LouiseFaber

Username: LouiseFaber

Participant details

	Network Member	Louise Faber
	Organisation/Institution	University of Queensland
	Department/Centre	Queensland Brain Institute
	Lab
	Website	http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au//index.html?page=52827
	Research area	Neuropsychology
	Research keywords	social cognition, executive function, meditation, spirituality

Research Interests

Until recently, during my post-doctoral fellowships and more recently following establishing my own laboratory in 2007, I have been involved in animal studies examining the cellular physiology of the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex, using electrophysiological recordings. However I have recently switched to cognitive neuroscience to examine how spirituality affects cognitive function. I am particularly interested in how meditation and prayer affect basal brain function, such as the default network and trait EEG patterns. In addition my research will be looking at how spiritual practices affect executive functions such as cognitive flexibility, response inhibition and error awareness, and social cognition, such as empathy and theory of mind. Using fMRI and EEG I plan to utilise the reported enhancements in executive function and social cognition in experienced meditators and participants involved in regular prayer to gain a deeper understanding of how these processes are mediated in control participants.

Member for: 11 months 2 weeks 1 days