Research interests
Dr Henning Holle's research is driven by a strong interest in the interaction of the senses. For his research, he uses behavioural and neuroscience techniques (e.g., TMS, fNIRS, EEG, fMRI).
Previous work has focused on interaction between the senses of vision and audition (Holle et al. 2008, 2010, Neuroimage) as well as vision and touch (Holle et al. 2014, Neuroimage). This line of research is currently is continuing by studying how visual information arising from gesture interacts with auditory information arising from speech (Zhao et al. 2018).
Another line of reserach investigates how itch, a relatively understudied tactile sensation, interacts with the sense of vision (Holle et al. 2012, Etty et al., 2022) and audition (Swithenbank et al. 2016).
Postgraduate supervision
Dr Holle is always very interested to hear from students, based at Hull or elsewhere, who are keen to get involved in research relating to itch perception, touch or gesture.
He usually has a number of ongoing projects that require data collection. This research experience would suit students who are considering applying for PhD funding and wish to develop their research skills / publication record.
Completed PhDs
- Olivia Jones (Primary Supervisor). 2013 - 2017. Exploring the Process of Itch and its Dimensionality: Investigations Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Funded by the University of Hull.
- Wanying Zhao (Primary Supervisor). 2014 - 2017. Exploring the role of inferior frontal and posterior temporal cortices in gesture-speech integration. Funded by the Chinese Science Council and the Hull-China Partnership.
Current PhD supervisions
- Sarah Etty (Primary Supervisor). 2019 - 2022. An attentional bias approach to Psoriasis. Funded by the Psoriasis Association.
- Erin Minton-Branfoot (Primary Supervisor. 2020 - 2023. Gestures as a stepping stone into rapid second language acquisition. Funded by the ESRC.