Speaker: Dr. Deniz Vatansever
Chair: Professor Keith Kendrick
Date: Friday, December 13th, 2019
Time: 10:00am - 11:00am
Place: CCC Glass Meeting Room, Comprehensive Building, UESTC Qingshuihe Campus
Abstract:
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood onset neurodevelopmental condition, characterised by clinical symptoms of impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention as well as emotional dysregulation that often persists into adulthood with far-reaching negative consequences on quality of life. In addition to such overt clinical symptoms and deficits in core cognitive functions, emerging research now indicates anatomical and neurophysiological abnormalities associated with this disorder, highlighting the biological underpinnings of ADHD. In this talk, I will introduce novel results that underline alterations in brain network organisation and their latent neurocognitive outcomes as a new locus of dysfunction in ADHD. As such, I will argue that a better understanding of the neuropathophysiology of ADHD may provide a more fruitful route to identifying ADHD-related genes that will ultimately improve translational research and drug discovery.
Short Biography:
Dr. Deniz Vatansever is a Young Principal Investigator, who has recently joined the Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence at Fudan University as a faculty member in cognitive and clinical neurosciences. Prior to his move to Shanghai, he obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge in Clinical Neurosciences at the Cognition and Consciousness Imaging Group, and later joined the Department of Psychology, Semantics and Mind-wandering Lab at the University of York for his post-doctoral work. His long-term research goal is to improve our understanding of the nexus between brain, behaviour and cognition using a range of scientific methods from cognitive, comparative, computational and clinical neurosciences. Working towards this objective, his primary research focuses on defining the functional relevance of the default mode network in human cognition, specifically within learning, memory, cognitive flexibility and decision-making, using computer-based assessments as well as magnetic resonance imaging techniques. His findings have been published in influential journals including the Journal of Neuroscience, Human Brain Mapping, Neuroimage and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.