My Expertise
My expertise is in neuroscience, physiology and bionics, which I apply to the problem of neural coding: understanding the internal language of the brain. I work in sensory systems including touch and hearing in both animal and humans. My work has generated new ideas and IP about how to restore touch to upper limb amputees through a hand prosthesis, and we are exploring its applications to other senses.
Fields of Research (FoR)
Sensory processes, perception and performance, Sensory systems, Neurosciences, Animal physiology - systemsSEO tags
Biography
I am a researcher and educator focussed on understanding the internal language of the brain: its neural code, to enable us to improve brain-machine interfaces such as a bionic hand.
My broad aim is to understand the neural mechanisms that give rise to sensory perception. I work on tactile perception and cortical coding in the somatosensory system, and on tactile prostheses to restore touch to amputees. I use electrophysiological recordings to...view more
I am a researcher and educator focussed on understanding the internal language of the brain: its neural code, to enable us to improve brain-machine interfaces such as a bionic hand.
My broad aim is to understand the neural mechanisms that give rise to sensory perception. I work on tactile perception and cortical coding in the somatosensory system, and on tactile prostheses to restore touch to amputees. I use electrophysiological recordings to collect real-time neural data, and integrate this with behavioural and psychophysical studies to break the neural code.
My Grants
ARC Discovery Project $550 000 2020
Birznieks, Vickery, Potas & Shivdasani
The role of spike patterning in shaping human perception of tactile stimuli.
Learning and Teaching Innovation Grant, UNSW $25 000 2015
Pather, Velan & Vickery
Blended Learning: a framework for selection, implementation, and evaluation.
Learning and Teaching Innovation Grant, UNSW $20 000 2015
Velan, Vickery, Pather, Polly & Harris
Online knowledge maps: automated assessment and feedback to enhance learning in biomedical sciences.
Learning and Teaching Innovation Grant, UNSW $25 000 2015
Polly, Vickery, Cox & Thai
Aligning assessment to track development of graduate capabilities and life-long skills in the biomedical sciences.
Smart Sparrow / BEST Network Grant $15 000 2013
Gibson & Vickery
eModule for Regulation of Plasma Osmolality and volume in human subjects.
NHMRC Project Grant $231 175 2012
Birznieks, Vickery, Macefield & Krishnan
Information encoding by temporal structure of afferent spike trains evoked by complex vibrotactile stimuli.
My Qualifications
BSc Hons (Syd)
PhD (UNSW)
My Awards
Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence - General category (2017)
My Research Activities
Society Memberships & Professional Activities:
Australian Neuroscience Society, Society for Neuroscience (USA), Grant reviewer for NHMRC, ARC, NIH
My Research Supervision
Supervision keywords
Areas of supervision
ILP, Honours, Engineering Thesis, Masters, PhD
Sensory neuroscience, tactile system
Currently supervising
Alwin So (PhD)
My Teaching
I teach medicine, health science, science and engineering students.
My major contributions are to:
SOMS1913 Human Systems 2 (Course convenor)
PHSL2101 Physiology 1A
NEUR2201 Fundamentals of Neuroscience
MFAC1526 Ageing and Endings B
Location
Publications
ORCID as entered in ROS
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2968-7358