Dr David McGonigle

Teams and roles for David McGonigle

Lecturer
School of Psychology

Research summary

Studying sensory processing means focusing on the rules and mechanisms that the brain uses to make sense of the world. I use the somatosensory system – the sense of touch – as a gateway to uncover some of the fundamental principles that govern neuronal communication in the human brain. I am particularly interested in the dynamic, plastic nature of sensory processing: how our perceptions are critically dependent on the waxing and waning of millisecond to millisecond changes in brain activity.

Using functional neuroimaging (fMRI, MEG and EEG) and behavioural techniques I focus on three main areas:

i) Where, when and how are tactile stimuli processed in the human brain?

ii) The principles underlying short-term changes in perception (adaptation) and longer-term changes (learning).

iii) How alterations in sensory processing contribute to brain conditions, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

I have also recently become interested in using brain stimulation to explore these questions, using a novel technique called trans-Cranial Direct Stimulation (tDCS). Finally, I have an active interest in the methods an reliability of non-invasive neuroimaging.

Teaching summary

Level 1 Psychology: PS1107 'Introduction to cognitive and biological psychology’ FSM

Level 3 Psychology PS3209 'Structural and functional neuroimaging’

MSc Neuroimaging: Methods and Applications

Date
Type

2025

Godoi, D. C. et al. 2025. Linguistic effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in patients with primary progressive aphasia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 176 106264. (10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106264)

2019

Puts, N. et al. 2019. Induced and evoked properties of vibrotactile adaptation in primary somatosensory cortex. Neural Plasticity 2019 5464096. (10.1155/2019/5464096)

2018

Puts, N. A. J. et al., 2018. GABA levels in left and right sensorimotor cortex correlate across individuals. Biomedicines 6 (3) 80. (10.3390/biomedicines6030080)

2016

Hanley, C. J. , Singh, K. D. and McGonigle, D. J. 2016. Transcranial modulation of brain oscillatory responses: A concurrent tDCS-MEG investigation. NeuroImage 140 , pp.20-32. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.12.021)
Soekadar, S. R. , Herring, J. D. and McGonigle, D. 2016. Transcranial electric stimulation (tES) and Neurolmaging: the state-of-the-art, new insights and prospects in basic and clinical neuroscience. NeuroImage 140 , pp.1-3. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.08.020)

2015

Hanley, C. J. , Tommerdahl, M. and McGonigle, D. 2015. Stimulating somatosensory psychophysics: a double-blind, sham-controlled study of the neurobiological mechanisms of tDCS. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 9 400. (10.3389/fncel.2015.00400)

2014

Mullins, P. G. et al., 2014. Current practice in the use of MEGA-PRESS spectroscopy for the detection of GABA. NeuroImage 86 , pp.43-52. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.12.004)

2013

Evans, C. J. et al. 2013. Subtraction artifacts and frequency (Mis-)alignment in J-difference GABA editing. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 38 (4), pp.970-975. (10.1002/jmri.23923)

2012

McGonigle, D. 2012. Test-retest reliability in fMRI: Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the variability. NeuroImage 62 (2), pp.1116-1120. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.01.023)

2011

Puts, N. et al. 2011. Regionally specific human GABA concentration correlates with tactile discrimination thresholds. Journal of Neuroscience 31 (46), pp.16556-16560. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4489-11.2011)
Wiestler, T. , McGonigle, D. and Diedrichsen, J. 2011. Integration of sensory and motor representations of single fingers in the human cerebellum. Journal of Neurophysiology 105 (6), pp.3042-3053. (10.1152/jn.00106.2011)

