Wolfson Fellow

Dr Amanda Ellison, Ph.D, BAmod Physiology

Personal web page

(email at amanda.ellison@durham.ac.uk)

Research Interests

My interests include the neuroscientific basis of vision; neuronal disruption in migraine headache; visuomotor systems; sensorimotor cortical interfacing; thalamocortical dysrhythmia and the rehabilitative benefits of TMS.

Research Groups

Department of Psychology

• Applied, Clinical and Health Psychology
• Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neuroscience of Learning and Memory

Selected Publications

Books: authored

• Ellison, Amanda (2012). Getting your Head around the Brain. Palgrave Macmillan.

Books: reviews

• Ellison, Amanda (2006). Itti et al, the Neurobiology of Attention. A Review. Perception (35): 859-860.

Books: sections

• Matthew Rushworth & Amanda Ellison. (2005). Spatial representations and attentional systems for action in the parietal cortex. In Attention in Action; Advances from Cognitive Neuroscience. Humphreys, G.W. & Riddoch, M.J. Psychology Press. 233-262.
• Amanda Ellison, Lauren Stewart, Vincent Walsh & Alan Cowey (2003). Magnetic stimulation in studies of vision and attention. In The Neuropsychology of Vision. Fahle, M. & Greenlee, M. Oxford University Press. 163-178.

