School of Psychology & Neuroscience

Dr Simon Hanzal

  • Teaching Assistant (School of Psychology & Neuroscience)

Research interests

My main research interest is in exploring motivation as a factor underpinning cognitive performance.

During my PhD, I contributed to research using electroencephalography (EEG) to detect biomarkers associated with mechanisms involved in fatigue. I also investigated the role of ageing in sustained attention. I developed behavioural testing protocols for online attentional experiments and novel approaches to data collection through public engagement.

My main expertise is in the field of psychobiology and cognitive neuroscience. In my research, I typically pair objective observations (EEG signals, physiological measures, task performance) with subjective reports (questionnaires, assessments, and qualitative studies of lived experience). I am particularly interested in human motivation and how it interacts with attention and our ability to perform optimally.

I am currently interested in the application of behavioural experiments and use of non-invasive EEG to study what underlies student motivation to perform well in complex performance contexts relying on key cognitive processes such as sustained attention and working memory. I am further interested in mapping the exact underlying factors relating to participant motivation to participate in and learn from laboratory experiments, as I posit that these two relationships are inherently linked.

I maintain an ongoing interest in understanding the experimental setting as a pedagogical act through methods such as public engagement, reflexive participation and outreach to underrepresented populations and its potential to enhance the generalisability of psychological findings.

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023
Number of items: 6.

2026

Hanzal, Simon, Learmonth, Gemma ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4061-4464, Thut, Gregor ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1313-4262 and Harvey, Monika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1694-1174 (2026) Strategy and motivation, rather than fatigue, drive age-related differences in sustained attention performance: evidence for decoupled beta-band oscillations. European Journal of Neuroscience, 63(2), e70402. (doi: 10.1111/ejn.70402) (PMID:41562398) (PMCID:PMC12821571)

2025

Hanzal, Simon, Learmonth, Gemma ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4061-4464, Thut, Gregor ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1313-4262 and Harvey, Monika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1694-1174 (2025) Age differences in motivation drive performance during the sustained attention to response task. PLoS ONE, 20(11), e0324694. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0324694) (PMID:41248141) (PMCID:PMC12622824)

2024

Hanzal, Simon, Learmonth, Gemma ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4061-4464, Thut, Gregor ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1313-4262 and Harvey, Monika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1694-1174 (2024) Probing sustained attention and fatigue across the lifespan. PLoS ONE, 19(7), e0292695. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292695) (PMID:39018279) (PMCID:PMC11253940)

2023

Hanzal, Simon, Learmonth, Gemma ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4061-4464, Thut, Gregor ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1313-4262 and Harvey, Monika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1694-1174 (2023) Neural Correlates of Inducing Fatigue with a Sustained Attention Task. Journal of Vision 23(9):4923. Meeting abstract: 23rd Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, St Pete Beach, Fl., USA, 19-24 May 2023. p. 4923. (doi: 10.1167/jov.23.9.4923)

Hanzal, Simon, Tvrdá, Lucie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7776-578X and Harvey, Monika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1694-1174 (2023) An investigation into discomfort and fatigue related to the wearing of an EEG neurofeedback headset. medRxiv, (doi: 10.1101/2023.02.16.23284115)

Turner, C. et al. (2023) Developmental changes in individual alpha frequency: recording EEG data during public engagement events. Imaging Neuroscience, 1, pp. 1-14. (doi: 10.1162/imag_a_00001) (PMID:37719836) (PMCID:PMC10503479)

This list was generated on Tue Apr 21 00:30:18 2026 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Conference or Workshop Item
Number of items: 6.

Articles

Hanzal, Simon, Learmonth, Gemma ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4061-4464, Thut, Gregor ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1313-4262 and Harvey, Monika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1694-1174 (2026) Strategy and motivation, rather than fatigue, drive age-related differences in sustained attention performance: evidence for decoupled beta-band oscillations. European Journal of Neuroscience, 63(2), e70402. (doi: 10.1111/ejn.70402) (PMID:41562398) (PMCID:PMC12821571)

Hanzal, Simon, Learmonth, Gemma ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4061-4464, Thut, Gregor ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1313-4262 and Harvey, Monika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1694-1174 (2025) Age differences in motivation drive performance during the sustained attention to response task. PLoS ONE, 20(11), e0324694. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0324694) (PMID:41248141) (PMCID:PMC12622824)

Hanzal, Simon, Learmonth, Gemma ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4061-4464, Thut, Gregor ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1313-4262 and Harvey, Monika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1694-1174 (2024) Probing sustained attention and fatigue across the lifespan. PLoS ONE, 19(7), e0292695. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292695) (PMID:39018279) (PMCID:PMC11253940)

Hanzal, Simon, Tvrdá, Lucie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7776-578X and Harvey, Monika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1694-1174 (2023) An investigation into discomfort and fatigue related to the wearing of an EEG neurofeedback headset. medRxiv, (doi: 10.1101/2023.02.16.23284115)

Turner, C. et al. (2023) Developmental changes in individual alpha frequency: recording EEG data during public engagement events. Imaging Neuroscience, 1, pp. 1-14. (doi: 10.1162/imag_a_00001) (PMID:37719836) (PMCID:PMC10503479)

Conference or Workshop Item

Hanzal, Simon, Learmonth, Gemma ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4061-4464, Thut, Gregor ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1313-4262 and Harvey, Monika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1694-1174 (2023) Neural Correlates of Inducing Fatigue with a Sustained Attention Task. Journal of Vision 23(9):4923. Meeting abstract: 23rd Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, St Pete Beach, Fl., USA, 19-24 May 2023. p. 4923. (doi: 10.1167/jov.23.9.4923)

This list was generated on Tue Apr 21 00:30:18 2026 BST.

Supervision

Supervisor

Teaching

MSc Conversion Dissertation Projects

Undegraduate Dissertation Projects

MSc Cognitive Brain Imaging Methods

Level 3 Psychometrics

Level 2 Psychobiology

Level 1 Research Methods Labs

 


Simon Hanzal