“Tool use is an important facet of everyday life, though sometimes it is necessary to use tools in ways that do not fit within their typical functions. Here we asked participants to imagine characters using objects based on instructions that fit the prototypical actions for the object or were atypical in a novel object-action imagery task.”

Dr. Christopher Madan was recognised by the Association for Psychological Science (APS) with a Rising Star award. This award is presented to outstanding psychological scientists in the earliest stages of their research career post-PhD.

New paper out with Tobias Sommer and colleagues at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

“Prior studies have reported a relationship between affect and visual complexity, where complex pictures are rated as more pleasant and arousing. However, a relationship in the opposite direction, an effect of affect on visual complexity, is also possible; emotional arousal and valence are known to influence selective attention and visual processing.”

Funding recieved for a project in collaboration with Daniela Palombo (University of British Columbia) and Rosanna Olsen (University of Toronto).

New brain morphology work, further examining the utility of fractal dimensionality in underanding aging. Now published in Aging & Mental Health.

Interview with Dr. Madan on using open data in brain morphology research.

“open-access data can allow for access to populations that may otherwise be unfeasible to recruit — such as middle-age adults, patients, and individuals from other geographic regions.”

Interested in studying memory, or otherwise working with me? (Or know someone else who might be…) Let me know!

“This brief review[…] provides an amazing overview of research on motivation and cognition and an almost astounding number of citations”

Dr. Madan is now part of the Diversity, Outreach and Training Committee for Cognitive Neuroscience Society. Thank you for voting!

Grant received from the Brain Foundation (Australia) in collaboration with Muireann Irish at the University of Sydney. Work will investigate brain morphology in frontotemporal dementia.

New paper online! Collaboration with Kyle Mathewson at the University of Alberta, accepted for publication in Psychophysiology.

“Each time the heart beats, blood is expelled and travels through the body. This blood flow can be detected in the face using a standard webcam that is able to pick up subtle changes in color that cannot be seen by the naked eye.”

Today is day 1 as an assistant professor!!