Lucy Palmer

Position: PhD Student Office: 32 Torrington Square Room 526 Phone: Fax: Email:

I am a PhD student in the Centre for Educational Neuroscience. More information about my work can be found here.

Research Interests

My research interests lie broadly in Educational Neuroscience and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) methods. More specifically, I am interested in executive functions, including inhibitory control, and how these processes relate to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) learning.

Studying scientific and mathematical concepts can be challenging for students of all ages. The reason for which may be due to the prevalence of counterintuitive concepts in STEM subjects. Building on previous work from the UnLocke programme, my PhD project will explore the neural mechanisms of inhibitory control in counterintuitive reasoning in maths and science, using functional MRI data in primary school children. The second aim of the project will be to investigate the neural mechanisms of inhibitory control and counterintuitive reasoning across development in adolescents and adults.

Recent Publications

Palmer, L., Sumanapala, D. K., Wilkinson, H. R., Smid, C. R., Farran, E. K., Thomas, M. S. C., Dumontheil, I., Mareschal. D.  and the Unlocke Team. Inhibitory control and the neural correlates of science and maths counterintuitive reasoning in primary school children. Presented as a poster at the British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience conference in Birmingham, May 2022.

Palmer, L., Dumontheil, I., Wilkinson, H. R., Sumanapala, D., Farran, E. K., Thomas, M. S. C., Mareschal. D. and the Unlocke Team. Inhibitory control and the neural correlates of science and maths counterintuitive reasoning in primary school children. Presented as a poster at the International Mind, Brain and Education Society Conference in Montreal, July 2022.

Develomental Neurocognition Lab