2010

Evans, C. J. , McGonigle, D. and Edden, R. A. E. 2010. Diurnal stability of gamma-aminobutyric acid concentration in visual and sensorimotor cortex. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 31 (1), pp.204-209. (10.1002/jmri.21996)
Gountouna, V. E. et al., 2010. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) reproducibility and variance components across visits and scanning sites with a finger tapping task. NeuroImage 49 (1), pp.552-560. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.07.026)
Gradin, V. et al., 2010. Between- and within-scanner variability in the CaliBrain study n-back cognitive task. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 184 (2), pp.86-95. (10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.010)
Hall, J. et al., 2010. A common neural system mediating two different forms of social judgement. Psychological Medicine 40 (7), pp.1183-1192. (10.1017/S0033291709991395)
Zeman, A. et al., 2010. Loss of imagery phenomenology with intact visuo-spatial task performance: a case of 'blind imagination'. Neuropsychologia 48 (1), pp.145-155. (10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.08.024)

2008

Erchova, I. and McGonigle, D. 2008. Rhythms of the brain: An examination of mixed mode oscillation approaches to the analysis of neurophysiological data. Chaos 18 (1) 015115. (10.1063/1.2900015)
Hall, J. et al. 2008. Overactivation of fear systems to neutral faces in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry 64 (1), pp.70-73. (10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.12.014)

2007

Ladabaum, U. , Roberts, T. P. and McGonigle, D. 2007. Gastric fundic distension activates fronto-limbic structures but not primary somatosensory cortex: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuroimage 34 (2), pp.724-732. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.07.033)
Zhu, Z. et al., 2007. Spatiotemporal integration of tactile information in human somatosensory cortex. BMC Neuroscience 8 (1) 21. (10.1186/1471-2202-8-21)

2005

Shehab, S. et al., 2005. Anatomical evidence for an anticonvulsant relay in the rat ventromedial medulla. European Journal of Neuroscience 22 (6), pp.1431-1444. (10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.04326.x)
Smith, S. M. et al., 2005. Variability in fMRI: A re-examination of intersession Differences. Human Brain Mapping 24 (3), pp.248-257. (10.1002/hbm.20080)

2004

Matharu, M. S. et al., 2004. Posterior Hypothalamic and Brainstem Activation in Hemicrania Continua. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain 44 (8), pp.747-761. (10.1111/j.1526-4610.2004.04141.x)

2003

Ladabaum, U. , Roberts, T. P. and McGonigle, D. 2003. Gastric fundic distension activates fronto-limbic structures but not somatosensory cortex: A functional MRI (fMRI) study [Abstract]. Gastroenterology 124 (4 (S1)), pp.A253. (10.1016/S0016-5085(03)81268-4)

2002

McGonigle, D. et al. 2002. Whose arm is it anyway? An fMRI case study od supernumerary phantom limb. Brain 125 (6), pp.1265-1274. (10.1093/brain/awf139)

2000

McGonigle, D. et al. 2000. Variability in fMRI: an examination of intersession differences. NeuroImage 11 (6), pp.708-734. (10.1006/nimg.2000.0562)

1999

May, A. et al., 1999. Correlation between structural and functional changes in brain in an idiopathic headache syndrome. Nature Medicine 5 (7), pp.836-838. (10.1038/10561)

1996

McGonigle, D. et al. 1996. Evidence for the presence of neurokinin-1 receptors on dorsal horn spinocerebellar tract cells in the rat. Brain Research 742 (1-2), pp.1-9. (10.1016/S0006-8993(96)00942-0)

Funding

Autism Speaks

Susanne and Bob Wright Trailblazer Award

(2012-2013; Costs $100,000)

NIHR Fellowship
A Pilot Neuroimaging Study of Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
(2010-2015; Costs £154,345)

The Waterloo Foundation
Advanced Neuroimagingin BECTS
(2010-2012; Costs £113,039)

The Waterloo Foundation
Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the neurobiology of sensory symptoms
(19/04/10-18/04/12; Costs £53,473)

TheWaterlooFoundation
Travel Grant to Attend IMFAR 2010
(2010; Costs £1550)

Royal Society Research Grant
An Investigation of the Spatiotemporal Integration of Tactile Information in Somatosensory Cortex using Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
(01/04/08-31/03/09; Costs £14,898)

Contact Details

[email protected]
+44 29208 70353
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ

External profiles

ORCID