UQ Amplify Lecturer
Affiliate Research Fellow
Overview
I currently hold a research fellow position in the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland and an affiliate position at the Queensland Brain Institute. My research has primarily involved developing and applying advanced neuroimaging techniques and computational models to investigate the neural underpinnings of human perception and behavior. More specifically, I have led a number of investigations using fMRI (at both 3T and 7T) to measure brain activity throughout various cortical areas (e.g., visual, somatosensory, motor) as well as in the subcortex. My current research focus is on applying 7T fMRI to measure layer- and column-specific cortical activity in order to study bottom-up and top-down processes in human sensory cortices.
Research Impacts
Ultra-high field (7T) MRI scanners are incredible resources capable of providing unprecedented opportunities for human imaging and thus for societal impact. My work serves to build capacity at these instruments by developing acquisition and processing strategies that will not only streamline their use, but more importantly, will establish experimental methods to perform high spatial resolution (e.g., layer- and column-specific) functional imaging in awake and behaving humans and thus expand the capacity for cutting-edge research and discovery. Not only will this have impact by paving the way for basic research discovery, but it will also contribute to transitioning 7T MRI into being a powerful tool for clinical use and hence further commercialization of these instruments.
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, WCW
Publications
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Journal Article: Manipulating the structure of natural scenes using wavelets to study the functional architecture of perceptual hierarchies in the brain
Puckett, Alexander M., Schira, Mark M., Isherwood, Zoey J., Victor, Jonathan D., Roberts, James A. and Breakspear, Michael (2020). Manipulating the structure of natural scenes using wavelets to study the functional architecture of perceptual hierarchies in the brain. NeuroImage, 221 117173, 117173. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117173
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Journal Article: Susceptibility artifact correction for sub-millimeter fMRI using inverse phase encoding registration and T1 weighted regularization
Duong, S. T.M., Phung, S. L., Bouzerdoum, A., Boyd Taylor, H. G., Puckett, A. M. and Schira, M. M. (2020). Susceptibility artifact correction for sub-millimeter fMRI using inverse phase encoding registration and T1 weighted regularization. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 336 108625, 108625. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108625
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Journal Article: Bayesian population receptive field modeling in human somatosensory cortex
Puckett, Alexander M., Bollmann, Saskia, Junday, Keerat, Barth, Markus and Cunnington, Ross (2020). Bayesian population receptive field modeling in human somatosensory cortex. NeuroImage, 208 116465, 116465. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116465
Grants
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Linking human brain structure to function with ultra-high resolution fMRI
(2020–2022) ARC Discovery Projects
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Cortical-layer-specific functional imaging of the human brain
(2018–2020) ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
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(2016) Ian Potter Foundation
Supervision
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Applications of Geometric Deep Learning for Neuroscience
Doctor Philosophy
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Cortical columns: Linking human brain structure and function with ultra-high field fMRI
Doctor Philosophy
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High-resolution brain imaging of predictive coding in cortical layers for human perception
Doctor Philosophy
Publications
Journal Article
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Puckett, Alexander M., Schira, Mark M., Isherwood, Zoey J., Victor, Jonathan D., Roberts, James A. and Breakspear, Michael (2020). Manipulating the structure of natural scenes using wavelets to study the functional architecture of perceptual hierarchies in the brain. NeuroImage, 221 117173, 117173. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117173
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Duong, S. T.M., Phung, S. L., Bouzerdoum, A., Boyd Taylor, H. G., Puckett, A. M. and Schira, M. M. (2020). Susceptibility artifact correction for sub-millimeter fMRI using inverse phase encoding registration and T1 weighted regularization. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 336 108625, 108625. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108625
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Bayesian population receptive field modeling in human somatosensory cortex
Puckett, Alexander M., Bollmann, Saskia, Junday, Keerat, Barth, Markus and Cunnington, Ross (2020). Bayesian population receptive field modeling in human somatosensory cortex. NeuroImage, 208 116465, 116465. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116465
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Vascular effects on the BOLD response and the retinotopic mapping of hV4
Boyd Taylor, H. G., Puckett, A. M., Isherwood, Z. J. and Schira, M. M. (2019). Vascular effects on the BOLD response and the retinotopic mapping of hV4. PLoS One, 14 (6) e0204388, e0204388. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204388
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Puckett, Alexander M., Bollmann, Saskia, Poser, Benedikt A., Palmer, Jake, Barth, Markus and Cunnington, Ross (2017). Using multi-echo simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) EPI to improve functional MRI of the subcortical nuclei of the basal ganglia at ultra-high field (7T). NeuroImage, 172, 886-895. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.12.005
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Puckett, Alex, Bollmann, Saskia, Barth, Markus and Cunnington, Ross (2017). Measuring the effects of attention to individual fingertips in somatosensory cortex using ultra-high field (7T) fMRI. NeuroImage, 161, 179-187. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.08.014
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Serial correlations in single-subject fMRI with sub-second TR
Bollmann, Saskia, Puckett, Alexander M., Cunnington, Ross and Barth, Markus (2017). Serial correlations in single-subject fMRI with sub-second TR. NeuroImage, 166, 152-166. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.10.043
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Puckett, Alexander M., Aquino, Kevin M., Robinson, P. A., Breakspear, Michael and Schira, Mark M. (2016). The spatiotemporal hemodynamic response function for depth-dependent functional imaging of human cortex. NeuroImage, 139, 240-248. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.06.019
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The attentional field revealed by single-voxel modeling of fMRI time courses
Puckett, Alexander M. and Deyoe, Edgar A. (2015). The attentional field revealed by single-voxel modeling of fMRI time courses. Journal of Neuroscience, 35 (12), 5030-5042. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3754-14.2015
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Puckett, Alexander M., Mathis, Jedidiah R. and DeYoe, Edgar A. (2014). An investigation of positive and inverted hemodynamic response functions across multiple visual areas. Human Brain Mapping, 35 (11), 5550-5564. doi: 10.1002/hbm.22569
Conference Publication
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Saskia Bollmann, Steffen Bollmann, Alex Puckett, Andrew Janke and Markus Barth (2017). Non-Linear Realignment Using Minimum Deformation Averaging for Single-Subject FMRI at Ultra-High Field. ISMRM, Honolulu, 22-27 April 2017.
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Measuring the attentional field throughout human visual cortex
Puckett, Alexander and DeYoe, Edgar (2013). Measuring the attentional field throughout human visual cortex. Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference ACNS-2013 , Melbourne, VIC Australia, 28 November - 1 December 2013. Lausanne, Switzerland: Frontiers Research Foundation. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00135
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Schira, Mark , Puckett, Alexander , Breakspear, Michael , Robinson, Peter and Aquino, Kevin (2013). Towards concrete, in-depth and applicable predictions of BOLD responses; modelling the complete cascade from visual stimulus to neuronal response to vascular hemodynamics. Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference ACNS-2013, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 28 November - 1 December 2013. Lausanne, Switzerland: Frontiers Research Foundation. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00166
Grants (Administered at UQ)
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Linking human brain structure to function with ultra-high resolution fMRI
(2020–2022) ARC Discovery Projects
-
Cortical-layer-specific functional imaging of the human brain
(2018–2020) ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
-
(2016) Ian Potter Foundation
PhD and MPhil Supervision
Current Supervision
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Applications of Geometric Deep Learning for Neuroscience
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
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Cortical columns: Linking human brain structure and function with ultra-high field fMRI
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
-
High-resolution brain imaging of predictive coding in cortical layers for human perception
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
