I am a physicist with expertise in Computational Neuroscience (neuronal coding and dynamics, ensemble models, auditory modelling); with a focus on machine learning approaches specifically designed for analysing neuronal responses and realistic models. My current position is Associate Professor for Bournemouth University (2017-now; Senior Lecturer/Lecturer, 2012-2017). I am an associate editor of Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience and a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Previously, I worked as a project leader and postdoc at the Bernstein Centre for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg-Mannheim (Heidelberg, 2008-2012) at Daniel Durstewitz lab. I had also a postdoc position at Sue Denham lab (Plymouth 2005-2008), and was a research fellow of the Spanish Science Ministry (2001-2005) seconded in an AI company. My PhD dissertation (Physics, 2001, University of Valencia, supervised by Profs. Secundino del Valle and Emilio Soria), was awarded with the Culture Institute ‘Juan Gil-Albert’ (Spain) prize. I actively co-champion the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre at Bournemouth University.

Research

The research directions in our lab include:

o Cortical network dynamics in-vivo and in-vitro, in collaboration with Maria Victoria Sanchez-Vives (IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona), Ruben Moreno-Bote (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona) and Maurizio Mattia (ISS, Rome). Previously, I collaborated with Daniel Durstewitz (Heidelberg University), Christopher Lapish (Indiana Purdue University), Jeremy Seamans (University of British Columbia) and James Hyman (University of Nevada). In our projects in this area, we develop approaches for understanding the neuronal dynamics underlying spontaneous and elicited cortical activity states. These are fundamental questions in neuroscience which, in addition, provide the basis for discerning physiological from altered brain dynamics.

o Modelling mesoscopic responses of the human auditory cortex during pitch perception. In this area, I collaborate with Andre Rupp (Heidelberg University) and Sue Denham (Plymouth University); and previously with Ray Meddis (Essex University). We focus on the analysis of bi-directional interactions in pitch processing using MEG recordings. These foundation projects are helpful, for instance, for a future better understanding of auditory processing disorders.

o Multidisciplinary projects on higher-order cognition include studies on emotional and immersive sates in VR in collaboration with Ellen Seiss, Xun He, Ben Parris, Jesus Barcias (Sony London) and Charles Nduka (Emteq, Brighton). Previously, I collaborated with Prof Peter Kirsch on fMRI analyses (ZI-Mannheim, Heidelberg University).

o In the area of machine learning I collaborate with Shahin Rostami, Hamid Bouchachia, Marcin Budka and Alexios Myonas (Bournemouth University); and previously with Emilio Soria , Alberto Palomares (Polytechnic University, Valencia), Jose David Martin, and Gustavo Camps (University of Valencia).

o More information: https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/centre/interdisciplinary-neuroscience-research/

Publications

Grants

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