Why can we respond quickly and accurately one moment, then hesitate or make an impulsive mistake the next? Attention and action fluctuate even when a task stays the same. These fluctuations matter for learning and everyday behaviour, yet response times alone cannot reveal whether their source lies in visual attention, readiness to act, or interactions between brain systems.

This project asks how the developing brain turns sensory information into reliable action. Which brain signals predict a response before it happens? Do visual attention and motor preparation make distinct or shared contributions? How does their balance change from childhood to adolescence?

You will combine wearable magnetoencephalography using optically pumped magnetometers (OPM-MEG) with visual frequency tagging. Children and adolescents aged 8-16 and adults aged 18-30 will complete a task requiring frequent button presses and occasional withholding of responses. Central and peripheral stimuli will flicker continuously at different frequencies, allowing pre-cue visual responses to be tracked alongside motor beta rhythms. Adult and child pilots will establish reliable measurements, supported by eye tracking and attention and movement localisers.

Using multilevel statistical models, you will test competing accounts of behavioural variability, quantify the unique and shared contributions of visual and motor signals to response times and errors, and ask how these change with age. Models will be tested on held-out data, including unseen participants. Working directly with children and adults, you will gain skills in neuroimaging, scientific programming and quantitative analysis. Few laboratories can record OPM-MEG in children.

Following validation, the framework could extend to neurodiverse populations, including people with ADHD, to investigate how variation in these brain mechanisms shapes attention and action.

The project will be supervised by Dr Kyungmin An and Dr Carmel Mevorach.

Before applying for the studentship, please email me (k.m.an@bham.ac.uk) with your CV, academic transcript, and a published research paper.

Funding notes:

This is a PhD studentship with the Midlands Integrated Biosciences Training Partnership, funded by BBSRC and in partnership with the University of Warwick, University of Birmingham, Aston University, Harper Adams University, Coventry University, and the University of Leicester.