Email liana@psy.otago.ac.nz
Phone 64 3 479 7622
Associate Professor Liana Machado’s primary areas of expertise are neuropsychology and cognitive psychology. Research in her laboratory investigates the mechanisms and machinery underlying healthy brain functions and the cognitive deficits that emerge as a result of brain disease and healthy aging. Associate Professor Machado has published over 40 research articles in high impact international journals. Together, these articles have been cited over 1000 times in other research articles. She collaborates with scientists in Europe and the USA, as well as within New Zealand.
In addition to lecturing on her areas of expertise to university students, Associate Professor Machado serves the community through presentations as well as her role as an invited member of the Neurological Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee.
Liana earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at UCLA in 1994 and a PhD in Neuroscience at UC Davis in 1998. After conducting postdoctoral research for five years in the laboratory of a neurologist in the UK, she joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago in 2003.
Teaching
Research Interests
- Mechanisms and machinery underlying healthy brain functions
- Cognitive deficits that emerge as a result of brain disease and healthy aging
Find out more about Associate Professor Machado's research interests
Media Links
Using electrical brain stimulation (transcranial direct current stimulation) to enhance cognitive functioning
Saturday Morning with Kim Hill, Radio New Zealand National. Interview, 23 May 2015.
Research findings from my laboratory on exercise and brain function
Dunedin Television Nightly Interview, 22 Jan 2015.
Publications
Morton, S. E., O'Hare, K. J. M., Maha, J. L. K., Nicolson, M. P., Machado, L., Topless, R., Merriman, T. R., & Linscott, R. J. (2017). Testing the validity of taxonic schizotypy using genetic and environmental risk variables. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 43(3), 633-643. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbw108
Bierre, K. L., Lucas, S. J. E., Guiney, H., Cotter, J. D., & Machado, L. (2017). Cognitive difficulty intensifies age-related changes in anterior frontal hemodynamics: Novel evidence from near-infrared spectroscopy. Journals of Gerontology Series A, 72(2), 181-188. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glw061
Guiney, H., & Machado, L. (2017). Volunteering in the community: Potential benefits for cognitive aging. Journals of Gerontology Series B. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbx134
Brett, C. H. R., & Machado, L. (2017). Manual versus saccadic assessment of cognitive inhibition and switching in young and older adults. Psychological Assessment, 29(11), 1420-1425. doi: 10.1037/pas0000453
Chen, P. L., & Machado, L. (2017). Developing clinically practical transcranial direct current stimulation protocols to improve saccadic eye movement control. Journal of Eye Movement Research, 10(3), 5. doi: 10.16910/jemr.10.3.5
