Concepción Padilla and her director of studies Pilar Andrés

Congratulations to Conchy Padilla who defended her PhD thesis this Friday 26th, May 2016, and obtained the highest mark from an examination panel presided by Prof. Soledad Ballesteros (UNED, Spain), Prof. Chiara Guerrini (University of Hull, UK) and Prof. Mateu Servera (University of the Balearic Islands).

Conchy's thesis, supervised by Prof. Pilar Andrés, is entitled "Physical exercise as a factor for cognitive enhancement" and describes eight empirical studies examining the relationship between chronic exercise and a series of cognitive functions including inhibition and memory, based on behavioral as well as neuroimaging (fMRI & DTI) data. The thesis is the results of four years of work at the University of the Balearic Islands but also at the University of Illinois (with Prof. Arthur Kramer) and at the University of Granada (with Prof. Teresa Bajo).

Two empirical studies are under submission, and two have already been published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals:

Padilla, C., Pérez, L., Andrés, P., & Parmentier, F. B. R. (2013). Exercise improves cognitive control: Evidence from the Stop-Signal task. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 27, 505-511.

Padilla, C., Pérez, L., & Andrés, P. (2014). Chronic exercise keeps working memory and inhibitory abilities fit. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, March 11, 8:49.

Conchy Padilla was supported by a FPI PhD studentship from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. The research was also supported by a research grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PSI2010-21609-C02-02) awarded to Prof. Pilar Andrés.

We're delighted to announce that upon obtaining her PhD Conchy will now pursue her career with a post-doctoral position at the University of Cambridge, as part of the Cambridge Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Research Group (Department of Psychiatry).