, F., Aron, A. R., Stevens, M. A. and Chambers, C. D. 2010. Theta burst stimulation dissociates attention and action updating in human inferior frontal cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(31), pp. 13966-13971. (10.1073/pnas.1001957107)
Chambers, C. D. and Heinen, K. 2010. TMS and the functional neuroanatomy of attention. Cortex 46(1), pp. 114-117. (10.1016/j.cortex.2009.03.002)

2009

Bellgrove, M. A. et al. 2009. Dopaminergic haplotype as a predictor of spatial inattention in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry 66(10), pp. 1135-1142. (10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.120)
Chambers, C. D., Garavan, H. and Bellgrove, M. A. 2009. Insights into the neural basis of response inhibition from cognitive and clinical neuroscience. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 33(5), pp. 631-646. (10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.08.016)

2008

Schenkluhn, B., Ruff, C. C., Heinen, K. and Chambers, C. D. 2008. Parietal stimulation decouples spatial and feature-based attention. Journal of Neuroscience 28(44), pp. 11106-11110. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3591-08.2008)
Chambers, C. D. 2008. A stimulating take on attention. Psychologist 21(6), pp. 502-505.

2007

Chambers, C. D. et al. 2007. Dissociable Mechanisms of Cognitive Control in Prefrontal and Premotor Cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 98(6), pp. 3638-3647. (10.1152/jn.00685.2007)
Stokes, M. G., Chambers, C. D., Gould, I. C., English, T., McNaught, E., McDonald, O. and Mattingley, J. B. 2007. Distance-adjusted motor threshold for transcranial magnetic stimulation. Clinical Neurophysiology 118(7), pp. 1617-1625. (10.1016/j.clinph.2007.04.004)
Morris, A. P., Chambers, C. D. and Mattingley, J. B. 2007. Parietal stimulation destabilizes spatial updating across saccadic eye movements. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(21), pp. 9069-9074. (10.1073/pnas.0610508104)
Chambers, C. D., Payne, J. M. and Mattingley, J. B. 2007. Parietal disruption impairs reflexive spatial attention within and between sensory modalities. Neuropsychologia 45(8), pp. 1715-1724. (10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.01.001)
Bellgrove, M. A. et al. 2007. Dopaminergic genotype biases spatial attention in healthy children. Molecular Psychiatry 12(8), pp. 786-792. (10.1038/sj.mp.4002022)

2006

Chambers, C. D. et al. 2006. Executive "Brake Failure" following deactivation of human frontal lobe. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 18(3), pp. 444-455. (10.1162/jocn.2006.18.3.444)
Chambers, C. D., Stokes, M. G., Janko, N. E. and Mattingley, J. B. 2006. Enhancement of visual selection during transient disruption of parietal cortex. Brain Research 1097(1), pp. 149-155. (10.1016/j.brainres.2006.04.084)

2005

Bellgrove, M. A., Chambers, C. D., Vance, A., Hall, N., Karamitsios, M. and Bradshaw, J. L. 2005. Lateralized deficit of response inhibition in early-onset schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine 36(4), pp. 495-505. (10.1017/S0033291705006409)
Stokes, M. G., Chambers, C. D., Gould, I. C., Henderson, T. R., Janko, N. E., Allen, N. B. and Mattingley, J. B. 2005. Simple Metric For Scaling Motor Threshold Based on Scalp-Cortex Distance: Application to Studies Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Journal of Neurophysiology 94(6), pp. 4520-4527. (10.1152/jn.00067.2005)
Chambers, C. D. and Mattingley, J. B. 2005. Neurodisruption of selective attention: insights and implications. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 9(11), pp. 542-550. (10.1016/j.tics.2005.09.010)
Chambers, C. D., Mattingley, J. B. and Moss, S. A. 2005. Does selective attention influence the octave illusion?. Perception 34(2), pp. 217-229. (10.1068/p5164)
Chambers, C. D. 2005. Staring in the Eye of Auditory Neglect: Comments on ‘Gaze Direction Modulates Auditory Spatial Deficits in Stroke Patients with Neglect’. Cortex 41(2), pp. 117-120. (10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70886-4)

