Ian M. Devonshire
Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences
Contact
Biography
Ian Devonshire is a neuroscientist, lecturer, author and science communicator currently researching in the laboratory of Dr. Gareth Hathway whilst holding an associate lecturer position at the Open University.
Ian became interested in the workings of the human brain from a young age and enrolled onto one of the very first Neuroscience degree courses offered in the UK, at Sheffield University's Department of Biomedical Sciences. He then moved to the Department of Psychology in Sheffield to complete a doctorate in neuroimaging, in which he applied state-of-the-art brain scanning techniques to the study of drug addiction whilst also trying to understand more about the benefits and limitations of such scanning techniques.
His research interests broadened with a move to the Oxford University when he started applying his neuroscientific knowledge to the classroom, being particularly interested in how young people's intrinsic motivation to learn is a key factor for academic success and how the belief that one's own ability does not match up with what is required can be highly de-motivating. Ian studied pupils' attitudes to learning and whether we can use what we know about brain plasticity to change these attitudes. The relevance of this new style of research, in which neuroscience and psychology meet education, is being increasingly recognised by scientists, policy makers and educationalists. Fascinated by this new field, Ian spent time working to bring these disparate groups together as coordinator of a Parliamentary Group at Westminster tasked to debate Scientific Research in Learning and Education. While at Oxford, such applied research was balanced with a number of concurrent, laboratory-based projects including investigating the impact of environmental enrichment on sensory function, how general anaesthesia influences global measures of brain function and the design & development of physiological measurement tools to aid monitoring of animals while under general anaesthesia in veterinary practice and scientific studies.
As a research fellow in the Laboratory of Developmental Nociception in Nottingham, Ian is currently exploring the anatomy, development and function of brainstem areas critically involved in the modulation of the perception of pain.
In addition to research and policy work, Ian is also very passionate about science outreach and regularly visits schools and colleges with a suitcase full of brains; to date he has delivered over sixty talks, seminars and workshops on various topics in neuroscience to schoolchildren and the public. He has also recently co-authored a book about neuroscience for school teachers, The Learning and the Brain Pocketbook (2011, Teachers Pocketbooks), which was nominated for two awards at the Education Resource Awards 2012.
Media
Click here to find out more about Ian's book 'Learning and the Brain' published by Teachers' Pocketbooks
Click here to view an article in the Times Education Supplement on Ian's outreach activities and education research project
Click here or here to view selected news stories on two neuroscience workshops given at secondary schools
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! For interesting stories from the world of science as well as updates from the Laboratory of Developmental Nociception follow us @DevNoci
Expertise Summary
In vivo and in vitro electrophysiology
Voltage-sensitive dye imaging
Transcranial 2D optical imaging of intrinsic signals
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Laser-Doppler flowmetry
Behavioural neuroscience
Signal and image processing
Recent Publications