Prof Seán Commins
Biography
Having obtained his PhD from Trinity College Dublin in 1999, Dr. Sean Commins was first appointed as Lecturer (2001) and then as Senior Lecturer (2008) in the Department of Psychology at the National University of Ireland Maynooth. He has over 60 publications in international neuroscience journals such as Brain Research, Hippocampus, European Journal of Neuroscience and Learning & Memory and has presented his work at many international conferences (e.g FENS, EBBS). Dr Commins has attracted funding from a wide variety of sources including Science Foundation of Ireland, Health Research Board of Ireland, the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology and also the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr Commins currently has a team of 2 PhD and 1 MSc students and, to date, has graduated 10 PhD students. Dr. Commins has also received numerous awards including Presidential Early Career Award (2005) and Irish Heart Foundation Noel Hickey award (2011) in recognition of his research. Finally, he is a committee member of Neuroscience Ireland.
Research Interests
Dr. Commins’ research is the general area of behavioural neuroscience and is particularly interested in spatial navigation and the formation of long-term spatial memories. He also examines the role of the hippocampus and the surrounding cortical area (entorhinal and perirhinal) in memory formation and investigates its molecular underpinnings. The second area of interest is the examination of cognitive deficits following stroke. In collaboration with Tallaght Hospital Dublin, Dr. Commins is investigating memory and attentional impairments immediately following stroke and trying to understand how these deficits recover with time. This work also examines the neural underpinnings of such deficits and how the brain changes following recovery. A third area of research is the examination of driving behaviour. In particular, this work investigates the interaction between cognition and driving and how impairments in cognition, through ageing or an age-related disorder, can impinge on a person’s ability to drive.
Research Projects
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Commins S; Fey D; (2019) 'Understanding the role of distance, direction and cue salience in an associative model of landmark learning'. Scientific Reports, 9 (1). [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2019 | Commins S; Kirby BP; (2019) 'The complexities of behavioural assessment in neurodegenerative disorders: A focus on Alzheimer's disease'. Pharmacological Research, 147 . [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2019 | Barry DN; Commins S; (2019) 'A novel control condition for spatial learning in the Morris water maze'. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 318 . [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2019 | Walshe EA; Roche RAP; Ward C; Patterson M; O'Neill D; Collins R; Commins S; (2019) 'Comparable walking gait performance during executive and non-executive cognitive dual-tasks in chronic stroke: A pilot study'. Gait and Posture, 71 . [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2018 | Allen AP; Doyle C; Commins S; Roche RAP; (2018) 'Autobiographical memory, the ageing brain and mechanisms of psychological interventions'. Ageing Research Reviews, 42 . [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2018 | Commins S; (2018) 'Efficiency: an underlying principle of learning?'. Reviews in the Neurosciences, 29 (2). [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Kealy J.; Commins S.; Lowry J. (2017) 'The effect of NMDA-R antagonism on simultaneously acquired local field potentials and tissue oxygen levels in the brains of freely-moving rats'. Neuropharmacology, 116 :343-350. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2017 | Barry DN; Commins S; (2017) 'Temporal dynamics of immediate early gene expression during cellular consolidation of spatial memory'. BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH, 327 . [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2016 | Kemeny A.; Brogan M.; Markham C.; Commins S.; Deegan C. (2016) 'Changing lanes: Generating steerable environments in video-based driving simulation'. Simulation, 92 (5):407-415. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2016 | Anderson, ST; Commins, S; Moynagh, P; Coogan, AN (2016) 'Chronic fluoxetine treatment attenuates post-septic affective changes in the mouse'. BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH, 297 :112-115. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2016 | Farina FR; Commins S; (2016) 'Differential expression of immediate early genes Zif268 and c-Fos in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex following spatial learning and glutamate receptor antagonism'. BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH, 307 . [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2016 | Barry DN; Coogan AN; Commins S; (2016) 'The time course of systems consolidation of spatial memory from recent to remote retention: A comparison of the Immediate Early Genes Zif268, c-Fos and Arc'. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 128 . [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2015 | Brogan, M; Markham, C; Commins, S; Deegan, C (2015) 'Steering in Video-Based Driving Simulation with Stereo Depth Maps Dynamic Perspective Corrections'. Transportation Research Record, :104-112. