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Duncan Astle
Research Staff, Executive Processes Group
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Contact details
| E-mail address: | duncan.astle@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk |
| Telephone: | +44 (0)1223 355294 |
| Fax: | +44 (0)1223 359062 |
| Address: | MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF |
Research areas
Link to Duncan's research pages
My research uses EEG and MEG with children and adults to explore the neural and cognitive mechanisms of top-down attentional control. In particular, I am interested in how these control mechanisms interact with our ability to store information in working memory. One possibility, inspired by the adult cognitive neuroscience literature, is that differences in attentional control mechanisms might drive these apparent memory differences across different children.
Working memory capacity variability in childhood is a strong longitudinal predictor of educational outcome; my research explores the extent to which differences in attentional control abilities across children might drive these longitudinal relationships between initial working memory capacity and subsequent academic progress. A further possibility is that the development of these control abilities can be modified by targeted intervention, thereby improving working memory performance and educational outcome. In short, my current research seeks to understand the relationship between development, training, and the neural mechanisms of top-down attentional control. My research is supported by the British Academy, the Royal Society and the MRC.
Publications on visual short-term memory (VSTM) and attention:
Astle, D.E., Summerfield, J., Griffin, I., and Nobre, A.C. (2011) Orienting attention to locations in mental representations Attention, Perception and Psychophysics, DOI 10.3758/s13414-011-0218-3
Astle, D.E., Nobre, A.C. and Scerif, G (2010) Subliminally presented and stored objects capture spatial attention Journal of Neuroscience, 30(10), 3567-3571
Astle, D.E., and Scerif, G (2010) Interactions between attention and visual short-term memory (VSTM): What can be learnt from individual and developmental differences? Neuropsychologia
Astle, D.E., Nobre, A.C. and Scerif, G (2010) Attentional control constrains visual short-term memory: Insights from developmental and individual differences Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Astle, D.E. and Scerif, G. (2009) Using developmental cognitive neuroscience to study behavioural and attentional control Developmental Psychobiology, 57, 107-118
Astle, D.E. (2009) Going from a retinotopic to a spatiotopic co-ordinate system for spatial attention Journal of Neuroscience, 29, 13, 3971-3973
Astle, D.E., Nobre, A.C. & Scerif, G (2009) Applying an attentional set to perceived and remembered features PLoS One, 4(10)
Astle, D.E., Scerif, G., Kuo, B.-C., & Nobre, A.C. (2009) Spatial selection of features within perceived and remembered objects Frontiers in Human Neurosci, 3, 6
Publications on the cognitive and neural mechanisms of control in task-switching:
Astle, D.E., Geogiadi M., Jackson, S.R. and Jackson, G.M. (2011) Neural correlates of changing intention and the human FEF and IPS Journal of Neurophysiology
Astle, D.E., Jackson, G.M. and Swainson, R. (2009) Two measures of task-specific inhibition Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, [epub ahead of print]
Astle, D.E., Jackson, G.M. and Swainson, R. (2008) Fractionating the cognitive control required to bring about a change in task-set: A dense-sensor ERP study Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20, 2, 255-267
Astle, D.E., Jackson, G.M. and Swainson, R. (2008) The role of spatial information on advance task-set control: A dense-sensor ERP study European Journal of Neuroscience, 28, 1404-1418
Astle, D.E., Jackson, G.M. and Swainson, R. (2006) Dissociating neural indices of dynamic cognitive control in advance task-set preparation: An ERP study of task-switching Brain Research, 1125(1), 94-103