Matthew B. Wall
BSc (Sussex) PhD (Cantab)

e-mail:
m.wall[at]ion.ucl.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0)7801 518566



Update - As from October 2009 I have taken up the position of Joint GSK-IoN Research Associate, working for Professor Paul Matthews at GlaxoSmithkline and Professor Martin Koltzenburg at the Institute of Neurology, UCL. I am working on a more clinically-based project involving imaging the trigeminal nerve system at various levels, from ganglion to cortex. This page will continue to be sporadically updated until a) I bother sorting out a new home for it at UCL, or b) Royal Holloway kicks me off their server, whichever comes first.

Ex-Post-doctoral researcher in the department of psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London. working for Professor Andy Smith, and a member of the vision lab, and the Brain and Behaviour research group. My research is broadly focussed on understanding the neural substrates of perceptual and behavioural processes, using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.


CV Things

Research Interests
Publications
Conferences and Presentations

 

Research Interests

I am currently engaged with a variety of projects which focus on a diverse range of questions. The main focus of the research in my post-doctoral position supervised by Professor Andy Smith has been vision, particularly functionally and anatomically dissociating sub-regions of the motion sensitive areas in the human V5-complex/MT+. A variety of fMRI methods have been employed to this end, including block-design and event-related studies with carefully controlled visual stimuli, ROI-based analyses, retinotopic mapping and fMRI-adaptation paradigms. Methodological MRI work I've been engaged in (in collaboration with Robin Walker) has led to a paper detailing a highly optimised approach for imaging of the superior colliculus.

Other projects include a set of experiments on mirror neurons and motor function with colleagues at the University of Padua, a set of studies on time perception (which evolved from an undergraduate project I helped to supervise), other visual adaptation studies with colleagues in Kyoto and Rovereto, a study investigating the neural substrates of cognitive performance in anxiety with Rita Santos and Michael Eysenck, and a study on speed perception with Steve Hammett.

Upcoming or ongoing projects include a study of the neural substrates involved in the vestibular system, using Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS; with Kai Thilo), a study on the effects of oral administration of creatine on the BOLD response (with Steve Hammett), and a study examining fear processes in chronic low back pain patients (with Tamar Pincus and Rita Santos). As well as this collaborative work, I am continuing my line of research looking at the role of MT/MST and other areas in the processing of optic flow fields.

My interests can therefore be broadly divided into two groups. Firstly the vision-related projects have provided an opportunity for a more physiologically-oriented approach which has involved mostly single-subject ROI analyses and other less commonly-used and novel techniques at the cutting edge of current technology. I enjoy not only the end-product of these investigations, but the process of development of the technology involved in them. Secondly, the other projects I have been involved in have allowed me to continue my interest in the relations between cognitive processes (i.e. anxiety and processing efficiency, perception of motor intentions, time perception) and brain function, utilising more widely-used (i.e. more ‘standard’ cognitive neuroscience) fMRI techniques. I believe the aims and hypotheses of any particular investigation should shape the techniques used, and a flexible and wide-ranging knowledge of fMRI methodology enables a near-optimal solution to be developed for a similarly wide range of research questions.

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Publications

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Smith AT, Wall, MB, Thilo, KT (In prep.) Galvanic vestibular stimulation reveals vestibular inputs to area MST (but not MT) in humans.

Santos, R., Wall, M.B., Pincus, T. (In preparation.) Neural correlates of fear-avoidance in chronic pain patients.

Santos, R., Wall, M.B., Eysenck, M. (In preparation.) Anxiety and processing efficiency: fMRI evidence.

Hammett, S., Wall, M.B., Smith, A.T. (In preparation.). Speed and luminance modulation of the BOLD response in human visual areas.

Hammett, ST., Wall, MB, Edwards, T and Smith, AT, (Submitted) The effect of Creatine Monohydrate on cognitive function and fMRI-BOLD activation.

Lingnau, A, Ashida, H, Wall, MB, Smith, AT (In press) Speed encoding in human visual cortex revealed by fMRI adaptation. Journal of Vision.

Wall, M.B., Walker, R., Smith, A.T. (2009) Functional Imaging of the human superior colliculus: An optimised approach. Neuroimage, 47(4), 1620-7.