2004

Chambers, C. D., Stokes, M. G. and Mattingley, J. B. 2004. Modality-Specific Control of Strategic Spatial Attention in Parietal Cortex. Neuron 44(6), pp. 925-930. (10.1016/j.neuron.2004.12.009)
Chambers, C. D., Payne, J. M., Stokes, M. G. and Mattingley, J. B. 2004. Fast and slow parietal pathways mediate spatial attention. Nature Neuroscience 7(3), pp. 217-218. (10.1038/nn1203)
Chambers, C. D., Mattingley, J. B. and Moss, S. A. 2004. The suppression model remains unsound: A reply to Deutsch. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 11(4), pp. 677-680. (10.3758/BF03196619)
Chambers, C. D., Mattingley, J. B. and Moss, S. A. 2004. Reconsidering evidence for the suppression model of the octave illusion. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 11(4), pp. 642-666. (10.3758/BF03196617)
Morris, A. P., Kritikos, A., Berberovic, N., Pisella, L., Chambers, C. D. and Mattingley, J. B. 2004. Prism adaptation and spatial attention: A study of visual search in normals and patients with unilateral neglect. Cortex 40(4-5), pp. 703-721. (10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70166-7)

2003

Chambers, C. D. and Brown, M. 2003. Timing accuracy under Microsoft Windows revealed through external chronometry. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments & Computers 35(1), pp. 96-108. (10.3758/BF03195501)

2002

Chambers, C. D., Mattingley, J. B. and Moss, S. A. 2002. The octave illusion revisited: Suppression or fusion between ears?. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 28(6), pp. 1288-1302. (10.1037//0096-1523.28.6.1288)

My research addresses questions across a range of fields. Within cognitive neuroscience, I am primarily interested in understanding attention and impulse control, and translational applications in clinical fields such as addiction.

In 2012 I jointly established the Insciout research group together with Petroc Sumner, Jacky Boivin and Andy Williams. Insciout is a collaborative project between the School of Psychology and the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. Our aim is to identify causes of error in the translation of science to the news, and to develop evidence-based guidelines for best practice in science/media interactions.

I am also the co-founder of the UK Evidence Information Service, a research-led initiative that aims to facilitate interaction between academia and politicians in the service of evidence-based policy.

Funding

Current major grants:

Chambers, C.D. European Research Council Consolidator Grant, ‘The psychology and neurobiology of cognitive control training in humans’, 2015-2020 (€1,998,305).
Chambers, C.D., Verbruggen, F.L.J., Boy, F., Dymond, S. & Lawrence, N. Wellcome Trust ISSF Seedcorn Grant (U.K.), ‘Can GABAergic brain stimulation promote risk aversion in gambling?’, 2013-2015 (£33,572).
Chambers, C.D. & Verbruggen, F.L.J. BBSRC Project Grant (U.K.), ‘Neural dynamics of response inhibition and gambling across the lifespan’, 2013-2016 (£882,321).

Previous major grants:

Verbruggen F.L.J, Chambers, C.D., Lavric, A. & McLaren, I. Economic and Social Research Council (U.K.) ‘Do executive motor-control mechanisms regulate monetary choice and gambling?’, 2012-2015 (£546,626).
Bellgrove, M.A., Hester, R., Chambers, C.D., Garavan, H. & Hawi, Z. National Health and Medical Research Council project grant (Australia) ‘Genetic and physiological mechanisms of executive control’, 2011-2014 ($541,048).
Chambers, C.D., Singh, K., Wise, R., Jones, D., Jiles, D, & Bestmann, S. Academic Expertise For Business grant (Welsh Assembly) ‘The integrated brain imaging and stimulation project (IBIS)’, 2010-2013 (£349,885).
Chambers, C.D. BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship (U.K.), ‘Investigating the neural basis of selective attention in the human brain: A combined neurodisruption and neuroimaging study, 2006-2011 (£421,754).
Chambers, C.D. & Driver, J. BBSRC Project Grant (U.K.), ‘Multisensory dynamics of selective attention in the human brain: A combined neurodisruption and neuroimaging project’, 2007-2011 (£403,884).
Bellgrove, M.A. & Chambers, C.D. ARC Project Grant (Australia), 'The cognitive neuroscience of executive control: behavioural, physiological and genetic mechanisms’, 2007-2010 ($319,000).

Research topics and related papers

Cognitive control

Current team members: Rachel Adams, Chris Allen, Leah Maizey, Jemma Sedgmond, Loukia Tzavella.

Neural mechanisms of cognitive control enable us to coordinate, execute, and update behaviour. The prefrontal cortex has long been associated with cognitive control but the architecture of the prefrontal system is one of the great unsolved mysteries in cognitive neuroscience. Within the broad field of cognitive control (or ‘executive functions’), our research focuses on understanding the neural basis of response inhibition, response selection, and the link between inhibition and risk-taking (including gambling and eating behaviour), principally through the application of training methods, TMS and TES.

Current collaborations in cognitive control:

Dr Mark Bellgrove (University of Queensland)
Dr Pete Etchells (Bath Spa University and The Guardian)
Dr John Evans
Prof. Derek Jones
Dr Natalia Lawrence (University of Exeter)
Prof Tony Manstead
Dr James Randerson (The Guardian)
Prof Petroc Sumner
Prof Frederick Verbruggen (University of Exeter).

Attention and awareness

Current team members: Chris Allen, Rory Cutler, Jemma Sedgmond.

Our sensory environment contains a vast quantity of information, only a fraction of which can guide behaviour. Brain mechanisms of attention are crucial for enhancing the processing of stimuli that are relevant to current goals. Within the field of attention, our research focuses on the use of TMS and fMRI to understand the cognitive neuroscience of attentional control and spatial representations. We are also interested in the neurophysiology and neurochemistry that supports consciousness in the occipital and frontal cortex.

Current collaborations in attention/awareness:

Dr Elena Rusconi (Abertay University).

Concurrent TMS and MRI

Current team members: Chris Allen, Leah Maizey, Jemma Sedgmond.

The combination of TMS and neuroimaging (MRI, EEG) provides a unique window on human brain function, with broad applications and implications across the cognitive and clinical neurosciences. By applying TMS within the MRI scanner, we can directly observe the physiological consequences of stimulation both locally (at the site of stimulation) and in remote interconnected brain regions. The integration of TMS and different imaging techniques also holds great promise for revealing the mechanism by which TMS influences neurophysiology and neurovascular coupling.

We recently established concurrent TMS-MRI at CUBRIC via the Academic Expertise for Business (A4B) grant programme, an initiative of the Welsh Assembly Government that funds links between academia and industry in Wales. Our industrial partners on this project were Welsh neuromedical companies Magstim and Dymed. Together we have developed passive shim technology that nearly eliminates one major source of interference between TMS and MRI.

Current collaborations in TMS-MRI:

Dr John Evans (Cardiff University)
Industry: Robin Davies (Magstim) and Mike Polson (Dymed).

TMS methods

The application of TMS in cognitive neuroscience carries a variety of technical and interpretative challenges. As a neurostimulation method, one critical issue is the control of TMS intensity. What strength of TMS is sufficient to yield effective (but not excessive) stimulation of cortical tissue? We have found that the extent of cortical activity during TMS is steeply related to the distance between the scalp and cortex. Even a difference of 1mm in the scalp-cortex distance between different sites can have a measurable and reliable effect on TMS-evoked behaviour. We have therefore developed a scaling method for calibrating the intensity of TMS according to scalp-cortex distance, thus enabling more precise and comparable stimulation of different regions.

Current collaborations in TMS methods:

Dr Mark Stokes (University of Oxford).

The relationship between science and the media - the Insciout project

Current team members: Rachel Adams, Solveiga Stonkute, Louise White.

We are interested in how press releases issued by universities and academic journals influence the reporting of science news in the media. By understanding both positive and negative effects we aim to formulate an evidence-based policy for maximizing the impact and accuracy of science-related public relations. This project is supported by an ESRC transformative grant, the Wellcome Trust, and the British Psychological Society. It also benefits from our close relationship with the Science Media Centre.

