Ryssa Moffat

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Postdoctoral Researcher, SoBA Lab, ETH Zürich (June 2023 - present)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, SoBA Lab, Macquarie University (Sep 2021 - June 2023)

PhD in Cognitive Science. Joint degree from Macquarie University, Newcastle University, Universities of Groningen & Potsdam (2022)

M.Sc. in Clinical Linguistics. Joint degree from Universities of Eastern Finland, Groningen & Potsdam (2019)

HBA Major in German Language and Culture, Minor in Linguistics. University of Ottawa (2016)

Full CV available here.

research

Publications

WRITTEN WORK

Moffat & Cross. (2023). Evaluations of dyadic synchrony: Observers’ traits influence quantification and enjoyment of synchrony in mirror-game movements. Under review. 10.31234/osf.io/b34kn

Casale*, Moffat* & Cross. (2023). Aesthetic evaluation of body movements shaped by embodiment and arts experience: Insights from behaviour and fNIRS. Under review. doi: 10.31234/osf.io/n24kc (*equal contribution)

Moffat, Casale & Cross. (2023). Mobile fNIRS for exploring inter-brain synchrony across generations and time. Under review. doi: 10.31234/osf.io/3kmux

Moffat, Başkent, Luke, McAlpine & van Yper. (2023). Cortical haemodynamic responses predict individual ability to recognise vocal emotions with uninformative pitch cues but do not distinguish different emotions. Human Brain Mapping. doi: 10.1002/hbm.26305

Caruana, Moffat, Blanco & Cross. (2023). Perceptions of intelligence & sentience shape children’s interactions with robot reading companions. Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-32104-7

Caruana, Moffat, Blanco & Cross. (2022). Talk, listen and keep me company: A mixed methods analysis of children’s perspectives towards robot reading companions. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction. doi: 10.1145/3527188.3563917

Moffat, Caruana & Cross. Synchronised interactions with a peer observer increase self-monitoring during response inhibition: An fNIRS study. Under review. doi: 10.31234/osf.io/2n8sv

Moffat. (2022). Recognition and cortical haemodynamics of vocal emotions – an fNIRS perspective. PhD Thesis. doi: 10.33612/diss.215902776

CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTIONS

Moffat & Cross. Observer’s traits predict accuracy of synchrony estimation and enjoyment of dyadic mirror-game movements. Talk presented at 9th Joint Action Meeting in Budapest, July 10-12, 2023.

Moffat & Cross. Quantifying observed motor synchrony: Movement predictability and interindividual traits predict accuracy. Poster presented at EPC2023 in Canberra, Apr 12-14, 2023.

Casale, Moffat & Cross. Art experience enhances enjoyment of dynamic human movement. Poster presented at EPC2023 in Canberra, Apr 12-14, 2023.

Moffat, Caruana & Cross. Cortical correlates of inhibition when observed by synchronised vs. non-synchronised peers. Talk presented at Neuroscience (SFN) in San Diego, Nov 12-16, 2022.

Moffat, Caruana & Cross. Cortical activity evoked by synchronised vs. non-synchronised peer observers as detected with fNIRS. Poster presented at fNIRS2022 in Boston, Oct 9-12, 2022.

Moffat, Caruana, Blanco & Cross. A welcomed social presence: Attentive and responsive robots make good reading buddies. Poster presented at AS4SAN in Sydney, Jun 8-10, 2022.

Moffat, Başkent, Luke, McAlpine & van Yper. Cortical responses to vocal emotions with attenuated voice pitch variation measured with fNIRS. Poster presented at fNIRS2021 virtually, Oct 18-21, 2021.

neuroimaging

While mapping brain activity cannot directly explain behaviour, it has the potential to provide neurophysiological context to cognition and behaviour. In my research, I mainly use functional near-infrared spectrocopy (fNIRS) to probe changes in blood flow on the cortex. fNIRS is exciting because it is a portable neuroimaging technique which can be implemented in everyday social settings, such collaborative activities between generations (Moffat et al., 2023).

My PhD research explored how emotions conveyed in speech (normal and degraded, as if passed through a cochlear implant) are represented in the cortex and how they map onto listeners' emotion recognition abilities (Moffat et al., 2023). More recently, I have investigated the influence of social obervation and motor synchrony (a form of interpersonal coordination) on activity in frontal brain regions, with specific attention paid to the observed individual's ability to supress motor responses (Moffat et al., under review). Another of my projects has looked at how embodying movements by mirroring someone else influence our appraisal when we see other dyads repeating the same sequence of movements (Moffat et al., in progress).

As a research assistant, I helped collect and analyse electroencephalography (EEG) and fNIRS data from 1-year-old babies to understand how babies learn boundaries in language (between words, phrases, sounds). I have also helped use trans-cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to study language production.

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research

Publications

About Me