Research lines
About our research lines
Binge drinking
Binge drinking is widely spread among the adolescent population, causing important brain and cognitive alterations. Likewise, the existence of neurobiological and cognitive factors predisposing to the development of this type of drinking behavior and future addictive disorders has been postulated. Our main objective is to characterize the neurophysiological and neuropsychological profiles of predisposition to binge drinking, as well as its consequences on brain dynamics.
Computational neuroscience
Computational neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field which employs mathematical models and theoretical analysis to understand the principles that govern the physiology, structure and development of the nervous system, and related cognitive abilities. Specifically, in the laboratory we carry out brain network simulations based on real data, aimed at reproducing network connectivity in health and disease. A parallel activity concerning this research area is the application of brain-like processing strategies to address engineering problems.
Clinical neuroscience
This research line is focused on the clinical appliance of electrophysiological biomarkers. These biomarkers are developed by studying, with MEG and EEG, the electromagnetic brain activity of patients with neurological disorders. This line participates in the studies that involve patients with epilepsy, stroke, dementia, autism, or ADHD.
Cognitive neuroscience of memory and language
The memory and language research line focuses on dynamics of brain oscillations and the neural communication mechanisms underlying the cognitive control of memory and its interactions with other cognitive processes such as language comprehension
Emotional processing
In this research line we are interested in how emotional relevance influences perceptual processes in the brain, as well as the mechanisms involved in fear learning. We study these topics in both healthy and clinical population (such as individuals diagnosed with depression), focused mainly on emotional influences on basic perceptual processes of the visual system. To do so, we use EEG and MEG, applying advanced cortical source localization techniques.
Data analysis
Research on and application of data analysis methods in our laboratory focuses on functional connectivity, preprocessing methods, classification, source reconstruction and Bayesian models. We have developed the publicly available connectivity toolbox HERMES.