The Sensing Brain

Dr Antonio Capozio, Dr Stergios Makris and Dr Michel Belyk

Rehabilitating motor functions after spinal cord injury is an important predictor of return to independent living. However, physical rehabilitation can be fatiguing and painful which places practical limitations on rates of recovery (Beani et al, 2020). Our research has shown that brain stimulation can be used to improve neuroplasticity and therefore enhance recovery rates after spinal cord injury (Capozio et al., under review). Recovery can also be improved by having patients observe someone else performing rehabilitation movements, a technique called Action Observation, because observed movements engage a similar network of cortical and subcortical areas as actual movement (Sale, 2012). However, watching someone else perform repetitive movements is not sufficiently engaging to ensure high rates of patient compliance. Some clinics have begun to use observation of dance as a more rewarding activity (Patterson et al., 2018), but it is not currently known whether this intervention engages the brain regions that are required as a successful supplement to traditional rehab.

Dr Valeria Occelli, Dr Michel Belyk, Dr Andrea Piovesan, and Dr Felicity Wolohan
 
Misophonia is characterised by negative emotional reactions to everyday sounds, such as chewing or tapping, is a debilitating condition that can affect an individual’s quality of life. Despite its growing prevalence—affecting an estimated 18% of the UK population (Vitoratou et al., 2023)—misophonia remains a poorly understood condition. Evidence based mitigation is still preliminary, partly due to the lack of primary research, with a need to  investigate how auditory cues combine with visual inputs to evoke misophonic reactions. More research is needed to deepen our understanding of misophonia by exploring the role of multisensory perception and mimicry in triggering aversive responses to specific sounds.

Dr Michel Belyk and Dr Andrea Piovesan 

The prevalence of poor mental health is rising, and correspondingly the public increasingly seek self-directed practices to promote wellbeing. One popular intervention is the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), which is a tingling sensation like “chills” that some people experience in response to certain kinds of sounds. It is accompanied by a feeling of relaxation and subjective wellbeing, leading to the widespread belief that ASMR can reduce anxiety, stress, and sleep difficulties. However, conducting a rigorous assessment of these mental health claims requires a greater understanding of when ASMR occurs, how to optimise it for individual use, and empirical tests of the perceived benefits to mental health and wellbeing.