People

Prof. Zoe Kourtzi: Principal Investigator, Chair of Brain Imaging

My research focuses on imaging the neural processes in the human brain that mediate complex, adaptive cognitive functions and behaviour. The aim of my work is to understand the neural processes that mediate complex cognitive functions (i.e. object categorization, recognition, perceptual decisions) and their experience-based and developmental neural plasticity. In particular, we combine multimodal brain imaging methods (structural and functional MRI, EEG, MEG), established behavioural paradigms from cognitive psychology and state-of-the art mathematical algorithms to understand the link between brain structure, neural function and behaviour. The development of these multidisciplinary and advanced tools has direct applications for translational research in ageing and neurological disorders with potential impact for the prevention and treatment of nervous system disorders. Within this framework research in my lab spans diverse areas in neuroscience: visual brain imaging, learning and plasticity, cognitive development of the intact and impaired brain across the lifespan from infancy to ageing.

Curriculum Vitae     

Personal page: Prof. Zoe Kourtzi

Telephone Number: 0121 414 8509

Email:Z.Kourtzi@Bham.ac.uk

Hiroshi Ban: Post-doctoral fellow

My current research focuses on investigating human 3D/object perception by using behavioral measurements and EEG-fMRI concurrent recordings. In particular, I am interested in understanding which areas in the human brain are involved in the processing of depth information and whether activity in these regions mediates the observers’ perception of 3D shape.

Email: h.ban@bham.ac.uk

Education

B. Integrated Human Studies, Kyoto University, Japan
MSc. Human and Environmental Studies (Psychology), Kyoto University, Japan
D.Phil, Human and Environmental Studies (Psychology), Kyoto University, Japan

Shuguang Kuai: Post-doctoral fellow

My current research focuses on perceptual learning and spatiotemporal contour integration. In particular, I am combining psychophysical measurements and fMRI recordings to explore brain networks involved in the integration of visual information in space and time.

Email: s.kuai@bham.ac.uk

Education

B. B.S., Psychology (major) and Computer Sciences (minor), East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
D.Phil, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai and National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.

Dr. Sheng Li: Post-doctoral fellow

My research focuses on human categorization learning. We combine functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and statistical learning methods to investigate the functional brain areas which are involved in categorization learning.

I am also interested in the theoretical aspect of the sensory neural coding and statistical machine learning methods such as Support Vector Machine (SVM).

Current projects:

Categorical learning in humans and machines
Categorical decisions and learning in the ageing brain

Personal page: Dr. Sheng Li

Email: S.Li.1@Bham.ac.uk

Education

B.Eng, Beijing University of Posts & Telecoms, China
D.Phil, University of Sussex, UK

Dr. Stephen Mayhew: Post-doctoral fellow

fMRI has been hugely successful for mapping mental phenomena such as sensation, perception and cognition with high spatial resolution. However, fMRI measures brain function indirectly by sampling the sluggish haemodynamic response to neuronal activity.

My research interests lie in combining fMRI measurements with EEG and MEG techniques that directly record the synchronous electromagnetic activity of cortical neurons. Such multimodal brain imaging allows changes in fMRI signal to be better understood in terms of changes in the actual underlying neuronal activity, and the dynamics of human cognitive brain processing to be studied with the current optimal spatio-temporal resolution. I have a particular interest in characterizing single-trial EEG and fMRI responses to sensory stimulation in order to investigate the empirical neurovascular coupling, and in understanding the contributions of physiological and neuronal components in the fMRI signal.

Email: S.D.Mayhew@Bham.ac.uk

Education

Physics MPhys. University of Bath, UK.
DPhil, Neuroscience. University of Oxford, UK

Jiaxiang Zhang: Post-doctoral fellow

My current research focuses on investigating neural plasticity mechanisms during learning by using behavioural measurements and fMRI. Especially, we want to understand how human may learn novel visual patterns that do not appear in their daily lives. More generally, I am interested in perceptual decision making, and machine learning methods.

Current projects:

Learning to see in noise

Email: J.Zhang.1@Bham.ac.uk

Education

B.Eng, Northwestern Polytechnical University , China
MSc, University of Bristol, UK

Tim Preston: PhD Student

My current research aims to investigate the neural correlates of depth perception using fMRI. In particular, how the brain determines the 3-dimensional structure of a scene from the inherently ambiguous information provided by the eyes. My current project investigates the influence of the three-dimensional structure of an adapting stimulus on subsequent perceptual judgements on the shape of a test stimulus. We use the bistable Mach card stimulus to investigate this effect, as switches between concave and convex percepts occur with this constant sensory stimulus. Activity during perceptual transitions will reveal cortical areas involved in determining the perceived 3D shape of this stimulus. Adaptation on fMRI responses in these areas will provide insights in the processes engaged in 3-dimensional perception.

Current projects:

3D shape perception.
Spatio-temporal context for 3D shape perception.

Personal page: Tim Preston

Email:TJP541@Bham.ac.uk

Education

Chemistry M.Chem., Magdalen College, Oxford
Neuroscience M.Sc., Queen's College, Oxford

 

Peggy Gerardin: Postdoctoral fellow

My research focuses on shape-from-shading perception in applying functional brain imaging techniques (fMRI) to reveal the neural correlates of illumination and shape representations in humans.

Education

B. Sc., Cognitive Sciences, University of Lyon, France.
M. Sc., Cognitive Sciences, University of Lyon, France.
Ph. D., Cognitive Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.

Dirk Ostwald: Ph.D. student

My line of research investigates the neural mechanisms that mediate the perceptual integration of global forms from local image cues. Using behavioural and advanced fMRI methods, I currently investigate the cortical areas that contribute to the analysis and perception of Glass Patterns. In the future, I will further try to delineate how perceptual learning affects these processes.

