Cognition & Communication Research Centre

This group of researchers carry out research into human cognition and communication. They aim to understand how people - from children to older members of society - communicate and interact with one another in real and virtual worlds.

One key focus is how cognition and communication change across the lifespan in both typical and atypical development. Work ranges from investigations of children's understanding of object ownership, interventions for hearing impairment, eye gaze correlates of cognition in autism and Williams syndrome, to the impact of ageing on cognition.

Other academics focus on language. This work includes behavioural and neural correlates of language comprehension and production as well as embodied cognition and language. For example, using a range of neural imaging techniques including fMRI, MEG and TMS, some of these researchers investigate the neural basis of reading.

Researchers in this group also investigate the impact that perceptual events can have on cognitive processes such as creativity and memory. Behavioural, cognitive and neural imaging techniques (such as fMRI and EEG) are used.

Research within the Psychology and Communication Technology Laboratory (PACT Lab) looks at ways in which new communications, media and technology affect people's choices and behaviours with a particular focus on users' perceptions of trust, privacy and security. 

Case Studies:

Northumbria researchers advise government on breakfast clubs

Paving the way for peer-to-peer health advice