Smith, A.T, Wall, M.B. (2008) Sensitivity of human visual cortical areas to the stereoscopic depth of a moving stimulus. Journal of Vision. 8(10), 1-12.

Wall, M.B. and Smith, A.T. (2008) The representation of egomotion in the human brain. Current Biology, 18, 191-194.
Supplementary information:

Wall, M.B., Ashida, H., Lingnau, A., Smith, A.T. (2008) Selective visual responses to expansion and rotation in the human MT complex revealed by fMRI adaptation. European Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 2747-2757.

Ashida, H., Lingnau, A., Wall, M.B., Smith, A.T. (2007) FMRI adaptation reveals separate mechanisms for first-order and second-order motion. Journal of Neurophysiology, 97(2), 1319-25.

Livesey, A.C., Wall, M.B. & Smith, A.T. (2007) Cerebral regions implicated in time perception and time production. Neuropsychologia 45, 321-331.

Begliomini, C., Wall, M. B., Smith, A. T., Castiello, U. (2007) Differential cortical activity for precision and whole-hand visually guided grasping in humans. European Journal of Neuroscience, 25(4), 1245-52.

Pierno, A.C., Becchio, C., Wall, M.B., Smith, A.T., Castiello, U.(2006) Transfer of interfered motor patterns to self from others. European Journal of Neuroscience. 23(7), 1949-55.

Smith, A.T., Wall, M.B., Williams, A.L., and Singh, K.D. (2006) Sensitivity to optic flow in human cortical areas MT and MST. European Journal of Neuroscience, 23(2), 561-9.

Pierno, A.C., Becchio, C., Wall, M.B., Smith, A.T., Turella, L., Castiello, U. (2006) When gaze turns into grasp. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 18(12), 2130-7.

 

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Conferences and Presentations

Smith, A. T., & Wall, M. B. (2008). Human brain regions that are responsive to optic flow only when the flow is consistent with egomotion [Abstract]. Journal of Vision, 8(6):65, 65a, http://journalofvision.org/8/6/65/,

Wall, M. B. & Smith, A.T., Responses to single and multiple flow stimuli in human visual areas MT and MST. Neuroimage 2007, 37, S97.

M.B. Wall, Lingnau, A., Ashida, H., Smith, A.T. (2006) Fast fMRI adaptation reveals sensitivity to optic flow in human MT and MST. Presentation at the Organisation for Human Brain Mapping conference, Florence, Italy.

C. Begliomini, A.T. Smith, M.B.Wall, and U. Castiello (2005) Differential cortical activity in precision- versus whole hand visually guided grasping. Poster presentation at the Organisation for Human Brain Mapping conference, Florence, Italy.

M.B. Wall, A. Livesey and A.T. Smith (2005) Cerebral regions implicated in both time perception and time production. Poster presentation at the Organisation for Human Brain Mapping conference, Toronto, Canada.

C. Begliomini, A.T. Smith, M.B.Wall, and U. Castiello (2005) Differential cortical activity in precision- versus whole hand visually guided grasping. Poster presentation at the MRI Experience, 2005; Birmingham, UK.

A.C. Pierno, C. Becchio, M.B. Wall, A.T. Smith, and U. Castiello (2005) When Gaze Turns Into Grasp. Poster presentation at the Organisation for Human Brain Mapping conference, Toronto, Canada.

Invited presentation at the Department of Psychology, Universtiy of Padua, Italy, December 2004.

A.T. Smith, A.L. Williams, K.D. Singh and M.B. Wall (2004) Sensitivity of Human Visual Areas MT and MST to Optic Flow Stimuli. Poster presentation at the Organisation for Human Brain Mapping conference, Budapest, Hungary.

M.B. Wall, Bradley, B. P., Mogg, K. (2002) Implicit Learning of Emotional Contingencies: a Fear-Relevant Bias. Poster presentation at the Society for Neuroscience conference, Orlando, FL.

Wall, M., Bradley, B. and Mogg, K. (2002) Implicit Learning of Emotional Contingencies: A Fear-Relevant Bias. Talk presented at the First European Meeting of Experimental Psychopathology Research Groups, Leuven, Belgium.

Invited presentation to the Clinical Psychology Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, November 2001.

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