Hanni Kiiski
Research Fellow
Psychology
Trinity College Dublin
Ireland
Biography
Dr. Hanni Kiiski is currently a post-doctoral Research Fellow in Prof. Fiona Newell's Multisensory Cognition Group and she is working in the SFI-funded Captavatar Project. The focus of this research is to investigate how visual and auditory information contribute to the perceived social characteristics and intentions of another person. The ultimate goal of the research is to endow virtual avatars with these multisensory characteristics to maximise their effectiveness in different settings (e.g. for educational, entertainment or rehabilitation purposes). The project is conducted in collaboration with Prof. Carol O'Sullivan's group within the Graphics, Vision and Visualisation Group (GV2), Trinity College Dublin. Hanni's PhD research focused on the multimodal assessment of brain and cognitive function in multiple sclerosis both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. This research was supervised by Prof. Richard Reilly and conducted in the Neural Engineering group of Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering (TCBE). The principal interest of the PhD research was on the utility of high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) in detecting and monitoring cognitive function in multiple sclerosis. The research involved also structural MRI and a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery to investigate links between electrophysiological activations, cognitive performance and possible pathological brain changes in multiple sclerosis. In addition, Hanni was involved in a study examining the potential of electrophysiological measures to provide information for the differential diagnostics of Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. These studies were conducted in collaboration with the Neurology Department of St. Vincent's University Hospital and the UCD School of Psychology. Hanni received her MSc degree in Psychology in 2008 from University of Turku, Finland. Her Master's thesis examined the heritability of auditory-verbal word list recall in old age in a large sample of twins. Hanni's previous experience includes a Research Assistant position in the Neural Engineering group from September 2008 to August 2009, working in the research projects of Dr. Robert Whelan. She also worked as a Psychology Trainee in the Neurological Rehabilitation ward and the Child Neurology unit of Turku University Hospital in Autumn 2007. During her studies Hanni assisted in various research projects focusing on memory, Alzheimer's Disease and Neglect Disorder. She also worked in a psychological recruitment company Psykologitiimi Päämäärä Oy. Furthermore, she was the Treasurer of the psychology students' social club in 2005 and 2006. Hanni's research interests include social cognitive neuroscience, multisensory perception of human faces and bodies, person characteristics/traits and intentions, experimental psychology, cognitive and perceptual functions in neurological conditions, electrophysiology and neuropsychology.
Research Interest
My research interests include social cognitive neuroscience, multisensory perception of human faces and bodies, person characteristics/traits and intentions, experimental psychology, cognitive and perceptual functions in neurological conditions, electrophysiology and neuropsychology.
Publications
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Kiiski, H., Lonergan, R., Whelan, R., Nolan, H., Kinsella, K., O Brien, M., Reilly, R.B., Hutchinson, M., & Tubridy, N. , P3 Abnormalities in Multiple Sclerosis as a Function of Oligoadenylate Synthetase Genotype, 3rd Annual Neuroscience Ireland Conference, Dublin Ireland, September 10-11 2009
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Kiiski H., Whelan R., Lonergan R.; Nolan H., Kinsella K., Hutchinson M.; Tubridy N; Reilly R.B. , Change in PASAT Performance Correlates with Change in P3 ERP Amplitude over a 12-month period in Multiple Sclerosis Patients, Proc of the 10th International Conference on AD/PD, 10th International Conference on AD/PD, Barcelona , March, 2011
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Kiiski, H., Reilly, R. B., Lonergan, R., Kelly, S., O Brien, M., Kinsella, K., Bramham, J., Burke, T., O Donnchadha, S., Nolan, H., Hutchinson, M., Tubridy, N., & Whelan, R. , Change in PASAT Performance Correlates with Change in P3 ERP Amplitude over a 12-Month Period in Multiple Sclerosis Patients, the 47th Irish Neurological Association meeting 2011, Sligo Ireland
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Kiiski, H., Hoyet, L., Zibrek, K., O Sullivan, C., & Newell, F.N., Audio-visual interactions in the perception of intention from actions, the 14th International Multisensory Research Forum, Jerusalem Israel, June 3-6 2013
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Kiiski, H., Hoyet, L., Cullen, B., O Sullivan, C., & Newell, F.N. , Perception and Prediction of Social Intentions from Human Body Motion, ACM Symposium on Applied Perception, Dublin Ireland, August 22-23 2013
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Kiiski, H., Hoyet, L., Cullen, B., Woods, A.T., O Sullivan, C., & Newell, F.N. , Perception of Traits from Static and Dynamic Visual Cues in Faces and Bodies, 36th European Conference on Visual Perception , Bremen Germany, August 25-29 2013
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Kiiski, H., Neill, F., Hoyet, L., Zibrek, K., O Sullivan, C., & Newell, F.N. , Vocal information modulates the perception of traits from body motion, the 15th International Multisensory Research Forum, Amsterdam the Netherlands, June 11 - 14 2014
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Whelan R, Lonergan R, Kiiski H, Nolan H, Kinsella K, Bramham J, O Brien M, Reilly RB, Hutchinson M, Tubridy N, A high-density ERP study reveals latency, amplitude, and topographical differences in multiple sclerosis patients versus controls., Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, 121, (9), 2010, p1420-1426
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Whelan, R., Lonergan, R., Kiiski, H., Nolan, H., Kinsella, K., Hutchinson, M., Tubridy, N., & Reilly, R.B., Impaired information processing speed and attention allocation in multiple sclerosis patients versus controls: A high-density EEG study, Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 293, 2010, p45 - 50
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Whelan, R, Lonergan, R, Kiiski, H, Nolan, H, Kinsella, K, Hutchinson, M, Tubridy, N, Reilly, RB, Impaired information processing speed and attention allocation in multiple sclerosis patients versus controls: A high-density EEG study, Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 293, (1-2), 2010, p45-50
