tim welsh

Tim Welsh, Professor, Cognitive & Neural Motor Behaviour, Associate Dean, Research

  • Professor, Cognitive & Neural Motor Behaviour
  • Associate Dean, Research
Office of the Dean
55 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2W6

About Tim

Academic Training

Ph.D. Human Biodynamics - McMaster University, 2002

M.Sc. Human Biodynamics - McMaster University, 1999

B.P.H.E. Physical and Health Education – University of Toronto, 1997

Graduate Student Recruitment Status
Accepting PhD and MSc students
Research Interests

Planning and Control of Goal-directed Limb and Eye Movements

Selective Attention

Movement in Social Contexts

Perception of Nonhuman Animal Bodies and Actions

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Cognitive and Motor Disorders such as Down Syndrome and Autism 

Selected Publications

Wang, X. M., Nitsche, M., Resch, G., Mazalek, A., & Welsh, T. N. (2024) Mixed reality alters motor planning and control. Behavioral Brain Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115373 

Bek, J., Sabiston, C.M., Thibodeau, D., & Welsh, T.N. (2024). Gender-specific effects of self-objectification on visuomotor adaptation and learning. Body Image. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101795 

Pranjić, M., Leung, J., Tam, K. L., Polatajko, H., Welsh, T.N, Chau, T., & Thaut, M. (2024). Children with developmental coordination disorder display atypical interhemispheric connectivity during conscious and subconscious rhythmic auditory-motor synchronization. Scientific Reports, 14, 19954. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-69807-4 

Wang, X. M., Southwick, D., Robinson, I., Nitsche, M., Resch, G., Mazalek, A., & Welsh, T. N. (2024). Prolonged exposure to mixed reality alters task performance in the unmediated environment. Scientific Reports, 14, 18938. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-69116-w 

van der Wel, R.P.R.D., Prodanova, Y., Snyder, J., Welsh, T.N., & Böckler, A. (2024). Is emotion perception altered by gaze direction, gender appearance and gender identity of the perceived face? Emotions. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/emo0001406 

Wang, X.M., Southwick, D., Robinson, I., Nitsche, M., Resch, G., Mazalek, A., & Welsh, T.N. (2024). The geometry of the vergence-accommodation conflict in mixed reality systems. Virtual Reality. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-024-00991-4

Pathak, A., Chang, J. S. K., Resch, G., Doucette, A., Yeboah, G., Welsh, T. N., … Mazalek, A. (2020). Thinking Through the Box: Evaluating a 3D Game to Engage Penetrative Thinking. Frontiers in Virtual Reality.

Welsh, T.N, Reid, C., Manson, G., Constable, M., Tremblay, L. (2020). Susceptibility to the fusion illusion is modulated during both action execution and action observation. Acta psychologica.

Cox, E., Sabiston, C., Karlinsky, A., Manzone, J., Neyedli, H., Welsh, T.N. (2020). The impact of athletic clothing style and body awareness on motor performance in women. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.

Manzone, J., Taravati, S., Neyedli, H., Welsh, T.N. (2020). Choices in a key press decision-making task are more optimal after gaining both aiming and reward experience. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Chen, M., Karlinsky, A., Welsh, T.N. (2020). Hand, but not foot, cues generate increases in salience at the pointed-at location. Acta Psychologica. 

Hommel, B., Chapman, C., Cisek, P., Neyedli, H., Song, J., Welsh, T.N. (2019). No one knows what attention is. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. 81.

Yoxon, E., & Welsh, T. N. (2019). Rapid motor cortical plasticity can be induced by motor imagery training. Neuropsychologia134, 107206. 

Currently Funded Projects

Are two better than one? Assessing the learning and motivational benefits of practicing in pairs. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Insight Grant Principal Applicant with 4 co-investigators (April Karlinsky, Nicola Hodges, Katherine Tamminen, Luc Tremblay)

Interconnected action execution-imagination-perception in adults with and without autism University of Manchester-University of Toronto Call for Joint Research Proposal.  Co-Principal Applicant with Emma Gowen plus 2 co-investigators (April Karlinsky, Ellen Poliakoff)

The processing of nonhuman animal bodies and point of gaze Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Discovery Grant Primary Investigator. 

Professional Memberships

Association for Psychological Science (APS)

Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS)

Down Syndrome Research Foundation

Psychonomic Society