Matthew Hughes

Dr. Matthew Hughes is a Senior Lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology's School of Health Sciences and serves as the National Imaging Facility (NIF) Fellow for MRI research. With a PhD from the University of Newcastle completed in 2010, his research focuses on understanding neural mechanisms underlying cognitive processes in various psychiatric conditions using advanced neuroimaging techniques.

His primary research interests include:

• Neural basis of response inhibition and cognitive control
• Neuroimaging studies of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
• Investigation of neurocognitive abnormalities in anorexia nervosa and hoarding disorder
• Relationship between brain morphology and cognitive function across diagnostic categories
• Methodological approaches for reproducible neuroimaging analysis

Dr. Hughes employs advanced neuroimaging techniques including 3T MRI, MEG, and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in his research. His recent work has explored innovative data analysis approaches for neuroimaging, as evidenced by his contribution to the Neurodesk platform published in Nature Methods, which aims to improve reproducibility in neuroimaging analysis.

His research has been supported by multiple competitive grants from the Barbara Dicker Brain Science Foundation, including projects examining EMDR therapy effects in concussion, transcranial direct current stimulation for anorexia nervosa, hearing aid use impact on brain activity, and neurocognitive abnormalities in psychiatric disorders.

As a supervisor, Dr. Hughes is available to guide Doctorate (PhD) students and has supervised multiple doctoral projects focusing on various aspects of cognitive neuroscience and psychiatric disorders. His supervision portfolio demonstrates a commitment to training the next generation of researchers in both methodological approaches and clinical applications of neuroscience research.