Dr Jones joined Middlesex University in 2013. Before joining the Psychology department he worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Universite Paris Descartes. Prior to Paris he worked as a visiting lecturer and research fellow in London (BPP, City University). Dr Jones received his PhD from City University London.
BSc, MSc, PhD, PGcertHE
REF2021 Unit of Assessment 4 co-ordinator
Lab website
www.jones-silas-lab.com
Swedish, English
Dr Jones teaches across a range of both undergraduate and post graduate programmes. In particular, research methods, biological, and cognitive neuroscicne related modules.
Programme leader for
MSc in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience
MSc by Research in Cognitive Neuroscience
Broadly, Dr Jones' research interests include attention, action, and multisensory integration, and using cognitive neuroscience techniques to investigate how the brain and behaviour relate. Focus has been on exploring how we select and attend to information which is constantly bombarding our senses. In particular how we process and attend to the sense of touch and how the neural oscillations entrain to rhythmic stimuli. Of interest has also been to explore how we process sensory information which is a consequence of our own actions (action prediction). Moreover, how do we perceive other peoples' actions (action observation), and whether this is different for experts and non-experts
Key research areas and methods include electroencephalography (EEG), event related potentials (ERPs), transcranical alternating current stimulation (tACS) and behavioural measures (e.g., response times and error rates).
Lab website
www.jones-silas-lab.com
Research output
Journal articles
Korko M., Coulson M., Jones A., de Mornay Davies P. (2021). Types of interference and their resolution in monolingual word production,
Acta Psychologica, Volume 214, 103251,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103251.
Jones, A., Silas, J., Todd, J., Stewart, A., Acree, M., Coulson, M., & Mehling, W. E. (2020). Exploring the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness in youth aged 7–17 years. Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jclp.23067
Jones, A., & Ward, E. V. (2019). Rhythmic temporal structure at encoding enhances recognition memory. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 31(10), 1549-1562.
Silas, J., Tipple, A., & Jones, A. (2019). Event-related alpha desynchronization in touch–Comparing attention and perception. Neuroscience letters, 705, 131-137.
Jones, A. (2019). Temporal expectancies and rhythmic cueing in touch: The influence of spatial attention. Cognition, 182, 140-150.
Karlinski, M., Jones, A., & Forster, B. (2019). Electrophysiological evidence for changes in attentional orienting and selection in functional somatic symptoms. Clinical Neurophysiology. doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2018.09.027
Mehling, W. E., Acree, M., Stewart, A., Silas, J., & Jones, A. (2018). The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version 2 (MAIA-2). PLOS ONE, 13(12), e0208034. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208034
Jones, A., Yarrow, K. & Silas, J. (2018). Are alpha oscillations generated by the somatosensory cortex involved in tactile attention? A registered report using transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS). Cortex, Registered report: In Principle Accepted. DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/P7AME
Jones, A,. Hsu Y-F., Granjon, L. and Waszak F. (2017) Temporal expectancies driven by self- and externally generated rhythms, NeuroImage, 156, 352-362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.05.042
Singh, N., Huyck, C., Gandhi, V., Jones, A. (2017). 'Neuron-Based Control Mechanisms for a Robotic Arm and Hand'. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Science Index 122, International Journal of Computer, Electrical, Automation, Control and Information Engineering, 11(2), 175 - 183.
Hadar, A. A., Rowe, P., Di Costa, S., Jones, A., & Yarrow, K. (2016). Motor-evoked potentials reveal a motor-cortical readout of evidence accumulation for sensorimotor decisions. Psychophysiology. http://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12737
Forster, B., Tziraki, M., & Jones, A. (2016). The attentive homunculus: ERP evidence for somatotopic allocation of attention in tactile search. Neuropsychologia, 84, 158-166.
Jones, A. (2015). Independent effects of bottom-up temporal expectancy and top-down spatial attention. An audiovisual study using rhythmic cueing. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience. 8:96. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2014.00096
Jones, A. and Forster B. (2015). Body in Mind. Frontiers in Psychology. 6:56. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00056
Jones, A. & Forster, B. (2014). Neural correlates of endogenous attention exogenous attention and inhibition of return in touch. European Journal of Neuroscience, 40, pp. 2389–2398. doi:10.1111/ejn.12583
Article selected for a virtual issue on 'Attention' in European Journal of Neuroscience (Edited By: Jean-Marc Fritschy and Martin Sarter, ISSN: 1460-9568).
