Course summary

Our PhD/MPhil Cognitive Neuroscience programme enables you to undertake a research project that will improve understanding of Cognitive Neuroscience. Cognitive Neuroscience is a dynamic and emerging field of research that seeks to understand how we think, feel and act. The focus of our research is on revealing the mechanisms responsible for these complex neuropsychological functions. Our wide expertise here in Manchester is centred on understanding cognition in both the normal brain as well as abnormal neurological and psychiatric disorders. Thus, a major target for our research is the establishment of translational advances for the treatment of various neuropsychiatric disorders that emerge across the lifespan. While our primary focus is on understanding human cognition, we also use complementary and translational animal models of these processes to reveal aspects of cognition at the neural level. A major focus in Manchester is the vital integration of behavioural measurement with various cutting-edge approaches to record and manipulate on-going brain activity (eg by using MRI, fMRI, MEG, EEG, transcranial magnetic stimulation). The large number of laboratories and wide range of research techniques available to PhD students allows us to support projects that can investigate cognitive processes at many levels. This significantly enhances the student experience and opportunities on offer for training and collaboration. Our major research themes include:

• Autism

• Alzheimer's disease and other dementias

• Aphasia

• Declarative and episodic memory

• Emotion and valuation

• Language development

• Psycholinguistics

• Perception, action and decision making