CONTACT INFORMATION:

EMAIL:               sean.fallon@psy.ox.ac.uk

TELEPHONE:    +44 (0) 1865 618 635

RESEARCH INTERESTS

The overarching aim of my research is to provide a theoretical framework for improving working memory in healthy and clinical populations. This quest is seen as being coterminous with the aim to understand the basic science question of how dopamine, working memory and reward interact.

BIOGRAPHY

I completed my PhD at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge. Before joining the Department of Experimental Psychology in Oxford, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour in Nijmegen (NL).

MAIN RESEARCH AREAS

During this period of time I have used a combination of pharmacological, neuroimaging (fMRI) and patient studies (Parkinson’s disease) to answer a number of questions:

1)    Can we improve working memory by administration of pharmacological substances that boost dopamine levels in the brain?

2)    Do reward and dopaminergic drugs have similar effects on working memory?

3)    Do people respond differently to dopaminergic drugs or rewards because they have different baseline dopamine levels?

4)    Why do only some patients with Parkinson’s disease experience cognitive deficits?