Current Projects:

Coherent visual perception
Categorical decisions and learning in the ageing brain

Personal page: Dirk Ostwald

Email:dxo655@bham.ac.uk

Education

B.Sc. Equivalent Medicine, University of Hamburg.
M.Sc. Neural and Behavioural, Science University of Tuebingen, IMPRS.

Christina Moutsiana: Postdoctoral Research Fellow

I am investigating the neuronal mechanism underlying the integration of local visual features into a global percept and how this is affected by aging. My current study examines the ability of young and healthy old observers to discriminate complex visual stimuli. I am using Glass and random patterns that share the same local features but differ in their global percept. Using fMRI we localise the cortical areas contributing to the integration of global form in both young and elderly populations.

Education

BSc Psychology. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
MSc Research Methods in Psychology, University of Reading, UK.

Katie Humphreys: Research Assistant

My research investigates the neural mechanisms that mediate the perceptual integration of global forms embedded in noisy backgrounds in the intact, ageing and impaired brain. We examine the ability of observers to discriminate global forms (e.g. radial, concentric Glass patterns) from random patterns that share in average similar local features but differ in their global percept. The perception of these global patterns is based on the integration of oriented dot pairs and their coherence is manipulated by changing the signal (form dots) to noise (background random dots) ratio. In behavioural and fMRI studies, we investigate which cortical areas contribute to the perceptual integration of global forms across the life span. Further, in combined neuropsychological and imaging studies, we examine perceptual integration processes in patients with occipitotemporal or parietal lesions to understand the role of these areas in holistic aspects of shape integration and recognition. 

Email: kahumphreys@hotmail.co.uk

Education

Neuroscience B.Sc., Bristol University, UK.

Sarah Rappaport: Ph.D. student

I am interested in perceptual learning and the plasticity of the visual system. Using fMRI, my research focuses on how we learn to combine local elements to global contours and the neuronal mechanisms that support perceptual integration process. My project investigates the role of motion in shaping the visual analysis of statistical regularities frequently encountered in the complex environments we inhabit.

Current projects:

Categorical decisions and learning in the ageing brain
Dynamic input to shape perception

Personal page: Sarah Rappaport

Email: SJR414@bham.ac.uk

Education

Psychology B.Sc., University of Birmingham, UK.

Sam Schwarzkopf: Postdoctoral Research Fellow

While remarkably versatile, the visual system is likely optimised for the characteristics of the natural environment through evolution and experience in early life. My research aims to compare the neural representations of objects with natural and unnatural image statistics, and to reveal in how far the processing of images lacking natural regularities can be adapted through learning and selective attention. More generally, I am interested in the mechanisms through which the visual system generates a coherent percept from simple image features and how they are affected by disorders of the visual system, such as amblyopia.

Current projects:

Learning to see in noise

Personal page: Dr. Sam Schwarzkopf

Email: D.S.Schwarzkopf@bham.ac.uk

Education

Neuroscience B.Sc., Cardiff University, UK.
Ph.D., Neuroscience, Cardiff University, UK.

Matthew Dexter: IT & Technical Projects Officer

My role is to act as IT and technical support for the members of the Cognitive Neuroimaging lab. I am responsible for ensuring the day-to-day running of the lab including making sure all data is securely backed up and that all IT equipment is fully functional. I also work with students in programming their experiments in MATLAB, C# and C++ and I am also in charge of maintaining this web site.

Personal page: Matthew Dexter

Email: m.dexter@bham.ac.uk

Education

Computer-aided Chemistry B.Sc. Hons,University of Surrey. UK.
Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience MRes. University of Birmingham.

Alan Meeson: Programmer/ Data Analyst

My background is primarily in machine learning and data analysis. My role within the Cognitive Neuroimaging lab is to provide programming support and develop new scalable methodologies for the analysis of fMRI data to exploit the potential of High Performance Computing.

Email: a.meeson@bham.ac.uk

Education

Natural Computation M.Sc., University of Birmingham
Computer Science/Software Engineering B.Sc., University of Birmingham

Dr. Orna Rosenthal: Post-doctoral fellow

My work focuses on perceptual learning and plasticity processes in the visual cortex. Currently, I examine the role of learning in the discrimination of global form patterns embedded in noise (Glass Patterns). In concurrent psychophysical and fMRI experiments we measure behavioural responses and BOLD signals across visual areas before, and after, training in a shape discrimination task. The main aim of this work is to understand the link between behavioural improvement and neural plasticity in the human brain during learning.

Email:O.Rosenthal@Bham.ac.uk

C.V.     

Education

B.Sc. Biology, The Hebrew University
M.Sc. Physiology, The Hebrew University
Ph.D. Neuroscience, The Hebrew University

Judith Lam: Diploma Student

My research investigates the neural mechanisms that mediate the perceptual integration of global forms embedded in noisy backgrounds in the intact, ageing and impaired brain. We examine the ability of observers to discriminate global forms (e.g. radial, concentric Glass patterns) from random patterns that share in average similar local features but differ in their global percept. The perception of these global patterns is based on the integration of oriented dot pairs and their coherence is manipulated by changing the signal (form dots) to noise (background random dots) ratio. In behavioural and fMRI studies, we investigate which cortical areas contribute to the perceptual integration of global forms across the life span. Further, in combined neuropsychological and imaging studies, we examine perceptual integration processes in patients with occipitotemporal or parietal lesions to understand the role of these areas in holistic aspects of shape integration and recognition. 

Education

Vordiplom in biology, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen(Germany)
in progress: Diploma thesis, University of Birmingham