Corey Wadsley
2025: Dr Corey Wadsley of Waipapa Taumata Rau – the University of Auckland will investigate how our ability to quickly stop our actions changes as we age
The critical skill of suddenly halting an action, known as “response inhibition”, declines in later adulthood. This affects the safety of older adults. For example, response inhibition is required when a driver needs to abort a lane change after spotting a vehicle in their blind spot. With Aotearoa New Zealand facing an ageing population, understanding this phenomenon is crucial for public safety, and could save billions in social costs from road accidents.
Dr Corey Wadsley will use his New Zealand Mana Tūāpapa Future Leader Fellowship to examine the "pause-then-retune" processes in the brain that enable an action to be stopped. Using both laboratory tasks and driving simulations, the study will measure brain activity and stopping performance to pinpoint exactly how these processes change during healthy ageing. The research will identify specific vulnerabilities that make stopping more difficult for older adults. The findings will inform development of evidence-based strategies to maintain road safety for older drivers and inform policies to reduce accident rates across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Dr Corey Wadsley performing a response inhibition experiment. Supplied.