Liana E. Brown
Associate Professor
B.Sc., M.Sc. (University of Waterloo)
M.S., Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University)
Office: DNA C116
Phone: 705-748-1011 ext. 7238
Email: lianabrown@trentu.ca
Webpage: https://actlab.squarespace.com/
Research interests:
Many everyday activities require that we interact skillfully with the environment. My research is focused on discovering how sensation, perception and movement performance work together as we perform simple, everyday tasks. I focus on four major questions: 1) Can we use our hands to improve vision and/or attention? 2) How do we keep track of where our limbs are in space? 3) How do our moto capabilities influence cognition? 4) Can we learn a new motor skill by watching others perform? The goal as this research program is to understand both what and how information is exchanged between the motor and sensory systems, and the neural bases of this exchange.
During 2025-26, I will take:
- 1 graduate student
- up to 2 honours thesis students
- up to 2 practicum students
Selected publications:
Brown, L.E., Doole, R., & Malfait, N. (2011). The role of motor learning in spatial adaptation near a tool. PLoS ONE, 6:e28999.
Brown, L.E., Wilson, E.T., Obhi, S.S., & Gribble, P.L. (2010). Effect of trial order and error magnitude on motor learning by observing. Journal of Neurophysiology, 104, 1409-1416.
Brown, L.E., Rosenbaum, D.A., & Sainburg, R.L. (2003). Limb position drift: Implications for control of limb position and movement. Journal of Neurophysiology, 90, 3105-3118.