Learn more about InSciOut.

Current collaborations in science and the media:

The Evidence Information Service

We are developing a new service to facilitate communication between academic researchers and UK politicians and civil servants. The aim of the Evidence Information Service (EIS) will be to act as a rapid matchmaking and advisory service, connecting politicians with experts in academia and industry. The EIS will host a database of scientists who are willing to commit their time voluntarily to help policy makers obtain and interpret the most reliable evidence on specific issues. Such activities will include the provision and explanation of peer-reviewed literature, statistical consulting, and the critical assessment of data or conclusions.

Read the summary of our 2015 national consultation exercise with UK parliamentarians.

Current collaborations on the Evidence Information Service:

Open Science

Psychology and cognitive neuroscience are in the midst of a reproducibility crisis that can be solved through the adoption of practices that boost the transparency of the research process. Since 2014 I have served as chair of the Registered Reports Committee of the Center for Open Science (COS). Registered Reports are a new form of empirical article that tackles publication bias and questionable research practices (such as p-hacking and post hoc hypothesizing) by conducting peer review before data collection and analysis. I am also a member of the COS Transparency and Openness (TOP) Guidelines committee, which proposes a series of guidelines for academic journals to improve the credibility of published work. In 2015 we published the TOP guidelines in the journal Science, led by COS Executive Director Brian Nosek.

Learn more about Transparency and Openness (TOP).

Academic teaching

Level 1 Psychology: ‘Magnetic stimulation of the human brain in psychology and neuroscience’ (2009-2014).
Level 3 Psychology: ‘Methods and applications of transcranial magnetic stimulation’ (2010-2013).
MSc in Neuroimaging Methods and Applications (2011-).

Professional workshops

ARC Centre for Excellence, Macquarie University, Australia – ‘Workshop on basic research with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)’ (2011).
MARCS Auditory Laboratories, University of Western Sydney, Australia – ‘Introduction to transcranial magnetic stimulation’ (2011).
Marie Curie FP7 Advanced Training Course, U.K., ‘Applications of transcranial magnetic stimulation in cognitive neuroscience’ (2010).
CUBRIC, Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (WICN) Summer School – ‘Introduction to TMS’ and two-day practical workshop (2009).
Psychology Department, University of California San Diego – ‘Introduction to theory and practice of TMS’ (2007).
Magstim TMS Summer School – ‘Practical Introduction to TMS’ (2007).
Dartmouth Summer Institute in Cognitive Neuroscience – ‘Introduction to TMS’ (2006).

Undergraduate education

Bachelor of Science (Behavioural) with Honours (1st class), Monash University, 1998.

Postgraduate education

PhD in Experimental Psychology, Monash University, 2002
Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol), British Psychological Society, 2011.

Anrhydeddau a dyfarniadau

British Psychological Society, 2007 Spearman Medal Fellow of the British Psychological Society.

I am happy to discuss projects that fall within the scope of:

Human cognitive control, including response inhibition, decision-making, and eating behaviour.
Psychological and neural mechanisms of selective attention and conscious awareness.
Concurrent brain stimulation and neuroimaging.
Methodological advances in TMS.
Evidence-based public policy.
The relationship between science and the media.
Scientific publishing reform.

Current students

Rory Cutler, PhD
Leah Maizey, PhD
Solveiga Stonkute, PhD
Loukia Tzavella, PhD.

Goruchwyliaeth gyfredol

Ben Meghreblian

Myfyriwr ymchwil

Contact Details

ChambersC1@caerdydd.ac.uk
+44 29208 70331
Canolfan Ymchwil Delweddu'r Ymennydd Prifysgol Caerdydd, Heol Maendy, Caerdydd, CF24 4HQ

Gwyddonwyr yn lansio treial i brofi a allai ymarfer yr ymennydd helpu pobl i golli pwysau

Yr Athro Christopher Chambers BSc PhD CPsychol FBPsS

Trosolwyg

Cyhoeddiad