Jones A., Hughes G., Waszak F. (2013). The interaction between attention and motor prediction. An ERP study. NeuroImage 83, 533–541. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.07.004
Jones A., & Forster, B. (2013).Lost in vision: ERP correlates of exogenous tactile attention when engaging in a visual task, Neuropsychologia, 51, 675-685. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.01.010
Jones, A. & Forster, B (2013). Independent effects of endogenous and exogenous attention in touch. Somatosensory and Motor Research, 30(4), 161-166. DOI: 10.3109/08990220.2013.779243
Jones, A., & Forster, B. (2012) Reflexive attention in touch: An investigation of event related potentials and behavioural responses. Biological Psychology, 89, 313-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.11.004
Conference presentations, abstracts and proceedings
Lindner E., Darriba A., Yang Q., Jones A., Waszak F., Desantis A. The temporal dynamics of action-effect prediction: An EEG study. Presented at 3rd Gottingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society. March 2019
Jones, A. & Ward, E. V. Rhythmic encoding improves recognition memory. Poster presented at the 25th Annual Cognitive Neuroscience Conference (CNS), San Francisco USA, March, 2019
Silas J., Leniz I., Chinellato E., Forster B., and Jones A.. Successful classification of attentional tasks by power modulations in the alpha frequency band. Poster presented at the 25th Annual Cognitive Neuroscience Conference (CNS), San Francisco USA, March, 2019
Jones, A. & Ward, E. V. Rhythmic encoding improves recognition memory. Presentation at British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience (BACN), Glasgow, 6-7 Sept. 2018
Silas J. and Jones A.: Individual peak alpha frequency in touch – cognitive and methodological implications. Presentation at British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience (BACN), Glasgow, 6-7 Sept. 2018
Jones A. & Silas. J. Individual peak alpha frequency in touch – cognitive and methodological implications Poster presented at the 24th Annual Cognitive Neuroscience Conference (CNS), Boston USA, March, 2018
Jones A.Temporal and spatial attention in touch. Presentation at 1st Conference of Timing Research Forum, Strasbourg, France (23-25th October, 2017)
Bezrukova, E., Zaleshin, M., Naletova, N., Ryabinin, A., Butterworth, B., Jones, A., Kovas, Y., Karolis, V. Training cognitive processes underlying mental arithmetic: an EEG study. Poster presented at the Annual ‘Aspects of Neuroscience’ conference, Warsaw, Poland 24-26th Nov. 2017.
Calvo-Merino, B., Forster, B., Jones A., & Gillmeister H. (2017). The sensory homunculus feels beyond our body: from emotion to aesthetics. Presentation at the annual meeting of British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience (BACN), September 2017, Plymouth, UK
Forster, B., Karlinski, M., & Jones, A. (2017) Preparatory processes to touch are reduced in individuals reporting high somatic symptoms. Presentation at the annual meeting of British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience (BACN), September 2017, Plymouth, UK
Jones, A. and Forster. B. (2017). Alpha oscillations during exogenous and endogenous attention in touch. Poster presented at the 24th Annual Cognitive Neuroscience Conference (CNS), San Francisco USA, March, 2017
Calvo-Merino, Jones, A., Haggard, P. and Forster. B. (2017). Embodiment and expertise effects on aesthetics judgments. Poster presented at the 24th Annual Cognitive Neuroscience Conference (CNS), San Francisco, USA, March, 2017
Forster, B., Karlinski, M. and Jones, A. (2017). Somatic symptoms and exogenous attention: an ERP study investigating modality specificity. Poster presented at the 24th Annual Cognitive Neuroscience Conference (CNS), San Francisco, USA, March, 2017
Jones, A. Hsu, Y-F., Granjon, L. & Waszak, F. (2016). Temporal expectancies driven by self- and externally generated rhythms. 23rd Annual Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, April, New York City, USA.
Klein, R., D'Entremont, G., Jones, A. and Lawrence, M. (2016). Exploring the neural signature of multimodal IOR, presented at the 46th Annual Society for Neuroscience Conference, San Diego, USA, November 2016.
d'Entremont, G. R., Jones, A., Lawrence, M. A., & Klein, R. M. (2016). Investigating the neural signature of multi-modal inhibition of return. Journal of Exercise, Movement, and Sport, 48(1), 9.
