Disputas – master of engineering Nya Mehnwolo Boayue

The doctoral thesis!

Avhandlingen er tilgjengelig her!

På grunn av koronautbruddet er auditoriet stengt for publikum. Opptak av prøveforelesningen og disputasen vil være tilgjengelig i en måned.

The auditorium will be closed to the public because of the corona outbreak. The trial lecture and the defense will be streamed. A recording of the disputation will be available for one month.

Prøveforelesningen vil være tilgjengelig den 28.08 her.

The trial lecure will be available from the 28th of august here.

De som ønsker å opponere ex auditorio kan sende e-post til leder av disputasen, Førsteamanuensis Elke Snoeren.

Opponents ex auditorio should sign up to the leader of the defense to, Førsteamanuensis Elke Snoeren.

Disputasen starter kl 14.15

Disputasen vil bli strømmet her!

The defense will be streamed here

Populærvitenskapelig sammendrag av avhandlingen:

Our mind’s tendency to wander is an integral part of the human experience. Recent studies suggest that mind wandering (MW) can be modulated by a non-invasive brain stimulation technique called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). However, the efficacy of tDCS on cognition remains debatable. This thesis aimed to investigate the effects of tDCS on MW.  In Paper I, we failed to replicate a previous finding that MW is increased by a more conventional tDCS protocol. In Paper II, we identified a new tDCS setup using simulations, which enables more efficient targeting of brain areas. In Paper III, this new setup was combined with a novel behavioral task, resulting in reduced MW propensity. These results highlight the value of replications in tDCS research and the potential of our new tDCS protocol for modulating MW. A tDCS method that can reliably regulate MW will have implications for conditions with unfavorable behavioral effects of MW, such as major depressive disorder.

Hovedveileder

Matthias Mittner, Institutt for psykologi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitetet

Biveiledere

Førsteamanuensis Csifcsak Gabor, Institutt for psykologi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitetet

Bedømmelseskomité

Assistant professor Julia Kam, University of Calgary, Canada, 1. opponent

Research Fellow Hannah Filmer, University of Queensland, Australia, 2. opponent

Professor James Edgar McCutcheon, Institutt for psykologi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet – leder av komitè

Disputasleder: Førsteamanuensis Eelke Snoeren, Institutt for psykologi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet