Dr Nadene Dermody

PhD thesis

The Role of the Multiple-Demand System in Fluid Intelligence and Selective Attention: Insights from Lesion and Neuroimaging Studies

My PhD thesis advanced our understanding of how a network of frontoparietal regions, known as the multiple-demand (MD) system, supports intelligent human behaviour. By studying patients with focal brain lesions and using neuroimaging and machine learning methods, I demonstrated that these regions are involved in two key processes required for complex behaviour: fluid intelligence and selective attention. First, I found that damage to these brain regions is linked to deficits in fluid intelligence, suggesting that this system plays an important role in supporting higher-order cognitive functions. Second, I showed that the MD system selectively prioritises information currently relevant to behaviour, underscoring its role in goal-directed cognition. Finally, I provided preliminary evidence that damage to part of this system affects attention-related neural processes, demonstrating that the combination of neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and pattern analysis methods can help us to understand the impact of brain damage on information processing. 

After the PhD

I am currently continuing my research as a postdoc at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. I am also seeking funding to build upon my PhD work; specifically, I hope to expand the approach taken in my PhD to track how attentional processes change during stroke recovery.