Forster B & Jones A (2015). Neural correlates of endogenous and exogenous attention in touch: evidence for independent and interdependent mechanisms. Front. Hum. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00142
Yarrow, K., Hadar, A., Rowe, P., Di Costa, S., & Jones, A. (2015). Motor-evoked potentials reveal a motor-cortical readout of evidence accumulation for sensorimotor decisions. Journal of vision, 15(12), 49-49. (Published conference abstract)
Jones, A. Forster, B. (2015). ERP correlates of tactile search: The N140cc. 22rd Annual Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, April, San Francisco, USA.
Calvo-Merino, B., Jones, A., Gillmeister, H. & Forster, B. (2014). Embodied aesthetics is organized in a somatotopic manner: direct evidence from somatosensory ERPs. Congress of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA), New York City, August 22-24, 2014. (Spoken presentation by Dr. Beatriz Calvo-Merino):
Jones, A., Hughes, G., & Waszak, F. (2013) The interaction between attention and action expectation. An ERP study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, S . p. 115. ISSN 0898-929X
Calvo-Merino, B., Jones, A., Gillmeister, H., Tziraki, M., & Forster, B. (2012, August). The influence of experience on aesthetic processing: insight from ballet dancers watching dance postures. In COGNITIVE PROCESSING (Vol. 13, pp. S28-S28). TIERGARTENSTRASSE 17, D-69121 HEIDELBERG, GERMANY: SPRINGER HEIDELBERG.
Jones, A. (2011). Neural correlates of automatic attention in touch: event related potential and behavioural measures. Presentation given at the 38th Australasian Experimental Psychology Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, 28-30 April
Jones, A., & Forster, B. (2010). Neural correlates of automatic attention in touch: event related potential and behavioural measures. Psychophysiology 47: S53 (Conference proceedings)
Jones, A. & Forster, B. (2010). Exogenous tactile attention in detection and discrimination task: ERPs and behavioural measures. Poster presented at the 17th Annual Cognitive Neuroscience Society Meeting, Montreal, Canada.
Research supervision
Dr Jones welcomes enquiries regarding PhD and internship applications related to his research field.
EEG participation
If you are interested in being a participant in EEG research at Middlesex University then please contact Dr Jones
Silas, Jonathan and Jones, Alexander and Yarrow, Kielan and Anderson, Wayne (2023) Spatial attention is not affected by alpha or beta transcranial alternating current stimulation: A registered report. Cortex , 164 . pp. 33-50. ISSN 0010-9452
Jones, Alexander and Ward, Emma V. and Csiszer, Enida and Szymczak, Joanna (2022) Temporal expectation improves recognition memory for spatially attended objects. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience . ISSN 0898-929X (Accepted/In press)
Silas, Jonathan and Jones, Alexander and Ayton, Peter and Weiss-Cohen, Leonardo (2021) The seductive allure of technical language and its effect on covid-19 vaccine beliefs and intentions. Vaccine , 39 (52). pp. 7590-7597. ISSN 0264-410X
Korko, Malgorzata and Coulson, Mark and Jones, Alexander and De Mornay Davies, Paul (2021) Types of interference and their resolution in monolingual word production. Acta Psychologica , 214 . pp. 1-15. ISSN 0001-6918
Jones, Alexander and Silas, Jonathan and Todd, Jennifer and Stewart, Anita and Acree, Michael and Coulson, Mark and Mehling, Wolf E. (2021) Exploring the multidimensional assessment of interoceptive awareness in youth aged 7–17 years. Journal of Clinical Psychology , 77 (3). pp. 661-682. ISSN 0021-9762
RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE FUNDING
Research funding
Knowledge Exchange projects
Memberships: Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS)
Convenor of Behavioural, Affective, and Cognitive Neuroscience research group (BACNeuro)
Reviewer scientific organisations: Medical Research Council (MRC) UK, Austrian Academy of Science, Austria.
Journal reviewer: JEP:HPP, Journal of Vision, Experimental Brain Res., Brain and Behaviour, Brain and Cognition, Frontiers in Psychology, Int. Journal of Behavioural Medicine, Neuropsychologia, Psychophysiology, Cog., Affective & Beh., Neuroscience
Guest associate editor for Frontiers in Psychology.