People

Prof Karen Waldie

Karen Waldie is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology and the Research Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience. Originally from Victoria, British Columbia in Canada, Karen holds a BSc from the University of Victoria, and an MSc and PhD from the University of Calgary. She spent time working on the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study as a research fellow before joining the University of Auckland's School of Psychology in 2001.

Karen has a long-standing interest in learning disabilities. Her first publication (which arose out of her Honours thesis at the University of Victoria) concerned the relationship between learning disabilities and persisting delinquency. Since then, much of Karen's career has been devoted to investigating the aetiology of specific learning disabilities, making frequent use of neuroimaging techniques. Her most recent research has focused in particular on trying to understand the considerable comorbidity between dyslexia, dyscalculia and ADHD.

Karen has additional professional interests in statistics and life-span development more generally. These have led to her involvement in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study and the Growing Up in New Zealand Study.

Google Scholar profile

Email: k.waldie@auckland.ac.nz

Dr David Moreau

David Moreau is a Research Associate with the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland. Originally from France, David completed his PhD at the University of Lille and then spent three years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Princeton University. He moved to New Zealand in 2014.

David has an extensive research background in cognitive training. He is particularly interested in the interaction between sensorimotor experience and cognition, and uses various neuroscience tools and techniques, ranging from fMRI to EEG, DTI, tDCS, biomarker tracking and advanced modeling (e.g. Monte Carlo, MCMC, random walks, Artificial Neural Networks). His work suggests that sensorimotor experience reliably shapes cognitive abilities, a line of research that recently led to cognitive enhancement programmes based on complex motor training.

The combination of physical and cognitive components within training programmes has proved particularly effective in eliciting substantial cognitive and physiological improvements. This idea has been tested empirically and led to recent peer-reviewed publications. It is also especially relevant considering the rise of cognitive deficits and neurological diseases in modern society.

Google Scholar profile
Email: d.moreau@auckland.ac.nz

Nicole Taylor

Research Assistant

Team

Kelsey Flynn

Research Assistant

Olivia Yates

Summer Research Scholarship Recipient 2015-2016

Ebonee Hodder

Summer Research Scholarship Recipient 2015-2016

Alumni

Stephanie D'souza

Research Assistant

2014–2015.