Contact
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4512-705X
Email: l.palmer@bbk.ac.uk
Supervisors
Prof Denis Mareschal (Birkbeck, University of London)
Prof. Iroise Dumontheil (University of Melbourne)
Research Interests
My research broadly explores how executive function skills, specifically inhibitory control (one’s ability to suppress a prepotent response), plays a role in science and maths learning. More specifically, my PhD used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to explore the shared neural correlates of inhibitory control and counterintuitive reasoning in maths and science, using inhibitory control localisers and pattern similarity analysis. My PhD research also investigated how this relationship changes across development, from childhood to adolescence and adulthood.
Additionally, I am interested in the neural profiles of inhibitory control subcomponents (e.g. interference control and response inhibition) and how these change with development. My current research uses advanced fMRI techniques to better understand the neural profiles of commonly used interference control and response inhibition tasks, to contribute to the literature on whether inhibitory control should be treated as a diverse or unitary construct.
In addition, I have a strong teaching background at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and a passion for outreach and widening participation in higher education.
Teaching Positions
Associate Lecturer
Birkbeck, University of London | 2025
- R for Reproducible Psychological Research
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Birkbeck, University of London | 2021-2025
- Introduction to Matlab programming (MSc Cognition and Computation), 2021
- Research Methods 2 (Advanced statistics; BSc Psychology), 2021
- Perception and Attention (BSc Psychology), 2023, 2024, 2025,
- Social Psychology (BSc Psychology), 2022, 2023
- Introduction to Python programming (MSc Cognition and Computation), 2022
- Psychology of Individual Differences (BSc, Psychology), 2024, 2025
- Advanced Quantitative Statistics (MSc Psychology), 2022/2023
- R for Reproducible Psychological Research (BSc Psychology)
- Guest Lecture in R Markdown: 2022
- Co-ran module: 2023, 2024
- Neuroimaging methods (MSc Educational Neuroscience)
- Guest lecture and MRI demonstrations: 2022, 2023, 2024
- Postgraduate research skills (PhD students)
- Guest lecture, 2024
- Research Methods 1 (BSc students) resources, 2025
Education
PhD Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience | 2021-2025
Birkbeck, University of London | Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
MSc Brain Imaging and Cognitive Neuroscience - Distinction | 2020-2021
University of Birmingham | Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology
MSc Research project: ‘Associations between Intrinsic Connectivity Networks and Trait Impulsivity in a healthy Japanese community sample’
Supervisors: Dr Stephane De Brito and Dr Stephen Mayhew (CHBH, University of Birmingham)
BSc Neuroscience - First Class |2014-2017
University of Bristol | School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience
Publications
1. Palmer L.R.J., Mareschal, D., & Dumontheil, I. (in press). Similarity of the neural correlates of inhibitory control and maths and science counterintuitive reasoning in adulthood. ZDM Mathematics Education.
2. Palmer L.R.J., Mareschal, D., & Dumontheil, I. (2025). Shared neural correlates of interference control and response inhibition in adolescence and young adulthood. Neuropsycholgia; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109166
3. Palmer L.R.J., Mareschal, D., & Dumontheil, I. (2025). Neural associations between inhibitory control and counterintuitive reasoning in science and maths in primary school children. J Cogn Neurosci; 37 (5): 915–940. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_02303
4. Thomas, M.S.C., Howard-Jones, P., Dudman-Jones, J., Palmer, L.R.J., Bowen, A.E.J. and Perry, R.C. (2024), Evidence, Policy, Education, and Neuroscience—The State of Play in the UK. Mind, Brain, and Education. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12423
5. Bowen, A.E.J., Palmer, L.R.J., Perry, R.C., Thomas, M.S.C., Tolmie, A., Borst, G. and Van Herwegen, J. (2024), Evaluating What Works in the Classroom: Best Practice and Future Opportunities. Mind, Brain, and Education, 18: 474-484. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12430Bowen,
6. A. E. J.*, Palmer, L.R.J.*, Perry, R.*, Thomas, M., (in press). Overview and synthesis of Science of Learning landscape: Bridging interdisciplinary divides. In Scaling System-Wide Education Change in Learning - Convergence of Learning Sciences, Science of Learning, and Science of Systems. Springer Nature Singapore Ltd.
Awards and Funding
- Advance HE Fellow Award (FHEA), September 2025
- Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, 2023, Birkbeck College, University of London (£500 award)
- Graduate Teaching Assistant PhD studentship, Birkbeck, University of London
Conference Presentations
L. Palmer (2024, 10-12 July) Comparison of the neural correlates of science and maths counterintuitive reasoning in adulthood [Symposium: The contribution of different methodologies to our understanding of individual differences in mathematical development interventions]. IMBES, Leuven, Belgium
L. Palmer (2024, 10-12 July) Inhibitory control and the neural correlates of counterintuitive reasoning in maths (and science) using fMRI [Symposium: Conceptual interference: Neurocognitive mechanisms and promising interventions]. IMBES, Leuven, Belgium
L. Palmer & I. Dumontheil (2023, 22-26 August) Stop & Think – development and evaluation of a primary school-based mathematics and science intervention [Symposium: How learning and education shape the brain]. EARLI, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Research Culture activities
- Babylab & Toddlerlab Social Media Manager | CBCD, 2021 – 2025
- Centre for Educational Neuroscience Seminar Series Coordinator, 2021-2025
- Centre for Educational Neuroscience Journal Club Coordinator, 2022 - 2024
- Postgraduate research representative | Psychological Sciences, 2021- 2024