Feel free to move around my brain (if you are visiting this page on a laptop browser) - it may tell you something more about me :D.


My Research Interest and Experience

  • My research and learning interests lie in analytic methods, behavioural research, and data science - with a focus on real world applications.

  • My previous research in cognitive science focused on identifying the brain mechanism that supports motivated decision-making behaviours. In a project with research findings published in the journal Human Nature Behaviour, we performed multiple experiments and modelling analyses, showing the common neural activities for risk-taking decisions driven by both curiosity and extrinsic rewards.

  • I completed my doctoral degree (Cognitive Neuroscience) and an MRes degree (Cognitive Neuropsychology) at the University of Birmingham. My PhD research aimed at mapping the brain lesions related to cognitive impairments, particularly visual agnosia (deficits at object recognition) and apraxia (deficits at performing skilled movements and gestures) after stroke.


Scientific Publications

Lau, J.K.L., Ozono, H., Kuratomi, K., Komiya, A. & Murayama, K. (2020). Hunger for Knowledge: How the Irresistible Lure of Curiosity is Generated in the Brain. Nature Human Behaviour, 4, 531–543. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0848-3
Kajimura, S., Masuda, N., Lau, J.K.L. & Murayama, K. (2019). Focused attention meditation changes the boundary and configuration of functional networks in the brain. Scientific Reports, 10, 18426. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75396-9
FitzGibbon, L., Lau, J.K.L. & Murayama, K. (2020). The seductive lure of curiosity: information as a motivationally salient reward. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 35, 21-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.05.014
Ozono, H., Komiya, A., Kuratomi, K., Hatano, A., Fastrich, G., Raw, J.A.L., Haffey, A., Meliss, S., Lau, J.K.L. & Murayama, K. (2020). Magic Curiosity Arousing Tricks (MagicCATs): A novel stimulus collection to induce epistemic emotions. Behavior Research Methods. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-020-01431-2
Lau, J.K.L., Humphreys, G.W., Douis, H, Balani, A., Bickerton, W-L., Rotshtein, P. (2015). The relation of object naming and other visual speech production tasks: A large scale voxel-based morphometric study. NeuroImage: Clinical, 7, 463-475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2015.01.015

For an exhaustive list of all my publications, please refer to my Google Scholar or ORCID profiles.