Staff profile

Biography

I completed my undergraduate degree, Masters degree and PhD all at Durham University, here in the Psychology department. I then worked as a post-doctoral research associate on a project examining the neural mechanisms of visuo-spatial attention with Dr Ellison. Throughout these positions I began to specialise in the clinical neuropsychology of vision, which remains my main area of interest.

Research Interests

My main research interest is in clinical neuropsychology, specifically vision and spatial attention. I am involved in research examining compensatory interventions for people with visual field defects and I am mainly interested in the role which attention plays in such rehabilitation. As part of this work we have developed Durham Reading and Exploration (DREX) training which is free app for the rehabilitation of partial visual loss. More information can be found at:

www.dur.ac.uk//drex/

 

My additional research involves examining the neural mechanisms of visual attention, with focus on the roles of areas such as posterior parietal cortex and frontal eye fields. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are the primary techniques that I employ in this area.

More broadly I am also interested in mental health and wellbeing, particularly issues like stress and stigma. This includes an interest in how factors such as this could also influence successful rehabilitation following neurological injury.

• Visual Field Defects
• Neurorehabilitation
• Visuospatial attention

• Cognitive Neuroscience

• Collaborator: Dr Amanda Ellison
• Collaborator: Dr Dan Smith
• DREX Project Director

• 2019: Can cognitive tests differentiate Progressive Supranuclear Palsy from Parkinson's disease?(£148494.43 from The Dunhill Medical Trust)
• 2016: An examination of factors influencing the success of a training app for individuals with a partial visual loss(£68644.00 from The Dunhill Medical Trust)
• 2014: Rehabilitation of visual function after brain injury(£105000.00 from AHSN)

• 2015: BPS William Inman Prize: Awarded the BPS William Inman Prize for the paper entitled "Efficacy and feasibility of home-based training for individuals with homonymous visual field defects"

Available for media contact about:

• Vision / eye movement: Rehabilitation of visual function
• Neuroscience:
• Medical and health research topics:
• Psychology:
• Vision / eye movement:

Chapter in book

• Ellison, Amanda, Dunne, Stephen & Lane, Alison R. (2020). Real-world applications in vision and attention: How to help patients find their (golf) balls again. In Real-World Applications in Cognitive Neuroscience. Parkin, Beth Louise Elsevier. 253: 169-200.

Journal Article

• Dunne, Stephen, Williams, Glenn P, Bradbury, Chloe, Keyes, Tamsin, Lane, Alison R., Yang, Keming & Ellison, Amanda (2023). Uncovering the social determinants of brain injury rehabilitation. Journal of Health Psychology
• Yang, Keming,, Armstrong, Nicole,, Diamond, Clare,, Lane, Alison R, & Dunne, Stephen (2022). The meaning of loneliness to stroke survivors: A qualitative study in Northeast England. Journal of Health Psychology 27(11): 2539-2548.
• Musa, Azuwan, Lane, Alison R. & Ellison, Amanda (2022). The effects of induced optical blur on visual search performance and training. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 75(2): 277-288.
• Reissland, N., Einbeck, J., Wood, R. & Lane, A. (2021). Effects of maternal mental health on prenatal movement profiles in twins and singletons. Acta paediatrica 110(9): 2553-2558.
• Dunne, Stephen, Close, Helen, Richards, Nicola, Ellison, Amanda & Lane, Alison R (2020). Maximizing Telerehabilitation for Patients With Visual Loss After Stroke: Interview and Focus Group Study With Stroke Survivors, Carers, and Occupational Therapists. Journal of Medical Internet Research 22(10): e19604.
• Reissland, N., Wood, R. Einbeck, J. & Lane, A. (2020). Effects of maternal mental health on fetal visual preference for face-like compared to non-face like light stimulation. Early Human Development 151: 105227.
• Reissland, N., Wood, R., Einbeck, J. & Lane, A. (2020). Testing fetal abilities: A commentary on studies testing prenatal reactions to light stimulation. Iscience
• Ellison, Amanda, Ball, Keira L. & Lane, Alison R. (2017). The Behavioral Effects of tDCS on Visual Search Performance Are Not Influenced by the Location of the Reference Electrode. Frontiers in Neuroscience 11: 520.
• Ball, Keira, Birch, Yan, Lane, Alison, Ellison, Amanda & Schenk, Thomas (2017). Comparing the effect of temporal delay on the availability of egocentric and allocentric information in visual search. Behavioural Brain Research 331: 38-46.
• Smith, Daniel T. & Lane, Alison R. (2017). Working memory enhances target detection in the blind hemifield. Visual Cognition 25(1-3): 4-9.
• Lane, Alison R., Ball, Keira & Ellison, Amanda (2015). Dissociating the neural mechanisms of distance and spatial reference frames. Neuropsychologia 74: 42-49.
• Ellison, A., Ball, K.L., Moseley, P., Dowsett, J., Smith, D.T., Weis, S. & Lane, A.R. (2014). Functional Interaction between Right Parietal and Bilateral Frontal Cortices during Visual Search Tasks Revealed Using Functional Magnetic Imaging and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. PLoS ONE 9(4): e93767.
• Aimola, Lina, Lane, Alison R., Smith, Daniel T., Kerkhoff, Georg, Ford, Gary A. & Schenk, Thomas (2014). Efficacy and feasibility of home-based training for individuals with homonymous visual field defects. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 28(3): 207-218.
• Ball, K., Lane, A. R., Smith, D. T. & Ellison, A. (2013). Site-Dependent Effects of tDCS Uncover Dissociations in the Communication Network Underlying the Processing of Visual Search. Brain Stimulation 6(6): 959-965.
• Lane, A.R., Ball, K., Smith, D.T. Schenk, T & Ellison, A. (2013). Near and far space: understanding the neural mechanisms of spatial attention. Human Brain Mapping 34(2): 356-366.
• Hesse, C, Lane, AR, Aimola, L & Schenk, T (2012). Pathways involved in human conscious vision contribute to obstacle-avoidance behaviour. European Journal of Neuroscience 36(3): 2383-2390.
• Lane, A.R., Smith, D.T., Schenk, T. & Ellison, A. (2012). The involvement of posterior parietal cortex and frontal eye fields in spatially primed visual search. Brain Stimulation 5(1): 11-17.
• Lane, A.R., Smith, D.T., Schenk, T. & Ellison, A. (2011). The involvement of posterior parietal cortex in feature and conjunction visuomotor search. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 23(8): 1964-1972.
• Ball, K., Lane, A., Ellison, A. & Schenk, T. (2011). Spatial priming in visual search: memory for body-centred information. Experimental Brain Research 212(3): 477-485.
• Lane, A. R. Smith, D. T., Ellison, A. & Schenk, T. (2010). Visual exploration training is no better than attention training for treating hemianopia. Brain 133(6): 1717-1728.
• Smith, D.T., Lane, A.R. & Schenk, T. (2008). Arm position does not attenuate visual loss in patients with homonymous field deficits. Neuropsychologia 46(9): 2320-2325.
• Lane, A.R., Smith, D.T. & Schenk, T. (2008). Clinical treatment options for patients with homonymous visual field defects. Clinical Opthalmology 2(1): 93-102.
• Ellison, A., Lane, A. R. & Schenk, T. (2007). The interaction of brain regions during visual search processing as revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Cerebral Cortex 17(11): 2579-2584.