Research

Perception

People's perception actually corresponds to the models that their [...] system have constructed rather than (or in addition to) the sensory stimulation on which they are based. S.E. Palmer

I am highly interested in understanding how our perception is built based on our brain’s interpretation of sensory inputs. How does the brain distort reality, causing us to perceive illusions? Why do we sometimes perceive the same sensory input and sometimes not? How closely do the brain representations of an actual sensory input align with its unreal perception, such as during mental imagery or hallucinations? One of my research interests is to explore how the brain dynamics shapes our perception. So far, I investigated visual and auditory perception in humans with a multimodal approach involving behavioral measures (psychophysics, oculometry), neuroimagery (EEG, MEG, sEEG) and non-invasive stimulation (TMS). I am also intrigued by our perception of our own’s actions, i.e., the sense of agency, that I aspire to work on in the future.

Brain Oscillations

Instead of showing that telepathy was a true phenomenon, Hans Berger described for the first time human oscillatory activity almost a century ago. Since this discovery, oscillations have been recorded at multiple brain scales (cellular, local network, global network), in wide range of species (mammals, reptiles, fishes, birds, insects), and have been associated with multiple cognitive functions (perception, memory, attention, decision-making). Neuronal oscillations appear to be a crucial mechanisms for brain functioning. For this reason, I am interested in investigating the functional role of the spatio-temporal organization of brain oscillations at both local and global levels on human cognition thanks to neuroimaging recording (EEG, MEG, sEEG) and psychophysics. I am also using non-invasive stimulation techniques (TMS) to probe relation between cortical state, brain oscillations, and the behavioral consequences.