Neureka - Trinity College Dublin

Airing in Episode Three - Jan 17th - 8.30pm RTE 1

Assoc Prof Claire Gillan

Research Lead - Dr Claire Gillan, Associate Professor, Psychology, Global Brain Health Institute and Trinity College Inst. of Neuroscience

In the Global Brain Health institute in Trinity College Dublin, Associate Professor of psychology Dr Claire Gillan is combining mobile technology with citizen science to help create a clearer picture of what keeps the brain healthy.

The Neureka App asks members of the public to participate in neuroscience research at home, by playing games and tracking their mood and behaviour over time. With thousands of people already involved, this ‘big data’ allows the team to figure out new ways of keeping mental health problems at bay, and promoting resilience to late life cognitive decline.

Participating in the project the players at Monaghan Rugby club are amongst the first users of the App’s Pattern Wise feature that tracks behaviour and inputs the information into a data pool which will help understand why some people are more likely to fall into bad habits.