Journal papers: academic

• Lane, A.R., Ball, K., Smith, D.T. , Schenk, T & Ellison, A. (2013). Near and far space: understanding the neural mechanisms of spatial attention. Human Brain Mapping 34(2): 356-366.
• Alba-Ferrara, L, Ellison, A & Mitchell, R.L.C. (2012). Decoding emotional prosody: resolving differences in functional neuroanatomy from fMRI and lesion studies using TMS. Brain Stimulation 5(3): 347-53.
• Cowey, A, Alexander, I & Ellison, A (2012). Modulation of cortical excitability can speed up blindsight but not improve it. Experimental Brain Research
• Lane, A.R., Smith, D.T., Schenk, T. & Ellison, A. (2012). The involvement of posterior parietal cortex and frontal eye fields in spatially primed visual search. Brain Stimulation 5(1): 11-17.
• Dzhelyova, M.P., Ellison, A. & Atkinson, A.P. (2011). Event-related repetitive TMS reveals distinct, critical roles for right OFA and bilateral posterior STS in judging the sex and trustworthiness of faces. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 23(10): 2782-2796.
• Ball, K., Lane, A., Ellison, A. & Schenk, T. (2011). Spatial priming in visual search: memory for body-centred information. Experimental Brain Research 212(3): 477-485.
• Lane, A.R., Smith, D.T., Schenk, T. & Ellison, A. (2011). The involvement of posterior parietal cortex in feature and conjunction visuomotor search. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 23(8): 1964-1972.
• Hirnstein, M., Bayer, U., Ellison, A. & Hausmann, M. (2011). TMS over the left angular gyrus impairs the ability to discriminate left from right. Neuropsychologia 49: 29-33.
• Ball, K., Smith, D., Ellison, A. & Schenk, T. (2010). A body-centred frame of reference drives spatial priming in visual search. Experimental Brain Research 204(4): 585-594.
• Smith, D., Ball, K., Ellison, A. & Schenk, T (2010). Deficits of reflexive attention induced by abduction of the eye. Neuropsychologia 48(5): 1269-1276.
• Lane, A. R. , Smith, D. T., Ellison, A. & Schenk, T. (2010). Visual exploration training is no better than attention training for treating hemianopia. Brain 133(6): 1717-1728.
• Ball, K., Smith, D., Ellison, A. & Schenk, T (2009). Both egocentric and allocentric cues support spatial priming in visual search. Neuropsychologia 47(6): 1585-1591.
• Ellison, A. & Cowey, A. (2009). Differential and co-involvement of areas of the temporal and parietal streams in visual tasks. Neuropsychologia 47(6): 1609-1614.
• Ellison, A (2008). Are results from different techniques mutually exclusive in the study of how the brain processes visual search?. Cortex 44(1): 99-101.
• Schindler, I., Ellison, A. & Milner, A.D. (2008). Contralateral visual search deficits following TMS. Journal of Neuropsychology 2(2): 501-508.
• Ellison, A., Lane, A.R.L. & Schenk, T. (2007). The interaction of brain regions during visual search processing as revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Cerebral Cortex 17(11): 2579-2584.
• Ellison, A., Lane, A.R. & Schenk, T. (2007). The interaction of brain regions during visual search processing as revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Cerebral Cortex 17: 2579-2584.
• Ellison, A. & Cowey, A. (2007). Time course of the involvement of the ventral and dorsal visual processing streams in a visuospatial task. Neuropsychologia 45(14): 3335-3339.
• Whitney, D., Ellison, A., Rice, N.J., Arnold, D., Goodale, M., Walsh, V. & Milner, A.D. (2007). Visually Guided Reaching Depends on Motion Area MT+. Cerebral Cortex 17(11): 2644-2649.
• Ellison, A. & Cowey, A. (2006). TMS can reveal contrasting functions of the dorsal and ventral visual processing streams. Experimental Brain Research 175(4): 618-625.
• Schenk, T., Ellison, A., Rice, N.J. & Milner, A.D. (2005). The role of V5/MT+ in the control of catching movements: an rTMS study. Neuropsychologia 43(2): 189-198.
• Ellison, A., Schindler, I., Pattison, L. L. & Milner, A. D. (2004). An exploration of the role of the superior temporal gyrus in visual search and spatial perception using TMS. Brain 127(10): 2307-2315.
• Lavidor, M., Ellison, A. & Walsh, V. (2003). The cortical representation of centrally presented words: a magnetic stimulation study. Visual Cognition 10(3): 341-362.
• Ellison, A., Battelli, L., Walsh, V. & Cowey, A. (2003). The effect of expectation on facilitation of colour/form conjunction tasks by TMS over area V5. Neuropsychologia 41(13): 1794-1801.
• Ellison, A., Rushworth, M.F.S. & Walsh, V. (2003). The parietal cortex in visual search: a visuomotor hypothesis. Clinical Neurophysiology 56: 321-330.
• Rushworth, M.F.S., Ellison, A. & Walsh, V. (2001). Complementary localization and lateralization of orienting and motor attention. Nature Neuroscience 4(6): 656-661.
• Stewart, L., Ellison, A., Walsh, V. & Cowey, A. (2001). The role of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in studies of vision, attention and cognition. Acta Psychologica 107(1-3): 275-291.
• Ellison, A. & Walsh, V. (2001). Visual Field asymmetries in attention and learning. Spatial Vision 14(1): 3-9.
• Ellison, A. & Walsh, V. (1998). Perceptual Learning in visual search: some evidence of specificities. Vision Research 38(3): 333-345.
• Walsh, V., Ellison, A., Battelli, L. & Cowey, A. (1998). Task-specific impairments and enhancements induced by magnetic stimulation of human visual area V5. Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences 265(1395): 537-543.
• Walsh, V., Ellison, A., Ashbridge, E. & Cowey, A. (1998). The role of the parietal cortex in visual attention - hemispheric asymmetires and the effects of learning: A magnetic stimulation study. Neuropsychologia 37(2): 245-251.

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Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

• Perception / attractiveness: the biological basis of behaviour; physiology and behaviour; brain and behaviour
• Memory and brain function: the biological basis of behaviour; physiology and behaviour; brain and behaviour
• Medical and health research topics: the biological basis of behaviour; physiology and behaviour; brain and behaviour
• Drink & drugs: the biological basis of behaviour; physiology and behaviour; brain and behaviour
• Human biology and development: the biological basis of behaviour; physiology and behaviour; brain and behaviour
• Neuroscience: the biological basis of behaviour; physiology and behaviour; brain and behaviour
• Dreams and sleep: the biological basis of behaviour; physiology and behaviour; brain and behaviour
• Stress: the biological basis of behaviour; physiology and behaviour; brain and behaviour
• Vision / eye movement: the biological basis of behaviour; physiology and behaviour; brain and behaviour