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2015 | Farina F.; Burke T.; Coyle D.; Jeter K.; McGee M.; O'Connell J.; Taheny D.; Commins S. (2015) 'Learning efficiency: The influence of cue salience during spatial navigation'. Behavioural Processes, 116 :17-27. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2015 | Anderson, ST; O'Callaghan, EK; Commins, S; Coogan, AN (2015) 'Does prior sepsis alter subsequent circadian and sickness behaviour response to lipopolysaccharide treatment in mice?'. Journal of Neural Transmission, 122 :63-73. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2015 | Leamy D.; Kocijan J.; Domijan K.; Duffin J.; Roche R.; Commins S.; Collins ; Ward T. (2015) 'An exploration of EEG features during recovery following stroke - Implications for BCI-mediated neurorehabilitation therapy'. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 11 (1). [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2015 | Walshe, EA; Patterson, MR; Commins, S; Roche, RAP (2015) 'Dual-task and electrophysiological markers of executive cognitive processing in older adult gait and fall-risk'. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9 . [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2015 | Anderson, ST; Commins, S; Moynagh, PN; Coogan, AN (2015) 'Lipopolysaccharide-induced sepsis induces long-lasting affective changes in the mouse'. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 43 :98-109. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2014 | Daly, N; Brogan, M; Kaneswaran, D; Deegan, C; Markham, C; Commins, S (2014) 'An exploratory study of the role played by sustained attention along a rural Irish route using a video-playback system'. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 26 :138-150. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2014 | Brogan, M., Kaneswaran, D., Commins, S., Markham, C., Deegan, C (2014) 'Automatic generation and population of a graphics-based driving simulator: Use of mobile mapping data for behavioral testing of drivers'. Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2434 :95-102. [Full-Text] | |
| 2013 | Diviney, M; Fey, D; Commins, S (2013) 'Hippocampal contribution to vector model hypothesis during cue-dependent navigation'. Learning and Memory, 20 :367-378. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2012 | Duffin, JT; Collins, DR; Coughlan, T; O'Neill, D; Roche, RAP; Commins, S (2012) 'Subtle memory and attentional deficits revealed in an Irish stroke patient sample using domain-specific cognitive tasks'. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 34 :864-875. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2011 | Fey, D; Commins, S; Bullinger, E (2011) 'Feedback control strategies for spatial navigation revealed by dynamic modelling of learning in the Morris water maze'. Journal of Computational Neuroscience, 30 :447-454. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2011 | Kealy J, Commins S. (2011) 'The rat perirhinal cortex: A review of anatomy, physiology, plasticity, and function'. Progress in Neurobiology, 93 :522-548. [Full-Text] | |
| 2011 | Barry, DN; Commins, S (2011) 'Imaging spatial learning in the brain using immediate early genes: insights, opportunities and limitations'. Reviews in the Neurosciences, 22 :131-142. [DOI] | |
| 2010 | Kealy J & Commins S (2010) 'Frequency-dependent changes in synaptic plasticity and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the CA1 to perirhinal cortex projection. '. Journal of Brain Research, 1326 :51-61. [Full-Text] | |
| 2009 | Kealy J.; Commins S. (2009) 'Antagonism of glutamate receptors in the CA1 to perirhinal cortex projection prevents long-term potentiation and attenuates levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor'. Journal of Brain Research, 1265 :53-64. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2008 | McGauran, AMT; Barry, D; Moore, JB; Madsen, D; O'Dea, S; Mahon, BP; Commins, S (2008) 'A possible role for protein synthesis, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in long-term spatial memory retention in the water maze'. Behavioral Neuroscience, 122 :805-815. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2007 | Roche, RAP, Commins, S, Agnew, F, Cassidy, S, Corapi, K, Leibbrand, S, Lipson, Z, Rickard, J, Sorohan, J, Wynne, C & O’Mara, SM (2007) 'Concurrent task performance enhances low-level visuomotor learning'. Perception and Psychophysics, 69 :513-522. [Full-Text] | |
| 2007 | Craig, S; Commins, S (2007) 'Plastic and metaplastic changes in the CA1 and sublicular projections to the entorhinal cortex'. Journal of Brain Research, 1147 :124-139. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2006 | Roche, R.A.P., Scanlon, P. and Commins, S. (2006) 'High-density event-related potentials: Current theories and practice'. The Irish Psychologist, 33 :1-4. [Full-Text] | |
| 2006 | Harvey D, Smith R, English K, Commins, S. and Mahon, B. (2006) 'Interleukin-10 (IL-10) but not Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) produces increased motor activity and abnormal exploratory pattern while impairing spatial learning in Balb/c mice'. Physiology and Behavior, 87 :842-847. [Full-Text] | |
