Cognitive Neuroscience Hub Annual Symposium

Join us for the Cognitive Neuroscience Hub’s 3rd Annual Symposium, a full-day in-person event bringing together researchers, students and the broader cognitive neuroscience community.

This year’s symposium will showcase research spanning brain-body interactions, perception, and neurodevelopmental disorders, with speakers from the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Deakin University and beyond.

Hear about new research, explore key questions across the field, and connect with researchers working across different areas of cognitive neuroscience.

Event Details:

Date: Thursday 5th November 2026
Time: 9:30 AM-3:15 PM
Location: Forum Theatre, Level 1, Arts West Building, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3051
Audience: Open to researchers, students, and anyone with an interest in cognitive neuroscience

This is an in-person event. Presentations will be recorded and made available on the Cognitive Neuroscience Hub’s YouTube channel following the symposium.

Catered morning tea and lunch will be provided. Please indicate any dietary requirements when registering.

Program:

Session 1: Brain-Body
Dr Amy Loughman (The University of Melbourne)

The gut-microbiome-brain axis: where are we in clinical translation?

Bio: Amy Loughman is a clinical neuropsychologist and academic at MSPS. Her research investigates micro and macro environments across two core themes. The first is the human microbiome within the gut-brain axis. Amy is particularly interested in ensuring the robustness of microbiome findings, and the responsible use of the research. At the larger scale of environments, Amy's research relates to whether, how and for whom the design of outpatient mental health environments matters (topic of this colloquium talk).

Dr Jodie Naim-Feil (The University of Melbourne)

Rhythms beyond the noise: Uncovering personalised multiday brain–body dynamics and their implications for cognition

Bio: Dr Jodie Naim-Feil is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Melbourne and Co-founder of Rhythmiq Analytics. Her research combines neuroscience and neuroengineering to investigate rhythms across brain and body systems and develop personalised approaches to predicting physiological and behavioural states. Her recent work focuses on personalised multiday rhythms in human physiology and their relationships with stress and psychological symptoms, with broader implications for cognition and brain–body dynamics.

Dr Ye Ella Tian (The University of Melbourne)

Brain-body links in ageing and psychiatry

Bio: Dr Ye Ella Tian is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist by training and holds a PhD in systems neuroscience. She is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and leads the Brain-Body Dynamics Research Group at the Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne. Her research aims to understand the complex interrelationship between brain and body systems across the lifespan, in health and neuropsychiatric diseases.

Session 2: Perception
Professor Nao Tsuchiya (Monash University)

Is My “Red” Your “Red”? A novel structural / mathematical approach to study Qualia (conscious experience)

Bio: Professor Nao Tsuchiya is a neuroscientist and Professor of Psychology at Monash University’s Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health. His research investigates the neural and computational basis of consciousness, combining psychophysics, neuroimaging and computational approaches. His recent work focuses on the structure of subjective experience and its relationship to neural mechanisms.

Dr Daniel Feuerriegel (The University of Melbourne)

From information to action: The electrophysiology of speeded decision-making

Bio: Daniel Feuerriegel is the Head of the Prediction and Decision-Making Lab housed within the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences. His team uses a combination of neuroimaging, psychophysics, machine learning, and computational modelling techniques to investigate how decisions and visual percepts are formed in the human brain. His lab studies a wide range of decision types, including perceptual, personal preference-based, dietary, metacognitive, social, and recognition memory judgments. His group also studies how structural and functional properties of our brains are shaped by the structure of our everyday sensory environments, and how these properties can be studied using perceptual illusions.

Session 3: Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Associate Professor Megan Spencer-Smith (Monash University)

A brain that develops without a corpus callosum: the remarkable capacity- and limits- of developmental plasticity for cognition and behaviour

Bio: Associate Professor Megan Spencer-Smith is a researcher in developmental psychology at Monash University’s Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health. Her research investigates cognitive plasticity across childhood, with a particular focus on understanding variation in cognitive and behavioural outcomes across development. Her work spans cognitive training, very preterm birth, and developmental absence of the corpus callosum. Using cognitive, behavioural and neuroimaging approaches, she investigates how experiences and differences in brain structure and connectivity shape developmental outcomes, and the capacity of the developing brain to adapt.

Professor Katherine Johnson (The University of Melbourne)

Asking adults with ADHD about their cognitive experiences of ADHD

Bio: Professor Katherine Johnson is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist researching attention control. She has a special interest in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Her research covers the lifespan. Katherine holds a Teaching and Research position in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, at the University of Melbourne.

Professor Tim Silk (Deakin University)

Longitudinal brain development, epigenetics, environment and ADHD clinical outcomes

Bio: Professor Tim Silk is a cognitive neuroscientist and Professor of Psychology at Deakin University, where he leads the Brain and Cognitive Development Lab. His research uses neuroimaging to investigate brain development and the neural basis of neurodevelopmental conditions, with a particular focus on ADHD. His work spans childhood and adolescent development, cognition and mental health.

Dr Elise Rowe (The University of Melbourne):

Investigating perception in psychosis using OPMEG and layer fMRI

Bio: Dr Elise Rowe is a Research Fellow within the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on perception, predictive coding, conscious awareness, and mental health. She is currently using advanced neuroimaging techniques, including OPM-MEG and layer fMRI, to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying perceptual changes in psychosis.

We look forward to welcoming you for another exciting day of neuroscience.

Any questions can be directed to [email protected]

Event venue & nearby stays

Forum Theatre, Level 1, Arts West Building, Melbourne, Australia

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