About Laura:

I have received a B.A (Hons) in Psychology and an MSc by research from Maynooth University. I also hold a Professional Certificate in Teaching from Maynooth University, with over two years experience teaching at undergraduate level. My MSc thesis explored the implicit processes involved in psychopathology, with a particular focus on suicidality, using measures developed from a behavior-analytic perspective.

Following my MSc I began work as a Research Assistant on a Health Research Board-funded project examining the role of early intervention on work participation in patients with regional musculoskeletal pain (supervised by Dr. Deirdre Desmond; Maynooth University, 2015). I have previously gained research experience under the supervision of Dr. Ian Stewart (2013-14; National University of Ireland, Galway) and Dr. Kiran Sarma (2012; NUIG).

I joined the Whelan Lab in May 2016 as a full-time Research Assistant, and held this position until December 2017. I was primarily involved in three studies using EEG and MRI to better understand ADHD, predict successful smoking cessation, and examining the role of impulsivity and reward processing endophenotypes in alcohol misuse patterns.

Current Research

I am currently funded by the Irish Research Council and Altoida AG to conduct research into digital biomarkers of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. This project aims to further develop a novel digital biomarker of AD that can be identified via mobile devices. This technology may facilitate early detection and more effective therapeutic and preventative strategies for dementia and AD.

I am broadly interested in how behavioural principles of learning can be used alongside electrophysiological and psychophysiological methods to better understand and predict clinical phenomena such as dementia, addiction, and depression. One focus of my current research is to provide a computational and theoretical account of reinforcement learning in older adults using existing and novel behavioural tasks with EEG.