| 2005 | Craig, S; Commins, S (2005) 'Interaction between paired-pulse facilitation and long-term potentiation in the projection from hippocampal area CAI to the entorhinal cortex'. Neuroscience Research, 53 :140-146. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2005 | Craig, S; Cunningham, L; Kelly, L; Commins, S (2005) 'Long-term retention and overshadowing of proximal and distal cues following habituation in an object exploration task'. Behavioural Processes, 68 :117-128. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2005 | Barnes-Holmes, D; Regan, D; Barnes-Holmes, Y; Commins, S; Walsh, D; Stewart, I; Smeets, PM; Whelan, R; Dymond, S (2005) 'Relating derived relations as a model of analogical reasoning: Reaction times and event-related potentials'. JOURNAL OF THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR, 84 :435-451. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2005 | Barnes-Holmes, D; Staunton, C; Whelan, R; Barnes-Holmes, Y; Commins, S; Walsh, D; Stewart, I; Smeets, PM; Dymond, S (2005) 'Derived stimulus relations, semantic priming, and event-related potentials: Testing a behavioral theory of semantic networks'. JOURNAL OF THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR, 84 :417-433. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2004 | McGauran, AMT; Harvey, D; Cunningham, L; Craig, S; Commins, S (2004) 'Retention of cue-based associations in the water maze is time-dependent and sensitive to disruption by rotating the starting position'. BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH, 151 :255-266. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2004 | Roche RAP, Commins S & O’Mara SM. (2004) 'Low-level visuomotor learning disrupts higher-order behavioural control'. IRISH JOURNAL 0F PSYCHOLOGY, 25 (1-4):16-25. | |
| 2004 | D. Barnes-Holmes, C. Staunton, Y. Barnes-Holmes, R. Whelan, I. Stewart, S. Commins, D. Walsh, P. Smeets and S. Dymond (2004) 'Interfacing relational frame theory with cognitive neuroscience: Semantic priming, the implicit association test, and event related potentials'. International Journal of Psychology, 4 :215-240. [Full-Text] | |
| 2003 | Commins, S; Cunningham, L; Harvey, D; Walsh, D (2003) 'Massed but not spaced training impairs spatial memory'. BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH, 139 :215-223. [Full-Text] | |
| 2003 | Shaw KN, Commins, S, O’Mara SM (2003) 'Deficits in spatial learning and synaptic plasticity induced by the rapid and competitive broad-spectrum cyclooxygenase inhibitor ibuprofen are reversed by increasing endogenous brain-derived neurotrophic factor'. European Journal of Neuroscience, 17 :2438-2446. | |
| 2002 | Commins, S; Aggleton, JP; O'Mara, SM (2002) 'Physiological evidence for a possible projection from dorsal subiculum to hippocampal area CA1'. Experimental Brain Research, 146 :155-160. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2001 | Commins, S., L.A.J. O'Neill & O'Mara, S.M. (2001) 'The effects of the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide on synaptic transmission and plasticity in the CA1-subiculum pathway in vivo'. 102 :273-280. | |
| 2001 | Shaw KN; Commins S; O'Mara SM; (2001) 'Lipopolysaccharide causes deficits in spatial learning in the watermaze but not in BDNF expression in the rat dentate gyrus'. BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH, 124 (1). [DOI] | |
| 2001 | O'Mara, S.M., Commins, S., Anderson, M., & Gigg, J. (2001) 'The Subiculum: Perspectives on Anatomy to Behaviour'. Progress in Neurobiology, 64 :129-155. | |
| 2000 | Commins, S. & O'Mara, S.M. (2000) 'Interactions between Paired-Pulse Facilitation, Low-Frequency Stimulation and Behavioural Stress in the Pathway from Hippocampal Area CA1 to the Subiculum: Dissociation of Baseline Synaptic Transmission from Paired-Pulse Facilitation and Depression of the Same Pathway'. Psychobiology, 28 :1-11. | |
| 2000 | O'Mara, S.M., Commins, S. and Anderson, M. (2000) 'Synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal area CA1-subiculum projection: Implications for theories of memory'. Hippocampus, 10 :447-456. | |
| 2000 | Anderson, M., Commins, S. and O'Mara, S.M. (2000) 'The effects of low-frequency and two-pulse stimulation protocols on synaptic transmission in the CA1-subiculum pathway in the anaesthetized rat'. Neuroscience Letters, 279 :181-184. | |
| 1999 | Commins, S., Gemmell, C., Anderson, M., Gigg, J. and O'Mara, S.M. (1999) 'Disorientation combined with parietal cortex lesions causes path integration deficits in the Water Maze'. BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH, 104 :197-200. | |
| 1999 | Commins, S., Anderson, M., Gigg, J. and O'Mara, S.M. (1999) 'Long-Term Potentiation of the Projection from Hippocampal Area CA1 to the Subiculum: The Effects of Single and Multiple Episodes of High Frequency Stimulation'. Neuroscience Letters, 270 :99-102. | |
| 1998 | Commins, S., Gigg, J., Anderson, M. and O'Mara, S.M. (1998) 'Interactions between Paired-Pulse Facilitation and Long-Term Potentiation in the Projection from Hippocampal Area CA1 to the Subiculum'. NeuroReport, 9 :4109-4113. | |
| 1998 | Commins, S., Gigg, J., Anderson M. & O'Mara, S.M. (1998) 'The projection from hippocampal area CA1 to the subiculum sustains long-term potentiation'. NeuroReport, 9 :847-850. | |
| 1997 | O’Mara, S.M., Commins, S., Gemmell, C. & Gigg, J. ( (1997) 'Long-term potentiation: Does it deserve attention?'. Behavioral Brain Research, 20 :625-626. |
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