Putting research to work: Prof S.H. Annabel Chen

Our brain plays a vital role in how we perceive and interact with the world. Can we harness the brain's ability to change and adapt to enhance learning or to treat conditions like mental health issues?

This is one of the questions that Prof S.H. Annabel Chen of NTU’s School of Social Sciences explores in her research at the Clinical Brain Lab. The clinical neuropsychologist is interested in how brain networks influence our thinking and behaviour, and how we can use this knowledge to make our brains work better.

Her earlier study at Stanford University challenged the traditional view that a part of the brain known as the cerebellum is only involved in movement. Through functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation, she found that the cerebellum is also important for higher cognitive functions like working memory.

This discovery has been employed to understand conditions such as chronic alcoholism, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Now, Prof Chen is studying the role of the cerebellum in language, especially reading, to improve intervention strategies for reading difficulties, such as dyslexia.

Her team at the Clinical Brain Lab is also exploring how our brains change as we age, particularly in Asian populations. Her research suggests that combining physical and mental exercises can boost cognition in older adults.

Together with colleagues at the National Institute of Education (NIE) in NTU, Prof Chen studied the benefits of a square stepping exercise on cognition and well-being in the elderly. She also partnered investigators in the Philippines to improve the thinking abilities of older adults exhibiting mild cognitive impairment through dance, with evidence from neuroimaging.

In the last several years, Prof Chen has been involved in the national Science of Learning initiative. Currently, she is Director of the Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE) at NTU, a pan-university research centre that supports interdisciplinary research across the University to transform learning in higher education.

Applying science of learning concepts to education, the CRADLE team is examining the brain networks involved in biliteracy. The team has shown that working memory is linked to reading, which presents significant implications for teaching and learning.

In a project funded by Singapore’s Ministry of Education, Prof Chen is also studying how brain networks are involved in the development of reading, mathematics and working memory skills. The goal is to identify and help students who may be struggling in these areas.

Prof Chen is also a co-director of NTU’s Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition, which hosts international collaborations with the University of Cambridge to examine how cognitive flexibility can be enhanced to optimise learning and develop educational and real-life applications.

To make cognitive neuroscience findings accessible to educators, Prof Chen is working with colleagues at NIE and developers of the BrainMap project at the University of Texas Health Science Centre to develop visualisation tools for various brain functions and networks.

More recently, Prof Chen has ventured into the interdisciplinary field of social neuroscience. She aims to unravel the brain processes underlying deception, cognitive biases and the perception of real and fake information.

“A critical understanding of how the brain is involved in thinking and behaviour is important for optimising its function. I look forward to pushing the frontiers of what we know about this remarkable organ,” says Prof Chen.

The article appeared first in NTU's research & innovation magazine Pushing Frontiers (issue #23, March 2024).