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My research seeks to determine how cognitive function arises from the topographical organization and complex dynamics in the brain. My integrative, interdisciplinary approach combines behavioural paradigms with state-of-the-art multimodal brain imaging (structural/functional MRI, PET and EEG) and computational neuroimaging approaches using mathematical models, network science and information theory to investigate functional organisation in the human brain. Accordingly, I develop tools for the analysis of neuroimaging data which I share with collaborators and the broader neuroscience community. More recent research directions include: attempting to bridge micro- and macroscopic levels in neuroscience by investigating associations between brain network connectivity and gene expression; studying the influence of brainstem neurotransmitter/neuromodulator systems on cortical/subcortical networks and the use of deep graph convolutional neural networks to identify patients with disorders of consciousness with covert cognitive capacity. My current work focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying a broad spectrum of altered states of consciousness in healthy volunteers (induced by anaesthetics or psychedelics), and patients who have sustained brain injuries that result in disorders of consciousness (e.g. minimally conscious state, coma). This work is underpinned by fundamental neuroscience questions on the role of the default mode network (DMN) in cognition (the DMN has been implicated in conscious processing), as well as broader cognitive architecture questions. I also use pharmacological fMRI to understand the effects of cognitive enhancers on traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors who suffer from long term cognitive and affective disorders. This works aims to describe residual capacity and the limits of plasticity in the injured brain. My earlier work at the Centre for Speech, Language and the Brain, Department of Psychology, focused on the neural substrates of semantic processing and language comprehension.
In a Review just published at Trends in Neurosciences, Cambridge neuroscientists, Andrea Luppi,…
On April 5th 2024, we welcomed more than 240 delegates to Queens’ College for our…
