Autumn 2025 Review: New Grants, Papers and Training
It has been a busy and productive semester for the Lab. As we head into the break, here is a roundup of the key developments from the last few months.
Building Research Capacity
A core mission of the lab is to equip our researchers with methodological and technical research skills. We continued this month with hands-on training in Eye-Tracking data acquisition. This follows our sessions on fNIRS neuroimaging and will be followed by sessions on experimental programming and open science in the next semester.
Funding Success
Earlier in the year, we announced new active grants for the lab. Dr Wilson and Dr Medimorec, as well as lab member Lorraine Temple have been busy working on the “It’s part of the sport” project, funded by the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG). The project is progressing well and provides a strong platform for future work.
New Publications
Recently findings from the lab published in Behavioural Brain Research (Wilson, 2026) provide novel neuroimaging evidence that a high-construal “Why-prompt” can mechanically up-regulate the Lateral Prefrontal Cortex (LPFC), demonstrating a potential mechanism for restoring executive control during risky decision-making.
Talks and Poster Presentations
Earlier this year, we presented several of our active studies and collaborations at the Teesside University Research Fair. In October, Dr Medimorec gave a talk to the wider department on how the characteristics of language affect memory and in November, Dr Wilson gave a talk on his programme of research into the cognitive neuroscience of gambling harms.
Looking ahead
- In early 2026, we look forward to sharing details of a new funding award.
- There are several papers in preparation, from recently completed studies, which we are looking forward to sharing soon.
- Our collaborations with external partners continue and we are excited to have Dr Katherine White from the Univeristy of Waterloo give a talk next semester.
- Our training programme continues and we are excited to delve into some programming, some stats and open science, with the lab members.
- We are expanding our external engagement activities and will have several events to announce in the new year.