Hayley MacDonald
Hayley MacDonald, førsteamanuensis, Universitetet i Bergen
Hovedinnhold
- biological psychology
- neurophysiology
- neuroscience
- dopamine
- impulse control
Research interests: I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological and Medical Psychology at the University of Bergen.
My current research focuses on the behavioural, neurophysiological and genetic mechanisms of impulse control i.e. how we control our actions. I am especially interested in how these mechanisms may be influenced by dopamine dysregulation as seen in a wide variety of conditions e.g. Parkinson’s disease, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Tourette syndrome, Schizophrenia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I utilize techniques such as non-invasive brain stimulation, genotyping, computational modelling and electroencephalography to investigate mechanisms of inhibitory control.
I am currently Principal Investigator for a project funded by the Humane Research Trust in the United Kingdom. We are examining novel measures at the level of the muscle, motor cortex and prefrontal brain areas to reveal objective markers of impaired inhibitory control that might indicate a higher risk of developing impulse control disorders in Parkinson’s disease patients. By combining objective markers from multiple levels of the inhibitory control network we will create a systems-level model of how impulse control is affected in Parkinson’s. The overall research aim is to establish the mechanisms behind impaired impulse control in patients with Parkinson’s, bringing us closer to developing a tool to predict - and interventions to prevent – impulse control disorders.
Contact information: hayley.macdonald@uib.no
